algea control in the reef tank by:reefreak29

[reefreak29]

one of the most annoying problems in the home reef tank is endesirable algea.three major problem algeas that ive incuontered in my reef are green hair algea,brown diotoms and red slime algea aka cyono bacteria.
BROWN DIATOM ALGEA: usually accurs in newer reef tanks. mostly because of the introduction of live rock, wich introduces silicates and nutrients to your tank.
a brown film soon coats your sand bed.The control of diotoms is fairly easy.u first need a benificial cleen up crew trochus and astraea snails eagerly consume the brown diotoms. The second thing u want to do is perform regular water changes to remove access nutrients.
CYONO BACTERIA: red slime algea has to be one of the most frustrating for new reefers.It usually breaks out on the surface of the sand substrate.2 ways that i know to remove the cyono is to firstincrease your water flow u want to remove any stagnent areas by the substate. Two remove excess nutrient, I prefer to do a 10 percent weekly water change with ro di water or di water. (do not use tap water) while doing a water change syphon out as much red algea as possible,also dont be afraid to cut your light back and your feeding, I leeve my light on for 10 hrs a day in my 90 gal tank its ok to cut back to 5 hrs for a couple of weeks.
GREEN HAIR ALGEA: who hasnt experienced this.this algea loves bright light and astablished reef tanks. Green hair algea consumes excess nutrients faster then any other algea.Below are measures and steps of riding this FOREVER
1.-make sure u have a protien skimmer and its suitible for your size tank, for proper working conditions make sure u clean out skimmer cup every other day to have 100 percent working capability also make sure your pump stays clean for maximum flow
2. decrease lighting just like with the cyono cut your light in half
3. perform regular water changes again i like 10 percent weekly, when doing a water change suck out as much algea as possible, use only di water or rodi.
never use tap , tap water has high nitrates, phosphates and nitrites.
4.phisicly remove the algea by riping it of the rock,keep a cup of di water next to u to rinse your fingers each time u put your hands back in the tank to insure all spores are off and your not reintroducing the algea to your water,after about 20 hrs of manually removing the algea your inverts aka cleanup crew should keep it under control.
in colclusion please do regular water changes, feed small amounts every other day, only use rodi or di water and dont keep your lights on for more then 10 hrs a day. everyone experiences algea blooms in there tank i hope this help in managing the problem algeas

 

[addicted2]

Nice thread.

 

[reefreak29]

ty

 

[rbaldino]

I think it's good that you put this together. However, I've done everything you mentioned and still had algae problems. The only thing that got rid of the red slime was Chemiclean, and the only thing that got rid of diatoms was Phosguard. I think all of your remedies are good for prevention, but probably won't dramatically fix a major problem on their own, IMO.

 

[addicted2]

Originally Posted by rbaldino
I think it's good that you put this together. However, I've done everything you mentioned and still had algae problems. The only thing that got rid of the red slime was Chemiclean, and the only thing that got rid of diatoms was Phosguard. I think all of your remedies are good for prevention, but probably won't dramatically fix a major problem on their own, IMO.
phosguard?..what is it?..how do you use it?

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by addicted2
phosguard?..what is it?..how do you use it?
yes u could use chemiclean, but i try to limit the amount of chemicals i put in my tank, kindof a naturalist i guess , and u could potentially do more damage then good when using this,it potentialy can kill your good bacteria as well as the bad
phosgaurd is a good way to get phosphates down u can get a filter bag from your lfs and put it in a good flow area in your sump

 

[addicted2]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
yes u could use chemiclear, but i try to limit the amount of chemicals i put in my tank, kindof a naturalist i guess , and u could potentiolly do more damage then good when using this,it potentialy kill your good bacteria as well as the bad
phosgaurd is a good way to get phosphates down u can get a filter bag from your lfs and put it in a good flow area in your sump
do you think the phosguard is kind of dangerous to use?..I just have the diatom problem..My tank is only 2 months old..I don't want it to get ahead of me.

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by addicted2
do you think the phosguard is kind of dangerous to use?..I just have the diatom problem..My tank is only 2 months old..I don't want it to get ahead of me.
in my opinion it is safe to use just follow the instruction carefully

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
in my opinion it is safe to use just follow the instruction carefully
Phosguard is safe to use. It's basically just a magnet for silicates and phosphates, which cause the diatom problems. Follow the instructions, and hopefully they will go away. After that, it's up to you to decide if you want to keep it in or periodically add it to keep things clean. And make sure you get actual Phosguard by Seachem. I've tried other stuff that just doesn't work.

 

[urethekau]

feed small amounts every other day
See, now, here is where I always have a problem. I get red slime and use chemiclean because none of these other measures work. Everything I've learned about fish is that they must be fed at least 2-3 times a day for a number of reasons. I have a trigger, for instance, that is a voracious eater. If I only fed him every other day, he'd be the only fish left in the tank. "Overfeeding"? What does that mean? How much is too much, and how much is not enough? There is no solid answer to that question, and I don't buy that three minute rule because I have a pair of mandarins that eat all day and night long. So do angelfish, tangs, and the list goes on. I do however stick to the twice a day feeding because I do think three is too much, my trigger is getting as big as a house as it is. I've also learned that you CAN do too much water changing which I used to think was impossible. If you change too much water too often, you can deplete your good bacteria which I have done. How old does a tank have to be before it isn't a problem anymore, does anybody know? :help:

 

[dennis210]

First great thread!
Second, to determine if you are over feeding just look at the skimmer is it always pulling out massive amounts of skimmete? Check nutrient levels - ie. Am, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Phos. If elevated cut down feeding. Also are your fish pot bellied largemouth bass looking? If so look at body shapes of most all saltwater species - they are sleek hyrodynamically shaped. Just something to consider as I have heard so often, "all tank parameters fine" and then I go look and here's a skimmer cup that must be emptied daily and very fat fish,
it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
feed small amounts every other day
See, now, here is where I always have a problem. I get red slime and use chemiclean because none of these other measures work. Everything I've learned about fish is that they must be fed at least 2-3 times a day for a number of reasons. I have a trigger, for instance, that is a voracious eater. If I only fed him every other day, he'd be the only fish left in the tank. "Overfeeding"? What does that mean? How much is too much, and how much is not enough? There is no solid answer to that question, and I don't buy that three minute rule because I have a pair of mandarins that eat all day and night long. So do angelfish, tangs, and the list goes on. I do however stick to the twice a day feeding because I do think three is too much, my trigger is getting as big as a house as it is. I've also learned that you CAN do too much water changing which I used to think was impossible. If you change too much water too often, you can deplete your good bacteria which I have done. How old does a tank have to be before it isn't a problem anymore, does anybody know? :help:
well u are right there are certain fish that need to be fed daily or more, fortunatly i dont have any of those kind of fish.
i experienced red algea mainly the first year i had my tank and never got it again,i refuse to use chemiclean.
if i start to over feed again and dont do my 10 percent water changes every weak i can insure u that it would come back
10 percent water changes weakly is not over kill

 

[theappe]

I recently had a red slime outbreak (cyano) and I took care of it with the "Red Slime Remover" you get at the LFS. So far so good. Just make sure to do good water changes afterwards.

 

[reefreak29]

bump

 

[addicted2]

Originally Posted by theappe
I recently had a red slime outbreak (cyano) and I took care of it with the "Red Slime Remover" you get at the LFS. So far so good. Just make sure to do good water changes afterwards.
That little pic by your name..what is it?..it is so cute!

 

[reefreak29]

yeah that is pretty cool is it a hawk fish

 

[theappe]

Originally Posted by addicted2
That little pic by your name..what is it?..it is so cute!

No, its some sort of african goby. I believe its poisonous. Dont recall where the I got the pic from.

 

[jessi p]

Theappe, merry meet - I train at Mountaineer - do you race at Hialeah?

 

[reefreak29]

bump

 

[theappe]

Originally Posted by Jessi P
Theappe, merry meet - I train at Mountaineer - do you race at Hialeah?

I dont know what your talking about really?? :notsure: