Help!!!! My reef tank is green.

[candio]

My reef tank looks really green. I have tried to turn off the lights for a couple of days, hopefully kill, what I thought was algae. But it is not helping. One day the tank looks like it is clearing up, and the next it looks worse. i can hardly even see my fish. Any suggestions?

 

[murph145]

check your phosphates
what kind of water are u using
what are your water paramters such as amonia nitrates and such
how old are your lights

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by candio
My reef tank looks really green. I have tried to turn off the lights for a couple of days, hopefully kill, what I thought was algae. But it is not helping. One day the tank looks like it is clearing up, and the next it looks worse. i can hardly even see my fish. Any suggestions?

What are your nitrites and nitrates? Phosphates? Do you have a skimmer? How often do you do water changes? What is the ph of your water. If your ph is low it could be carbon dioxide saturation as that can cause algae blooms. Is your tank getting hit by rays of sunlight from a window? How much water do you have turning over per hour?
A way to see if your water is saturated with CO2 is to take a gallon of it and put it in a bucket overnight it an airstone. In the morning before the lights turn on, test the ph of both the bucket and the tank. If the ph of the bucket is much higher than the tank, then it is possible that you have CO2 saturation.
Do you run carbon media in your tank? Do you use RO/DI water?

 

[candio]

Originally Posted by murph145
check your phosphates
what kind of water are u using
what are your water paramters such as amonia nitrates and such
how old are your lights
Lights are two months old- They are compact floures. Nitrate, nitrite, amonia fine. I do not have a phosphate test kit, but I bought phosphate media, and have been running it for about a week. Yes I run carbon. I use distilled water from wal mart.

 

[murph145]

hmm
what kind of algae is it>?
hair?
slime?
macro or micro?
most likely it has something to do with excess nutrients in your water
do u run a skimmer??
i would get a phosphate test and see what it comes back at then do some 20$ water changes and check the new water from walmart make sure its clean

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by candio
Lights are two months old- They are compact floures. Nitrate, nitrite, amonia fine. I do not have a phosphate test kit, but I bought phosphate media, and have been running it for about a week. Yes I run carbon. I use distilled water from wal mart.
You might want to look into buying your water somewhere else or buying an RO machine. My tank has been doing very poorly recently and I think it was because of the water from Walmart. I used both their bottled distilled water and the water from their RO machine. Their machine has a monthly checklist indicating when maintainance was performed on it. It was always 2-3 months behind.
Now that I bought an RO machine and did a water change using my own water my tank is recovering. Just a possibility you may want to look into.

 

[candio]

yes I run a skimmer. It is a Prizm Pro Deluxe. The water turns about 700 gals per hour.
I do not know what kind of algae. It is just green water. Brigt green. I have done water changes weekly. I change 20% water. It cleared up a little and within 2 days it was worse than ever. Could it just be a algae bllom? If so, how long does it take to go away? :notsure:

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by candio
yes I run a skimmer. It is a Prizm Pro Deluxe. The water turns about 700 gals per hour.
I do not know what kind of algae. It is just green water. Brigt green. I have done water changes weekly. I change 20% water. It cleared up a little and within 2 days it was worse than ever. Could it just be a algae bllom? If so, how long does it take to go away? :notsure:
How large is your tank?

 

[candio]

It is 110 gal.

 

[candio]

Originally Posted by murph145
check your phosphates
what kind of water are u using
what are your water paramters such as amonia nitrates and such
how old are your lights

Lights are two months old- They are compact floures. Nitrate, nitrite, amonia fine. I do not have a phosphate test kit, but I bought phosphate media, and have been running it for about a week. Yes I run carbon. I use distilled water from wal mart.

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by candio
It is 110 gal.
You should have about 2,200 to 2,750 gallons per hour turnover in a 110 gallon reef tank. I think that is your problem.