Day 58 in DT.. crazy Algae?

[xxevikaxx]

It has now been the 58th day our DT has been running, we have Nova Xtreme T5 lighting, HOT protein skimmer, LR, LS etc..Corals are as follows Gionopora, hard pink coral, 20 green coral mushroom and there are like 4 lil fish, 2 cleaner shrimp and 4 astri snails. All tests i have done are normal, but still dark algae patches growing on the sand on the rocks and lots of air bubbles attaching to the rock i have been doing 5-10% water changes every couple days and it still keeps coming back, could it be that i must do a bigger water change?any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!

 

[ray j neal]

Are you using reverse osmosis (R.O.) water? If not, due to the added minerals, this may be your problem.
In a bit,
Ray

 

[xxevikaxx]

I do water changes with tap water and add 1/2 cap of PRIME which removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia, and Top Offs with distilled water and a few drops of genesis

 

[mr. limpid]

You need to chk for Phosphates, it may be in your tap water. If you are doing a reef tank highly recommend getting yourself an RO system. Will definitly help in the alge groth problem, and will help your corals general health.

 

[sepulatian]

What color is the algae on the sand? Are there excess micro bubbles coming out of your skimmer?

 

[xxevikaxx]

i was thinking about that as well its definatley a good idea(RO)...the algae on the sand is like dark dark grey almost black, the excess micro bublles are coming out of wherever there is algae, yes there are micro air bubbles coming out of my skimmer obviously when water hits water what happens...bubbles from skimmer/filter that shouldnt have anything to do with it i would like to post a picture for you too see that would be the best...how to post pics?

 

[sepulatian]

Click on quick reply then you will see a tab to go advanced. From there click on manage attachments.
I was asking about the micro bubbles because the skimmer can throw more than it should. You have to adjust the setting to reduce the amount of bubbles.

 

[confusedfishy]

Sep...not to go off subject but where would those extra bubbles from the skimmer appear in the tank, where the water enters? We are having a problem with microbubbles too and can't figure it out, but we weren't looking at the skimmer for causing it. We had heard that if the skimmer isn't big and good enough for the tank size that algae might grow like the above mentioned.