green algae prob

jwalters77

jwalters77

Member
I just put 55lbs of LR in my 55FOWLR and now I seem to have a bad case of algae...I did about a 10-15% water change 2 days ago but today it seems worse...My ammonia level has also spiked to 4ppm...luckly I don't have anything in the tank but LR and 70lbs of southdown with 45lbs of live sand...other than the ammonia water quality is great....i have cut down the time my light stays on to about 4hours a day....should I leave it off completely? What else can I do??
Thanks
Jake
 
jwalters77

jwalters77

Member
can anyone help...please!!! my lfs doesn't know what they are talking about...my nitrates have come up to 10ppm...nitrite is about.25ppm...and pH is constant at 8.3 temp is between 76-78 I have cut the lighting down to about 4hrs a day...the tank is not near a window or anything...
thanks
Jake
 
cchung718

cchung718

Member
I agree that you're still in cycle. I don't know too much about green algae because I never had that problem. But if it's anything like brown algae, see if you can get rid of phosphates in the water. I think that's one of their food sources. Lighting should be a main factor also. Good luck.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
How long has your 55 tank been set up ?
You said you have nothing in your tank, no fish no inverts, I assume this is a recent setup then.
I'm guessing that you had your tank up and running for a period of time with the substrate and live sand. What did you initially cycle your tank with ? And how long ago was that ?
55 pounds of LR in a 55 gallon tank - cured or uncured will have significant die off, and you would expect to see a rise in your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Rock can not be shipped 2nd day service without expecting some die off. Adding the live rock had caused your tank to cycle again. Water changes at this point will only prolong the cycle.
Some folks including myself leave the tank lights off when cycling a tank. Personally I leave them off for the entire cycle 3-4 weeks. Only after the water tests are right do I start adding light. This discourages algae growth during the time your tank is in cycle. Others may disagree - but I can assure you it does keep the algae in check.
Brian
 
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