I'm confused as to why

[slick]

I keep getting all this alge growing in my tank. Let me start by stating some things.
I use RO/DI water
my phosphates are below 0.25 mg/l I am using phos guard to lower even more
I do have a clean up crew. Many of my blue legs spend the day on the rocks.
I cleaned up all the red hair algae and sucked all the green algae off the sand.
I am using a micron cartrige on a magnum 350 to keep the water clear.
I do not over feed.
My lights are on for about 11.5 hrs a day.
Please help me I am getting tired of my tank looking like crap. The only thing I can think of is maybe I'm running my lights to long. If so I am upgrading to 2 175w MH and 4 65w pc's how long should I run them?

 

[sistrmary]

I would cut the hours down on the lights to around 8 hours...
What kind of powerhead do you have on the tank?

 

[iechy]

Does your tank get any sunlight from a window or door? The wavelengths in sunlight that cause algae are generally avoided with aquarium lighting to minimize it but obviously some still grows. If your tank is getting any sunlight then you probably have your culprit.

 

[slick]

I have no sunlight

 

[jim672]

slick,
If you're thinking about upgrading lighting, what are you running now? How old are the bulbs? If you've got NO bulbs over 6 months old, that could be your algea culprit.
Jim

 

[slick]

Jim my lights are 4 65w pc's they are only like 3 months old. This is really confusing

 

[jim672]

slick,
I'm confused, too. Annoying isn't it?
I'm reaching here.......how old is your phosphate test kit? Can you confirm your reading using your kit and someone else's?
Are you using any mechanical filtration? If so, have you cleaned all your elements lately? Do you have only the one ph you mention? How big is your tank, how much water circulation do you get, and do you have lots of surface aggitation? How often do you do water changes and how much? (how's your nitrate being exported?) you mention crabs.....have any snails?
I'm sorry to answer your question with a zillion more questions.....
Jim

 

[mr . salty]

Just a couple thoughts,,,How old is this tank??? How many and what fish are in it???And what are the rest of the water readings,mainly ammo and nitrate??11 hours of light can cause an algae problem,but I'm thinking in this case the problem lies elsewhere..You posted that you DO have a Phosphate reading in the tank.Although the reading may not seem very high,,ANY phos at all is HIGH....I highly suggest this algae problem be brought under control before you upgrade your lighting.Lighting upgrades almost allways cause an algae bloom,even in an algae free tank.An upgrade now would surly cause a mess in your situation...

 

[slick]

Lets see my tank is a 90g with a 4in dsb and 90lbs of LR. I have a trickle filter. My circulation is about 1400 gph. My amn nitrites and nitrates are 0. the tank is like 3 months old. I only have one fish a coral beauty. I do have several snails but they too like to spend all thier time on the rocks. As far as filters being clean they are. I've had this problem ever sience I got the first algae bloom that you get right after the cycle is over. I have tried fixing this by myself for several weeks and can not seem to get it under control. I don't know anyone else close to me that could lend me a different test kit. And my lfs is like 1 hr away. I think that covers it if you guys have any more ?'s ask away. And thanks for the help.

 

[heavenly damsel]

Is it possible you are overfeeding?

 

[julie]

You say that you use RO/DI water. Have you tested that water, to see if the phosphates are high in it. I know if the filters aren't changed appropriately, the phosphates in the RO/DI water may be causing your problem.

 

[broomer5]

Hey slick !
Turn your lights off !
One coral beauty, some live rock - does not need 11-1/2 hours of direct lighting.
Kill the algae by killing the light - back off for a couple hours when you are there to view the tank - the rest of the time don't light it so much.
It will go away.

 

[slick]

Hey Broomer I do have some mushrooms a umbrella (something) and a candy coral. How long would they be ok with little or no light. With out any damage.

 

[slick]

Do you guys think I could have some build up of stuff on my rocks I have never blown them off with a ph or anything?

 

[blondenaso1]

I am overcoming the same problem with my 55gal. I agree bring your light cycle down to around 8 hours. In nature corals do not get 12 hours of direct sunlight. Due to the reflection of the light off the water corals only recive direct light for about 8 hours. Also, try adding some more snails and maybe even keep you lights off for an entire day. My question is why are there still phospates in the water?? If you are using RO/DI water there should be practily none from there. Also, with so much algae growth you would think that it would have consumed all the phosphates. Another thing, are you following the directions with the phospho gaurd? I made the mistake of leaving a phosphate pad in for too long and it just ended up leaching the phosphates back into the water. Good luck.