bad algea bad

whackamole

whackamole

Member
if got tons and tons of algea. my tank is a 29 and it is Not newly developed. it is by a window but it only can get to one side and ironicly thats not the side of trouble some. Ok... i clean my sand in the morning and less then 5 hours later its turning brown again. some of my rocks (most of them that are placed in the sand) are getting the thick red algea that comes off in chunks. and some peices are being covered in hair algea. im not having to much trouble with the green slime on the glass but maybe thats because i clean it everyday!!!! i have 13 astro snails as my clean up crew and the guy at the store asked me the size of my tank and then smiled and asked if i had ALOT of algea like these guys were going to dye of starvation cause i wouldnt have enough algea. but it grows so fast that they dont even make a dent. my lights are on about 8 hours (196 pc). i have a coral banded shrimp and 4 small fish ( no bigger the 1 1/2 inches). should i buy more snails?? or should i get some bottled of algea gone or whatever??? If you know the problem and can help me fix it i would be in love with you.
please :help:
 
fgcu14

fgcu14

Member
the problem could be that your tank is placed next to your window. All of the sunlight it gets plus the PC light is alot of light and will cause algea blooms
 
kelly

kelly

Member
Red algae is most likely from old light and/or low water flow. When did you last change your bulbs? How much water flow do you have and have you cleaned the intake of your power heads lately. The shift in the light spectrum could also be causing the green algae to grow. Let us know what level your phosphates are and a little more info on the tank would be nice.
Skimmer or not? Fish (how many&size), how often do you feed, how many powerheads and what size, any additional filtering, etc. Help us out a little and we may be able to help you resolve your problem.
Kelly
 
whackamole

whackamole

Member
ok. lights about 3 months. a canister filter for a 65 gallon. a 65g coralife protein skimmer. 4 small fish. some corals. water flow im not to sure of ill try to check in the morning. i dont have a phosphate tester so ill have to go out and buy one (thats probaly the reason). i dont feed alot. i feed small amounts though day.
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Definately look at PO4 levels, also feeding is still too much. Try one time a day every other day or even every 3rd day. Also try some Chemi-clean and follow the directions exactly, it is safe for coral and inverts. It works best if you can manually get rid of alot of the algae(scraping,brushing,vacuuming, etc..) The stuff works. The only thing is that if you don't figure out where the extra nutrients are coming from, your problem will more than likely come back. Clean all filters daily or every other day, may help. What kind of corals? You may be able to turn 1 or 2 of your lights off. Come to think of it, try turning your lights off all together for a couple of days, especially during your clean up. Hope this is helpful.
Matt
 
whackamole

whackamole

Member
im not sure of my turnover but i checked my p4 and its a little high as well as my ph. i put some buffer in for the ph and some plants in for the phosphates.
my corals include a colt, candycane, galaxia, shrooms, gsp, anenome, frogspawn.
can i really b feeding 2 much. they always seem hungry and come to the top for food alot????
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Another thing that may just help, and not overnight mind you, but cut your big lights down to 5-6 hours only. I would also think that having the tank in front of a window is going to be detrimental. Check the food that you're feeding for phosphates. What kind of salt do you use? Do you top off and change with RO? All factors...
Good luck to you. I'm also looking at battling a small algae bloom in my new tank (started out with the lights on too long and still feeding as if my angel was in there
). It'll take a while, but we'll get rid of that cr#@.
Lisa :happyfish
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Fish will always pretty much act like they are starving. If not comfortable with advice, start with cutting back some, but really they will be fine. Fish in the wild have to compete for the stuff, they don't always get to eat everyday. As for your corals, most of them are med light requirement type, so your light is pretty good. You still could probably, if possible shut one off. How high is a little high as far as the PO4 goes? You may need more than just plants to take care of it. Hope this is helpful for you.
Matt
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by whackamole
im not sure of my turnover but i checked my p4
IMO Everyone should know exactly what their turnover is. Do you have powerheads?
 
whackamole

whackamole

Member
hey thanks for all the help guys. i think i found my problem when i bought the p4 tester. the tap water i was using was way too high and although my filter and skimmer was doing an amazing job of bring it down, the way i was losing and adding fresh water they couldnt keep up. so ill be looking in the way of an ro system or buying water from a local store. which i would hate to do but unfortantly i might have to while i try to earn the $$$
thanks a mill :cheer: :happyfish
 
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