Help green algae on aquarium walls and equipment

[daj0424]

I am not using just tap water. I am using the tap water filter by aquarium pharmaceuticals. I also added a couple poly filters to help the filter. I have tested the water and it comes out pretty good. 0 nitrates, nitrites, 0 ammonia. I do belive this is a great filter for the money and a good alternative to RO/DI water.

 

[misfit]

that is better than just plain tap water but not as good as RO/DI water.You tested for amm, nit,nitra, but what about everything else?Those filters are not made to get rid of all the unwanted minerals that can cause the algea problem you are having now.Have you tested for phosphates?Im sure it is high. Things that you cant even test for ,I'm sure is present in tap water and in certain areas during different times of the year, your water municipality changes the tap water and this too can have an effect on your tank.The only way to completely rule out water as being your alge problem, would be to switch to RO.IMO

 

[rusting]

misfit is giving you good advise RO/DI will save money and lots of grief down the road, Ive been there and done that.

 

[stanlalee]

well if you test for phophates and nitrates and they are zero I dont think the water is the problem (could be a problem for livestock health but thats another issue). I still dont think you really have a problem. Some algae production is just apart of an aquarium. Once a tank has matured and levels remain acceptable and constant a certain predictable amount of algae will develop. There shouldn't be any blooms or inconsistancy but after a while you should just know every 3 days or every week or every whenever it happens in your tank you'll have to clean the glass. I get a dusting of algae on my front glass and I know if I want it to look crystal clear I'm just going to have to run my net across it every 3 or 4 days to clear it. I could add a bunch of jumbo mexican snails but they are hidieous to me and it takes maybe 10 minutes every 3 or 4 days to clean off the glass. Put it this way if you dont have an algae problem on your live rock and other areas but your glass (back glass no less) its probably not that much of a problem. Once your water parameters are where you want them there are only three major things you can change besides livestock: flow, lights and maintenence.

 

[rusting]

You may need more flow rate, I added 2 powerheads Rio 600's I put them on PVC pipe Cut the bottom at 45 and send the water down to the bottom of the tank, you can get a big endcap to set them in, to keep your sand from blowing around