Green Algae on glass

[fly4funn]

I've got a problem with green algae on the glass of my Red Sea reef tank that I can't seem to get under control.

Below are my water test results. I do a 6 gallon water change every 2 weeks with RO water only. I use Reef Crystals for my salt mix and allow the water to sit for 2 days before doing the water change with a pump keeping the water circulating. Corals look great, tank looks bad with all the green glass. Haven't been able to get any coraline algae to grow despite putting scraping from the LFS in the tank. Have a 2 inch sand bed and roughly 50 lbs of LR in the tank. I have 2 other FO tanks in the same room and have no problem with either of these. I use Tetratest test kits except for the calcium which is Aquarium Pharmaceuticals brand. The tank is about 9 months old. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
1.025 on the refractometer
PH is 8.25 on a digital meter and cross test the same with test kit
Alk is 0
NO3 is about 25
KH is 11
Calcium is 440
Water temp is 79 to 81
Lights are on from about 4 PM until 12 midnight
Thanks in advance!

 

[darknes]

Every reef tank gets the green algae on the glass.
I clean mine daily with a magfloat, and then scrape it once a week with a razor blade.

 

[fatcat]

Do you have any snails??? They work wonders in my tank...

 

[fly4funn]

Yes I do have snails in the tank but never see them on the glass, just on the sand bed. I would expect a little algae to grow but this is a lot. I can clean it with the magfloat and it's back the next day. Close to the sand where I don't scrub is just about a solid green and can't be seen through. The round corners are a pain to clean even with a scraper. Maybe I'll just get more snails and continue with the cleaning if this is the norm.

 

[errattiq]

Ok, here comes the question barrage lol. What are your nitrates/nitrites/ammonia levels? More pressingly, what are your phosphate levels? What size is your tank? A 6 gallon water change may not be enough and you may have too many dissolved organics that algae LOVE to feed off in your system. What type of filter do you use and how often is it changed? Do you have a UV sterilizer? What type of lights do you have? How many fish are in your tank? A lot of questions beg to be answered to find your algae problem's solution. I can probably help you if you can at least answer those.
-josh

 

[spanko]

Algae needs nutrients. where are the nutrients coming from, this should be your first evaluation. Secondly, and this is just an aside really, does this tank get any direct sunlight? While that in and of itself will not cause the algae on the glass it the nutrient levels are high then the sunlight will contribute to the growth.
JMO

 

[kjord97]

Everyone will get some form of growth on the glass. It is perfectly normal. As Darknes said, scrape daily with a magfloat and then clean with razor weekly or monthly. All depends on how fast it grows.

 

[bizzmoneyb]

Originally Posted by fly4funn
http:///forum/post/2650023
Yes I do have snails in the tank but never see them on the glass, just on the sand bed.
What kind of snails? Nass snails stay on the sandbed, but turbo snails should climb on the glass and rocks.

 

[kjord97]

I find that the snails you get on E Bay from people on the Carolina coast do very well. They also multiply very quickly.
ILyanassa Obsoleta) These snails are excellent and safe for all types of marine and reef aquariums. They don't consume any form of hair algae but they will help keep it at bay by consuming the detritus on which it feeds.. They eat slime algae - red carpet algaet you find in your tanks from high nutrient content and inefficient skimming. These are much more active and tend to do a much more efficient job of keeping the glass clean as well
They run about $35 for 300 of them. I have used them for years and they work great.

 

[fly4funn]

Originally Posted by errattiq
http:///forum/post/2650028
Ok, here comes the question barrage lol. What are your nitrates/nitrites/ammonia levels? More pressingly, what are your phosphate levels? What size is your tank? A 6 gallon water change may not be enough and you may have too many dissolved organics that algae LOVE to feed off in your system. What type of filter do you use and how often is it changed? Do you have a UV sterilizer? What type of lights do you have? How many fish are in your tank? A lot of questions beg to be answered to find your algae problem's solution. I can probably help you if you can at least answer those.
-josh
Nitrates are 25
Nitrites are 0
Ammonia is 0
Have not tested for phosphates. Water is the same water used in other tanks with no algae. Tank is 34 gallon Red Sea Reef setup so with the rock I suspect there is about 30 which makes 6 gallons a 20% change. Lights are what came with the tank and are CF. No sterilizer, no filtration other than LR and LS. Same setup as on all my tanks. Four fish, 1 mandrian, 1 black and gold, 1 redlip blenny, and 1 Filamented Flasher Wrasse. Numerous hermits and snails, 3 Emerald Crabs, and 1 serpent star.

 

[fly4funn]

The tank does not get direct sunlight. It does get indirect light just like the others. The snails were a part of a cleaning crew purchased from the Carolina coast people and consisted of Nassarius snails and Astrea snails. I've got some turbo's that will be here today. Hopefully that will help!

 

[spanko]

Yup just sounds like normal glass algae. I found that mine subsided over time. Then when I went from PC lights to Halide it has all but disappeared. Don't know if there is a connection there but it is what occurred.

 

[lovethemfish]

If you are using anytype of exturnal filtration, make sure you are either cleaning the filter media daily , or just take it out completly. I also used to have a problem with green algae. I removed all my filter floss and just have exturnal filters for extra flow. Since there is no nutrients for the algae to feed on I have much less of it.

 

[imdaring]

I was having problems with my tank looking like the water was Green / Yellow and I had a green algea on the glass that I had to use my mag. to remove every day so I asked them at the pet store he had me get a box of carbon that goes into canister filter and place it in a mesh bag and then place the mesh bag in my wet/dry sump under the water flow and by that night it was clear..
if you try this make sure you remove the carbon after 2 weeks otherwise it will leek back into the tank.