film algae

debbie

debbie

Active Member
Since my new light T5HO on my little tank I have issues with algae on the glass more often.
My lfs said its the tubes they are not 10,000k but that is what it says on the tubes.
Another person said its from feeding some flake food, but i fed flake food with the old lights and never had this problem.
But i have noticed it with the new lights more than anything.
Any suggestions
 
luvmyreef

luvmyreef

Active Member
How long do you run your lights? You might try cutting it back by an hour or two, sometimes this helps.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
How long do you run the lights for? Did you just swap them and keep the same time, or did you break them in?
What's your CUC like?
What's your phosphate level?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3257663
How long do you run the lights for? Did you just swap them and keep the same time, or did you break them in?
What's your CUC like?
What's your phosphate level?

However, algae (not hair algae) is normal and a sign of a healthy tank. It is inevitable to have algae, you need a CUC that can handle it. My tangs love the algae I allow to grow on the sides and back of the tank, they nibble on it all day long.
Use mag floats to keep algae off the front glass, and have critters like the lawnmower blenny, or maybe a kole tang, or sea hare, urchins …all kinds of critters to chose from that feeds on algae depending on your tank size..
Phosphates create hair algae, bright lights is what algae loves and it feeds on it, so when you upgraded the lights you helped your corals but also the algae. What feeds corals feeds algae, even the food you add. So you are going to have it regardless, because it is normal.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
We all get film algae on our glass.... that's what's feeding a lot of the smaller critters in our tanks that are feeding larger critters, like coral and fish. Are you seeing other problems within the tank due excessive nutrients?
You tank was probably a little heavy on the nutrient side, and then when you added the new light it took advantage of it. At this point I would just step up maintenance, personally. I clean my glass about once a week. Maybe twice if I'm looking for some pics mid-week or something.
I'd probably add a couple more film algae eaters, like BTL suggested, if your CUC isn't already stocked with appropriate critters.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
What do you mean new lights? Just bulbs, new fixture etc. etc. What did you have on the tank before for lights (fixture bulbs etc)
An algae film on the glass is pretty normal and is why MagFloat is in business.
Always remember that algae needs nutrients to grow so check your feeding schedule and your filtration maintenance.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
If I'm remembering correctly, this is a small (3-5 gallon) tank. Smaller tanks are harder to keep nutrient levels down in. This is one of the reasons that I don't feed flake in small tanks.
Add more of a CUC, you're probably only going to be able to do snails and get a magfloat.
Keep an eye on phosphate levels, everytime I've used flake food, I have phosphate issues which will cause excess algae (more than the typical film algae build up on the glass).
What is your stocklist for this tank?
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
Hello all and here are some answers.
The tank is 5.5 gal, so tangs (oh lord when they miniaturize them I am getting one...
) etc will not help but I should have stated the size when I posted, sorry my bad.
The stock is: 1 Purple Firefish Goby, 1 Pom Pom Crab, 1 Porcelain Crab, 2 Sexy Shrimp, 1 Hermit Crab, 1 Algae Eating Cowrie, assorted Rics and Zoas.
There is no hair algae in the tank at all, just on the glass and I do scrape it off with a blade.
The past lights were 18 watts PC and when the new ones came 36 watts T5HO I just put them right onto the tank and believe me the corals went nuts but like you say so did the algae. This is a complete new fixture.
I feed once a day combo of flake and frozen with one fish it feed very sparingly but I also give my porcelain crab a pellet or two as well.
The tank temp is 78 degrees
Lights are on 12 hrs
Tank was a previous 3 gal for the past few years and recently about 4 months ago moved everything including filter over to the 5.5 gal the only thing I had to do was add more water.
So I guess what you are all saying is that this is normal so I will just have to scrape more often. Thats okay maybe I can add one more cowrie or snail and see if that helps any too.
Any suggestions on the best snails for a tank of this size.
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
Forgot one fish I would love to add but don't know if I should or not and would love the glass to bits is the very tiny teeny Two Spot Blenny Bimaculatus one. Any thoughts?? They are Herbivores.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3257721
Forgot one fish I would love to add but don't know if I should or not and would love the glass to bits is the very tiny teeny Two Spot Blenny Bimaculatus one. Any thoughts?? They are Herbivores.
I was going to suggest a Tail Spot, the Two Spot is very similary. Increasing your bioload will make it harder to keep clean, just keep that in mind.
I think you need more snails. Try to find some small ones, I love a combo of Nassarius, Cerith and Trochus snails, but finding smaller ones can be tough. Maybe someone else can chime in with some smaller snails that might help you out.
12 hours is a long time. I'd cut back on the lighting a little bit, especially if you don't have SPS in the tank. This will help with the algae, and if you want to go to 12 hours again, slowly increase. Film algae on the glass is common, but besides scraping, a good CUC, water changes and lighting times do help.
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
this is what I like about carbon (vodka/vinegar) dosing (not an option for this size tank). Virtually eliminates film algae for me (though sometimes replaces with white bacteria film when overdone. still more attractive than algae and more visable looking from the backside of the glass than directly at the display). I'm not talking about eliminate like every 5 days, I mean like I could and have gone weeks without hendering visability.
IMO snails/fish/any live stock do nothing for film algae other than leave a bunch of tracks/teeth marks thru it. All the other things work pretty well (reduced light cycle, low bioload ect).
As for new lights equally more film algae=typical on all but the most mature/low nutrient systems (assume new lights are an upgrade from what you had). more light helps things you want and dont want to grow. ANY kind of algae present before has the potential to benefit from the lights just like corals ect. I wouldn't be overly concerned with the kelvin, if they are 18k opposed to 10k yet still a significant upgrade from what you had same results can occur. reduced light cycle is probably the best approach, I too think 12hrs is a bit much especially considering the significance of the upgrade. I'd probably cut it in half and maybe eventually crank it to 8hr max (actually wouldn't considering the firepower over such a small tank).
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
Sorry its a reddish color, its really easy to get off as I just scraped it. Nissan has the same light and also has to scrape more often too. I have no algae issues on the rocks, corals etc only the glass. But it takes a few miniutes to just scrape it and its good for 4-5 days. So thats not to bad, one fish that would love this algae would be a tiny blenny, he would have a hay day eating all day long ont he glass. But I have a fish in this tank already.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3258926
How long do all you reefers have our lights on for each day??
Here's my lighting schedule:
Actinics on for 2 hours alone in the morning, then daylights come on w/ actinics (because I like the look they give to the corals) for 8 hours, then actnics on for 2 hours alone in the evening
 
mdgreene

mdgreene

New Member
I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if you (or anyone else) had finally resolved this problem. I too upgraded my lights from a 265 PC setup to a 216 T5 setup about a month and a half ago, and am having the same algae problem you were having. My problem is only on the back glass. The front gets a little green algae, but the back since the lighting change flares up with film algae, seems more like sheets of algae - when I scrape it off, it comes off in sheets I scoop it all out thinking eventually it will go away, but it never does. It comes back after about 4-5 days. I never had this kind of problem before the lighting change. I have a CUC, but they don't touch this stuff, so it makes me think it may be more cyano than algae. 0 phosphates, 0 nitrates. small amounts on the sand of brownish algae, which again may be cyano, but no slimy red algae that is normally considered cyano. And I have been getting more "tufts" of hairy red algae (again, cyano?) that is growing on my in tank circulation pump outlets - it's weird how it is attaching to the outlet ring of the pump cage - and it's hard as heck to scrape off!
 
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