Major Algea problem PLEASE HELP

kaseykagan

kaseykagan

Member
We have had this problem now for about 6 months. We are running phosban however the problem do not seem to be getting any better. Also to make matters worse we are now getting cyano bacteria growing on top of the algea...HELP PLEASE. We are sick of looking at this mess. We have spent about 10 grand on this tank and it looks awful and we don't know what to do.......... :help:
Please HELP. any advise would be appreciated!
 
threed240

threed240

Member
What are your water paramiters? What type of lighting, how old is the light, what type of water (tap or RO), what type of filtration, and do you do weekly water changes of at least 10%?
 
kaseykagan

kaseykagan

Member
Nitrates 0-20ppm
Nitrites 0
PH 8.2
Amonia 0
phosphate trace
salinity 1.022
Lighting 260 watts PC's 2X65 10,000K, 2X65 dual actinics running from 2:30 -11:00
Skimmer 125 gallon, 50gal sump, 215 pds live rock
RO Water
Water changes 10% every 2 weeks
 
cjworkman

cjworkman

Member
Hi,
I had a algae and cyno problem for awhile after my tank was up for about 3 months and took 2 months to get under control.
Here are some things I did to fix the problem;
-Add more water flow... how much do you have? I have a 72 gallon bow front and it took about 4 Maxi-Jets and the pump to get enough flow
-If you feed the tank sinking pellet food or sinking flake food.. try to stop or reduce to as minimal as possible. Sinking pellets specifically were giving me a horrible cyno problem.
-Reduce the time your lights are on. I was running my acitincs for about 12 hours a day and my 10K's for 6 hours a day. I reduced to acitincs to 10 1/2 hours and 10ks for 4.5 hours.
-Check your chemical levels.. lots algae probably means the tank is young and you have very high nitrates. Ammonia is converted into Nitrates which plants and algae use, but not nearly enough to reduce to normal levels. So depending on the age of your tank, you might want to do a large water change to help reduce your ammonia and nitrates.
Good luck with it!.. and don't get too frustrated especially if it's a young tank.. it goes through some rough periods getting your chemicals all settled. A lot of people say the cycle takes 4-5 weeks.. but in my tank.. it took 6 months to go through all the bad phases... (algae, cyno, etc.) until everything seems to be under control.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
I would reccomend getting some macro algaes. for growing in your sump if you have one. they consume a lot of the same thing the cyanno and hair algaes need. plus if your tank is new it will go through an "ugly" phase as your tank cycles this can take a while depending on whether you used live or dead sand how much live rock and your water changes. remember patience is a virtue in marine tanks. I also reccomend adding a protien skimmer if you dont have one. (mine is rated for 150 gal and is filtering about 70) you cant go too big on that area. spend the money on a good one crappy ones are just a waste of time and money. You could also add a cleaner crew ()if you dont have one. hermit crabs, red and blue, margarita snails, turbo grazers. and the like. Good luck with that. I wish you the best.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
It sounds like water flow is the problem. You are better off to have multiple powerheads working instead of one powerful one. Place them in different corners of the tank. Try aiming one in the direction of where the cyano is building up.
 
dejaco

dejaco

Member
Okay calm down I can honestly say "Been there and done that"!
First off my suggestion is to do water changes slowly raising SG to 1.024.
At the same time you need to increase your tanks turnover rare. Clean the drives (impellers) on all your pumps and powerheads. Dirty drives rob flow!
Now look at your pump system and calculate how much water is actually moving in your tank. Take all manufacturer rates and add them up the multiply by .75 (75%) and that will give you a realistic turnover rate. I like lots of current. I have a 210 display with a 25x per hour turnover rate.
Once you have your current/flow rates up look at what has cuased your algae. Nutrients are getting into your system and usually it is from you. Try this, using a test tube - premeasure your food (coral and fish alike) into a test tube and feed from there. about 3/8" feed my entire system daily!
Now in your sump system 3 things #1 SKIM SKIM SKIM whatever skimmer you use make sure it is able to do a system your size (a 240 g system with a skimmer rated to 250g usually isn't going to work - run 2 or buy a larger one.)
#2 RUN CARBON and lots of it and change it atleast monthly! #3 Get some chaeto or other macro algae in there. The algae will suck out nutrients as it grows, you then harvest the algae and export excess nutrients out of your system!
Try this it worked for me, a guy on this site (WAX32) set me straight 18 months ago and bless him he new systems. Also Acrylic? on this site really knows his stuff and has been great a suggestions for me - when peole answer your questions they are trying to help not hinder you. (As a rule)
remember this is still the internet - buyer beware!
 
susiestank

susiestank

Member
I deffinitly agree with cleaning powerheads. I was wondering where mt problem was coming from when I had one. One day i took my powerheads to clean them and there was so much yucky stuff inside. So now every other week i take them out and clean them. No more problems! makes sense that it would help - the water was going in a dirty powerhead.
 
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