Algae Out of Control

justaqtcub

justaqtcub

Member
They say the bigger the better with salt water... but I beg to differ. This a photo of my 2 gallon tank I have on my desk at my job. No algae... In fact, the hermits I had died except one very small blue leg, because they starved. I don't feed this tank at all. I just do 50% water change every Saturday before my days off. Take a look at the next few photos. I plan to add one very small maxia clam, and some very small nano corals. Maybe a ricordea, duster clusters and who knows what else, but it will have to be very small. Primarily just filter feeders.
Take a look.
 
schneijt

schneijt

Member
Daniel,
I won't claim to be any sort of an expert, especially since I also have an algae problem I have yet to conquer, but I'll put in my two cents.
First of all, you mention you don't want to lose the live rock. Unfortunately, turning off the lights completely will kill both the problem algae and the nice coralline algae on your live rock. It wouldn't hurt to cut it back by a few hours, but understand that taking away all light from the tank will kill your live rock.
Also, you say your RO water has no phosphates. Are you using a DI filter on your RO setup? If not, silicates could also contribute to the algae problem, at least they did in my experience. I'll assume you're using a high quality salt mix, so that rules out another source of the phosphate. So, the phosphates probably came from feeding. Your best bet to lower the phosphates would be routine large water changes.
Once the phosphate starts to lower (oh, and I'd also suggest a chemical phosphate remover like others have said) then reduce the water changes, since they add trace elements that the algae will like. Skim vigorously and soon the algae should start to diminish. It won't go away forever, but with light stocking, giving just enough light but not too much, and vigilant maintenance on a regular basis, your tank will be looking great again. Oh, and be sure to keep an eye on your cleanup crew and replace any snails or crabs that will die over time.
I give this advice because it's what has helped me the last few months. My 20 gal was great for a few months and then had a huge algae bloom. What I've suggested above is what has helped me. I upgraded my skimmer and focused on improving water quality. I bought a nice RODI unit to reduce the unwanted trace elements I had put in there by using chemically-treated tapwater for a few months. I stopped trying to use additives and such, becasue they just don't work well. Good aquariums are a result of hard work, not miracle chemical compounds. My algae is almost gone, and I'm setting up another small tank to take a few fish out of my 20 gallon to relieve the bio load a bit. If you'd like, I can post some pictures. I think I have pictures from during the worst of the bloom and again now that it's getting better.
Well, anyway, sorry this is so long, but algae control is never a simple topic! :D
Good luck, Daniel,
Joe S.
:happyfish
 
schneijt

schneijt

Member
Here is the tank a couple months ago. I had just added the PC lighting. My Prizm skimmer had stopped working, and I didn't have live rock yet. Also, this was taken after I had scrubbed the algae off. Yes, it was way worse than this, and some of it I couldn't scrape off because it was so stubborn.
 
schneijt

schneijt

Member
Here is the tank two weeks ago. You can see the 11 lbs of live rock, and the Maxi Jet 1200 connected to the AquaC Remova skimmer. The RBTA (lower left corner) was there during the worst of the algae problems, but has only just recently started to strive (wonder why...:) )
 
schneijt

schneijt

Member
Here is the tank today. There is a bit of slime algae growing on the walls, but that's the only real algae problem right now. Nothing has changed maintenance-wise, I think I just overfed a few times the last week or two. The Hawaiian Spotted Puffer and the Yellow-Finned Damsel (I don't think you can see them in the picture) are both going into a 10 gal tank I just set up. With these fish removed, the bio load will be much safer for the tank and I think the algae problems should go away for good if I keep up on my maintenance routine. Of course, when they get a little bigger I'll have to put them into a bigger tank of their own... Anyone need a small spotted puffer or a mean damsel??? :rolleyes:
 
justaqtcub

justaqtcub

Member
Well schneijt, what your 20 gallon has, I have a 10 gallon that had the same problem. The Marine S.A.T. by TLC was used and it cleared up that problem with only two doses. It worked so well that I had to introduce algae growth for my Chestnut Cowrie and Turbo Snail. There was nothing for them to eat. The 10 gallon has/had no hair algae problems ever. I know for a fact, when I had a yellow tang in that tank, I over fed all the time... and there is not algae problem. I do however have an over abundance of brissle worms, which are unattractive to look at, but they do a good job at cleaning up. My 10 gallon has some polyps and and Umbrella Mushroon Polyp which are doing great. Howerver there is also a round plate coral in there is loosing it's color. I don't think it will survive. The phosphate levels read about the same for the 10 gallon as it does my 58 which is the one with the algae catastrophy.
Something I wanted to verify with anyone that wants to give some input... is that my LFS told me that algae doesn't like ALKALINITY.... My levels had been low and the calicium has been high. I do not add calicum suppliment either. The LFS said to raise the ALK to a level of 5 or 6. He said that ALK at this level is NOT desireable for algae and it will slowly die off. Can someone verify this statement????? He also said that ALK maintained at those numbers would bring down the calcium levels.
For the record, when I test the 58 gallons calcium, I stop adding drops when I reached 45. That means my calcium was/is well over 675 ppm. The ALK was steady at 2. Weekly I add REEF BUILDER to raise the ALK a single point. But the levels do not stay. They constaintly keep falling back down to 2.
Anyone want to clarify/backup with the LFS had told me?
Thanks everyone!
 
rdonchann

rdonchann

New Member
Just my opinion, get rid of the c.c. Food etc. lays in the stufff and rots. You can do a change and the levels all look good then in no time you have syuff sifting out of the cc and it starts all over again. Think about a u.v. sterilizer. I added one and WOW! in about 2 days you can't imagine the difference! Algae can't grow if the uv kills the food.
 
justaqtcub

justaqtcub

Member
Attention EVERYONE! I have good news!
It appears that what the LFS had told me about algae NOT liking Alkalinity was right. There were only two thing I have done to try and resolve all the issues listed in this. I cut back the lighting time by 3 hours. The other was get the Alkalinity to the max safe level of 6. The algae is falling apart and detaching itself from the glass surfaces. I am very impressed with the speedy turn around. :jumping:
The product I am adding to acheive the ALK levels is: Reef Builder (not Buffer). I was warned to keep an eye on the Calcium levels as ALK and CALC have a direct impact on each other.
I have not been able to perform a water change yet. The phosphates have lowered to .2 instead of almost 1.0. I am impressed with REEF BUILDER and will recommend it to anyone with an over algae abundance.
I will keep EVERYONE POSTED on the next few weeks and try to get some photos of it now. Sorry, I don't have any of it when it was a disaster, although I wish I did to do comparing.
THANKS ALL for you suggestions.
HOPE THIS CONTINUES to IMPROVE!!! :cheer:
OH.. BTW... I am adding two more powerheads... 172 gph tomorrow.. so the water turn around should be around 9x /hr
 
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