Algae problem in 10 gallon

bigarn

Active Member
Hi everyone...
I have Algae on the glass every day....I know it's only 10 gallons, but all my levels are fine. I have PC lighting( 80watts ) do you think it's the light? I also have a coral which I was told requires minimum light. Do you think keeping the accentic (sp) lighting on longer would help? Would this be OK for the coral?
Thanks for any input!
 

salty cheese

Active Member
What kind of alge? and what does "fine" mean ? Post your test results. How long are your lights on everyday?Cutting down on them will help control the alge not keeping them on longer.
HTH S.C.:)
P.S. Don't listen to that other poster.:mad:
 

nas19320

Active Member
The phosphates are contributing to your algae, are you using tap water? I think you mean Actinic lighting, right?
 

johnny5

Member
Bigarn, disregard the morons... One day they will realize they are a 50 yr old loser living all alone because they never learned how to make friends...
Your levels seem fine. It could be the phosphates tho, even .1 is still enough to feed algae. Also, algae traps phosphates so your actual amount of phosphates may be higher than what the test is showing. You may want to try using a phosphate sponge for a few days to see it that helps. If your tank is new, its normal for you to go thru an algae bloom or 2.
Things that can help:
-2-5% water change, your tank is small so dont change too much as it could make your tank start a cycle. Smaller more frequent water changes will do a world of good.
-cleanup crew, try adding a turbo snail or 2
-reduce your feeding if you feeding a lot
-reduce your lighting by and hour or so until the algae bloom subsides (7-9 hours, no more)
This had nothing to do with how you setup the tank.. its normal to have algae. Your tank has to find a balance between the amount of nutrients your adding (food/suppliments) and what eats the nutrients (critters, coral, algae). So be patient and take everyones advise with a grain of salt.
About the lighting, actinic lights simulate the blue spectrum light of the deep ocean. It does help coral but it will not do anything to help the algae, infact adding more light could make it worse. I would take care of the algae before adding more lighting.
Just curious, what are you using for filtering? LR, biowheel, skimmer? Im not a nano expert and I am new to sw reefing, but I have learned a ton in the last 4 months. Much of it was from this forum.
Hope this helps.
 
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