Black Algae,,,,gross

suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
Does anyone know about this discusting Black to dark dark grey algae?? It grows and covers sand,,,(velvet looking on sand),,and then it grows in long long stings with bulbous kelp like thingies,,,What is it and how do you get rid of it permanently???????I was told to use H2O2 and it seemed to work for a while,,,but it always comes back,,,,it seems to stay under control if you dont turn the light on very much,,,,but how fun it that???????I need a cure,,,thank you
 
sly

sly

Active Member
How are you using hydrogen peroxide? I have never heard of this treatment before... It sounds like you have a hair algae problem. What kind of top off water do you put in the tank? Do you use a good filter? Do you have a clean up crew (snails, crabs, urchins, etc.)?
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
I do have a clean up crew as of two weeks ago,,,crabs snails and 2 surpant starfish,,,,I have lost quite a few of my crew though. I have 2 emporior 400,,,125 gal,,,2 powerheads. I use tap water and treat it for clorine and then add my salt,,,The tap water here is great as far as drinking it,,,it tasts good and for the most part I trust it,,,I forgot the meassurements but I think it is 1cc per gallon of the peroxide. It never hurt my clowns or my damsils,,,but I was told it will hurt inverts and some plants,,,,When I treated it turned all the black stuff to BRIGHT green color after about 12 hours,,,then in about 24 hours it was GONE,,,but always returned if I turned my light on. I went to my LFS and they said it was black slime,,,not algae and he gave me some red slime remover,,,it doesnt seem to have touched this problem so far,,,I treated yesturday with it and It apeears I havent done anything to it,,,It is coming back like mad,,,I think I will go back to the peroxide...
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
First problem is you are using tap water. This is most likely caused by that.
Other causes...
excess nutrients
too much light/too long of a light cycle
not enough flow
Are you feeding too much?
How long are your lights on for?
What kind of lights? How old are the bulbs?
How much turnover do you have in your tank? I would shoot for at least 25 gph.
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
that is 25 times your tank volume so in your case a minimum of 3125 gph but alot more depending on what you have in your tank.
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
I do have the Filters turned up all the way,,,I wouldnt know how to tell how much water flow I have. I am now going to start feeding every other day,,,I was feeding twice a day. The lights came with the tank and it is a year old....Do I need a different bulb??And what type and wattage??? How do I use anything but tap water when I need 30plus gallons at a time?????? Do I look into a RO system and what kind,,,there are a bunch to choose from.
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
If your bulbs are a year old, then chances are this is your problem as well. What kind of bulbs are they?
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
They are Eclipse Natural daylight F30T8 63",,,,,,,,You have been a big help,,,what kind of Ro sytem do I need,,,does it hook to the tank or under my sink???????/thank you SO much
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
That is freshwater, I wouldn't use it in saltwater. But I don't like to add anything to my tank.
You can get RO units for less than 200 bucks. I don't have one, I get my RO from work right now. I use to get 5 gallon bottles of it from a water supplier. But when I do get one I am just going to hook it up to the basement sink right by where I mix my water for water changes.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
I got a three chamber RO unit from Lowe's for about $160 and it was WELL worth it. If you can't buy a RO unit right now then at least buy the "Tap Water Filter" from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Do a google search on it if you haven't heard of it. It is a deionizing filter that will remove chlorine and metals from your water. I strongly recommend that you stop using tap water. This water is extremely unsafe in saltwater tanks. It usually has trace copper (toxic to inverts) and phosphates (bad for algae). On top of that, adding a chemical dechlorinator is not good for the tank either.
Start off by getting a filter, preferable a RO unit and then do some small water changes to start bringing your tank under control. Do a couple of water changes per week to clean the tank out.
What are your nitrate levels? Does the tank get any direct sunlight? What is your temp and do you know what your specific gravity is? I had a floating hydrometer fail on me and it showed that my water was 1.023 when it was actually only 1.016. Floating hydrometers will lose calibration over time as they absorb salts. Get a refractometer to check more accurately or get the fish store to check your water for you.
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
I found that RO at lowes and I didnt know if a 3 stage was good enough,,,Ok I guess it is,,,,after that I dont need declorinator??????? My nitrate shows 0 right now and so does the ammonia and nitrites,,,,I just got a new floating thingy,,,cuz I keep breaking them,,,,,I will invest in a different one of those,,,,No direct sunlight,,,the temp is 80 and I will check the specific gravity,,,(is that the carbonate hardness??) My lights are Eclipse Natural daylight F30T8 63" what bulbs should I be useing??
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Originally Posted by suicidepotato
I found that RO at lowes and I didnt know if a 3 stage was good enough,,,Ok I guess it is,,,,after that I dont need declorinator??????? My nitrate shows 0 right now and so does the ammonia and nitrites,,,,I just got a new floating thingy,,,cuz I keep breaking them,,,,,I will invest in a different one of those,,,,No direct sunlight,,,the temp is 80 and I will check the specific gravity,,,(is that the carbonate hardness??) My lights are Eclipse Natural daylight F30T8 63" what bulbs should I be useing??
No you do not need a dechlorinator with a RO unit. It filters the water and removes all the chlorine. Just add it to the tank. It's safe as it is.
That floating thingy is a hydrometer. It should read close to 1.023. That is your specific gravity, not carbonate hardness. SG is the measure of how much salt is disolved in the water. Distilled water has a specific gravity of 1.000 while seawater is slightly heavier due to the salts. Make sure you get this measurement... Also a hydrometer is inherintly innaccurate. When you replace it get a refractometer.
What brand of salt do you use? Are you using a saltwater test kit or one for freshwater? I'm curious because carbonate hardness is not something you check for in saltwater.
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
It is a saltwater master test kit, it has the ammonia nitrates nitries and ph,,,,my lfs sold me a hardmess test cuz my ph stays low, we took all means to raise it and I gave up on it,,,all I know right now is that it is in the green,,,but now that I think about it,,,,it took a LONG time to get it to the green when I was doing the last water change,,,,it seemed like WAY too much salt,,,Thank you for all your help
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Low pH WILL cause algae. No question about it. You say you had to use way too much salt... How did you mix your salt? Ideally you should always mix your salt over night before adding it to your tank. The water should be properly aerated and brought up to temperature.
I have a clean trashcan that I mix my salt in. I fill it with filtered RO water and drop a spare heater in it to bring it up to 80 degrees. Then I drop in either a power head to stir the water around or an air pump. Only after the temp has gone up do you start mixing salt. If you start mixing salt into cold water you will never get your SG where it should be. When water comes out of the tap it is very low in dissolved oxygen. It is also cold. These two factor throw off your sg. If you add salt to cold, unoxygenated water, you can get it just perfect but it won't stay that way. As soon as the water warms up and takes on oxygen, the SG will rise way beyond what you had it. This is because SG is a measure of dissolved substances. Oxygen can affect SG just like salt can. As your water absorbs oxygen it will cause the sg to go higher than what you intended. So always premix your salt before adding it to the tank. Let it mix overnight ideally so that it has time to form a homogenous mixture.
That saltwater kit is the same one I have. So let's start over... what are your temp, pH, SG, alk, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? pH should be 8.3. SG should be around 1.023-1.025. Alk is a measure of how much buffering your water has. If you have little buffering then your pH will drop.
What were you using to raise your pH and your hardness?
 
miamishrip

miamishrip

Member
they apparently arent meant to eat hair algae, but i have 3 emerald crabs in my 125 and they mow that stuff down! just something to consider.
 
fishygayle

fishygayle

New Member
I had this problem in the fall. I tried:
Total Black-out
suction the stuff off every day
changed bulbs
40 or so Narsissus snails
bunch of Hermit crabs
Sally light foot crab
None of that worked!
Finally Erythromycin. It killed off a lot of coraline algae...but it finally got rid of all that gross black blanket that covered the sand
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by fishygayle
Finally Erythromycin. It killed off a lot of coraline algae...but it finally got rid of all that gross black blanket that covered the sand
It probably also killed off much of your healthy bacteria in the tank.
 
suicidepotato

suicidepotato

Member
PH has always been a little low 7.8,,,the amonia was 0ppm,,,the nitires was 0ppm,,,and the nitrates were 0ppm,,,,temp is 80,,,sg 1.023,,,I will have to check on the alk,,,,thanks y'all
 
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