Algae Madness

fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Ok i have a whole bunch of algae growing every where not sure why but i have alot of questions.
#1- i have like green algae floating on top of the tank do you know what it is or how to get rid of it?


#2- i think i have this type of red hair agae not sure do you know what this is?

#3- i also have this dark green and light green algae on my rocks what kind is it and how would you get rid of it?


#4-i also have this algae thats orange redish what is it and how do you get rid of it.

 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
ok i dont know what all the algae is but you definantly have a problem
What are you tank parameters?
How long have you had the lights?
How long do you have your lights on each day?
Do you over feed?
Have you added too many fish, etc, causing a spike?
Is the tank new?
Is the tank in direct sun light?
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
PH- 8.4
NITRATE- less than 10
NITRITE- 0
AMMONIA- .025
i have had the lights since late october they are my stock lights.
i have my light on for 7 hours every day
i dont think i over feed, i feed every other day and not on weekends
i havnt added any fish or inverts in a while.
i got the tank late october
the tank was under durect sunlight, but on friday i moved it away.
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Originally Posted by T316
For starters, get a net and get all of the floating algea off the top.
ok i tried that and it seems that it just goes threw my net.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
Ok, there are still some facts we need from you to help. Please give as much info as possible on your tank.
Age
Size
filtration
GPH/turnover
#'s of LR/LS
WHAT TYPE OF WATER DO YOU USE RO/DI or TAP?
give any info that you know of I forgot to ask.
I would most definetly do a water change using RO/DI for your mix asap, suction out all the algea possible while removing old water.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fish Crazy
ok i tried that and it seems that it just goes threw my net.

Use a cup and skim it off.
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Originally Posted by mcbdz
Ok, there are still some facts we need from you to help. Please give as much info as possible on your tank.
Age
Size
filtration
GPH/turnover
#'s of LR/LS
WHAT TYPE OF WATER DO YOU USE RO/DI or TAP?
give any info that you know of I forgot to ask.
I would most definetly do a water change using RO/DI for your mix asap, suction out all the algea possible while removing old water.
1- since late october.
2- its 24 gal.
3- stock filtration.
4- not sure what GPH/TURNOVER is?
5- not sure how much exact but i rember using one bag of ls, and i have 10 pieces of lr.
6-i use zephyrhills with (amquan) a chemical to take out all the bad stuff.
i would be able to do an other water change using ro/di this weekend. and how would i suction up all the algae?
 
cprdnick

cprdnick

Active Member
buy yourself a PO4 (phosphate) test kit. if its anything more than 1.0, buy yourself a phosphate sponge, worked wonders through my algae days. Also, GPH/TURNOVER, would be telling us how much water movement you have going through your DT right now, for example, what GPH are your powerheads or filters rated at? How many do you have, can you change the direction of flow. Stop using the chemicals, they can do more harm than good, natural works best even if it may be a little slower. Suction it up using a new turkey baster, then spray it out into a cup or trash can. What kind of lighting are you running? do you have any photosynthetic corals? Moving the tank away from sunlight was a good step in the right direction.
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Originally Posted by cprdnick
buy yourself a PO4 (phosphate) test kit. if its anything more than 1.0, buy yourself a phosphate sponge, worked wonders through my algae days. Also, GPH/TURNOVER, would be telling us how much water movement you have going through your DT right now, for example, what GPH are your powerheads or filters rated at? How many do you have, can you change the direction of flow. Stop using the chemicals, they can do more harm than good, natural works best even if it may be a little slower. Suction it up using a new turkey baster, then spray it out into a cup or trash can. What kind of lighting are you running? do you have any photosynthetic corals? Moving the tank away from sunlight was a good step in the right direction.
ok i will go and buy the PO4. also am not sure on the GPH/TURNOVER i have the jbj nano cube and everything is stock on it so am not sure on that. and i dont have any corals.
 
cprdnick

cprdnick

Active Member
OH, while you're buying the test kit, it wouldn't hurt you to buy a small powerhead. How big is this tank?
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Originally Posted by cprdnick
OH, while you're buying the test kit, it wouldn't hurt you to buy a small powerhead. How big is this tank?
24 gal, but it already has a power head?
 
cprdnick

cprdnick

Active Member
OK, 24 gallon tank, you need an average of 15X the turnover, meaning that, a power head that is rated at 240GPH would be 10X the turnover. If you can get your water flow around there then you should be better than you were, you may already be there with your PH and mechanical filter. But definately test for PO4. Thats a kit you should have around either way.
 
fish crazy

fish crazy

Member
Originally Posted by cprdnick
OK, 24 gallon tank, you need an average of 15X the turnover, meaning that, a power head that is rated at 240GPH would be 10X the turnover. If you can get your water flow around there then you should be better than you were, you may already be there with your PH and mechanical filter. But definately test for PO4. Thats a kit you should have around either way.
ok am going to buy it this weekend, and am going to do an ro/di water change and what kind of clean up crew do you recomend?
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
you want your gph(gallons per hour) to be 10-15x's your tank size. More is better. The more flow the better your water chemistry will be and, it helps keep things from settling also. I would go try and find out what your stuff is rated for. Do you still have the boxes? it should be on there, or look for them when you go to the LFS and get a general idea. My vote goes for you needin' some more gph.

New tanks go through these algea outbreaks and learning how to diagnose and treat them is part of the learning experience. Have fun.

To suction it out either the turkey baster or when you syphen water out for your water change, take the bell part off your syphon hose and use the end to suck stuff out with the water.
 
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