Big green monster

B

Bryson

New Member
Hey everyone, quick overview: I have a 40 gal saltwater (fish only) tank. 2 clowns, 1 yellowtail damsel, 1 purple dottyback, 1 snail (not sure which kind). Tank has been up and running for approx 1.5 years

A few months ago i had a cyanobacteria outbreak. Red slime covered probably 50% of the tank. I got that to go away but now i have a large amount of green hair algae.

Today, i tested several aspects of my tank water which is as follows:
Temp: 77 F
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: undetectable
Nitrites: undetectable
Nitrates: very low
Phosphate: less than .25 ppm

First question, any tips on getting rid of this green hair algae?
Second question, one rock has approximately 90% coverage of hair algae, would you recommend bleaching it, and if so how do you go about bleaching a rock and returning it to the tank?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Even though your tests say no nitrate or phosphate it is there. It is just being used up by the algae.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Basically you need to determine the source of the nitrates. Often it is over feeding and eliminate that. Are you using tap water or RODI water? You can increase the volume and frequency of your water changes. for exampe, 20-25% every week instead of 10% every month. If you are using T5 lights it may be time to change out your bulbs. You can reduce the time your lights are on.
You don't need or necessarily want nitrates at 0. The fact that the algae is growing well indicates that you tank is generating much more nitrate and phosphate than you are measuring. The algae needs both to grow so essentially it is using it up.
There are other ways of lowering nitrates, bio pellets, carbon dosing. There is a produce called Vibrant (a bacterial additive) that actually works well at lowering nitrates and eliminating algae. None are instant fixes. The above methods do require that you have a skimmer.
You could add a refugium with macro algae (I sound like BeasleBob). That will compete for the nutrients. You need to make the fuge a favorable place for plant growth with the correct lighting for plants. I'd also clean the bad rock with a brush in a bucket of salt water. This way you aren't killing the rock just removing the algae.
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Hello!
When I had algae, I always removed it manually. Because that removes the nutrients from the system. I scrubbed it off the rocks with a bottle brush and used a fish net, sponge in the sump and skimmer to remove it all.

I did that repeatedly for 3-4 weeks while watching my feeding and increasing my lightning schedule for my refugium and decreasing it to 6hrs for my display tank and it went away. However it did take 3-4 months for all traces f algae to disappear.

Now I have nitrates 5-10ppm but now algae because the tank stabilized and I have 2 rabbitfish. But I know it's not growing because my sump stays clean too
 
S

Shilpan

Member
Also I'd advise against adding live stock to eat it.

Because that doesn't remove nutrients from the system. Add the livestock after you have it under some control
 
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