algae question

horsemen

horsemen

Member
ok my tank is 6 ft long but in one side i have algae bad. i have tried to clean it out by vacuum the sand. that doesn't work to well.
and none of my clean up crew seems to eat it
hydrometer is 1.021-1.022
lights are 48 in long 50/50 coralife and blue 03 light lights on 6 hr a day
from 1pm -7 pm
no2 0.1
no3 30
phosphate 0.1
calcium 450
ammonia less than .002
kH 130
dkh 7.5
equipment
hang on back 110 gal filter
65 gal canister filter
sea clone 150 skimmer
3 power heads for water movement
fish
11 red legged hermit crabs
3 snail unk type real small
2 astro turbo snails
2 yellow tail damsels
1 sleeper goby "sand shifter"
1 lawn mower blenny
1 sand star
5 mushroom corals
a feather duster not sure what to classify it
20 pounds live rock
120 pounds live sand
pic of my algae any advice on how to get rid of it or what kind it is so i can look it up will help.


 
horsemen

horsemen

Member
ya but what i have will not eat it so i need to know what would.
the rest of the tank is more less spot less they walk over this area and dont touch it.
so i think its a type they dont like
 
cdangel0

cdangel0

Member
Looks like diatoms. How old is the set-up?
Have you tried re-positioning a power head to blow across that area? Could just be the result of a dead area of flow.
 
horsemen

horsemen

Member
tank about 6 mo old now in the last pic u see one of my power heads so its not a dead area
i was thinking the same thing but its has a little bit of hair in it like hair algae once it forums the hair its real dark almost black
also the skimmer is right thier also on the back corner of the tank
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by MichaelTX
http:///forum/post/2562186
that actually looks like cyno bacteria to me. does it look like a mat and come up in big pieces?
Mike
I agree. I see light diatomic growth too.
the tank looks like it could use a little more lr to assist in filtration, (well make that a lot more rock
)
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
where do you keep your beneficial bacteria for this 6' tank?
do you have bio balls in your filters? 20 pounds of rock will not sustain a 6' tank, so i imagine this is going to be the case until you add more surface for bacteria- more live rock would be the sensible choice. the 120 pounds of live sand, all spread out, doesn't make much of a deep sand bed, so i wouldn't count on that to be much of a help from a filtration standpoint.
i don't think a "clean up" crew will do the trick.
you also should slowly raise your salinity to that of natural seawater at the reefs where we pull these animals from. that is .025-.026.
i am also not sure that is diatom algae because of the fact that your snails and crabs don't bother with it. i'm betting it's cyanobacteria. is the flow less in that area?
you could increase that, and it should appear to lessen, but the bottom line is nutrient export.
how well is your filtration working?
 
horsemen

horsemen

Member
Originally Posted by MichaelTX
http:///forum/post/2562186
that actually looks like cyno bacteria to me. does it look like a mat and come up in big pieces?
Mike
yes it dose kind of soft clumps
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2562191
I agree. I see light diatomic growth too.
the tank looks like it could use a little more lr to assist in filtration, (well make that a lot more rock
)
i add a rock every week -week and hafe trying to get it up to 100 pound
Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2562201
where do you keep your beneficial bacteria for this 6' tank?
do you have bio balls in your filters? 20 pounds of rock will not sustain a 6' tank, so i imagine this is going to be the case until you add more surface for bacteria- more live rock would be the sensible choice. the 120 pounds of live sand, all spread out, doesn't make much of a deep sand bed, so i wouldn't count on that to be much of a help from a filtration standpoint.
i don't think a "clean up" crew will do the trick.
you also should slowly raise your salinity to that of natural seawater at the reefs where we pull these animals from. that is .025-.026.
i am also not sure that is diatom algae because of the fact that your snails and crabs don't bother with it. i'm betting it's cyanobacteria. is the flow less in that area?
you could increase that, and it should appear to lessen, but the bottom line is nutrient export.
how well is your filtration working?
i have bio rings in the fliters "over hang and cansiter " i have alot of flow with the 3 power heads 2 fliters and skimmer also thier a power head right next to this area as seen in pic 3 i have a power head on each end of the tank and one in the middle that sweeps left to right
the filters only have the spongs and rings in them
 
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