My Algae problem with pictures

[pepito113]

Hello. I didnt want to start another thread on algae. But I figured I would show off my curent problem I am having. I have been getting more and more algae grow in my tank. I have green hair algae and red slime algae. Its getting worse and worse.
I use r/o for water and top offs. My tds meter reads 1ppm
My current water levels
Ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm .. Tested twice with 2 diffrents kits
ph 7.8.. A little low
Phosphate appears 0ppm
Lights on 8 hours a day. Bulbs are all under 12 months. I alternate changing them so I dont have to spend all the money at one time. So Actincs 8 months and 10,000k about 2 months.
Feed every other day pellets and frozen foods like marine cuisine, emerald entree and some other kind.

*** sorry about the pics. Did the best i could with camera phone.

 

[pepito113]

Oh yeah. In the pics you can see also that even the shells from the snails are getting hair algae growing on them... Is it safe to maybe not feed the fish for 3-4 days and see if that will kill down the algae. I really dont want to turn off the light too much because I have an BTA, hammer coral and brain coral. Any advise would be awesome.

 

[jerth6932]

Any direct sun light on the tank?

 

[pepito113]

Nope. No sunlight. Has anyone used the algae removal products? Maybe I should look into a sea hare. Do sea hare eat hair algae from the sand??? That seems to be the bigest problem

 

[tur4k]

Algea problems can be a sign of a phosphate problem. I would test for phosphates and use the standard phosphate reducing techniques. Frozen PE Mysis was causing crazy phosphate problems for me before I started rinsing it. I'm also using a phosphate absorbing media reacter, Chaetomorpha macros in my fuge and frequent water changes.

 

[pepito113]

Well I do use some phosphate media in a bag. And my test say my phosphate is 0ppm. When you say u rinse ur frozen foods what is that about??? How do u rinse frozen foods and pellets? I dont feed pellets all the time either...

 

[tur4k]

Thaw water from frozen food can be really high in phosphates. Some foods are worse then others. I don't rinse very small food like frozen cyclopse for obvious reasons, but I do rinse larger food like Mysis.
I have a very fine cup-top strainer that I use, but a lot of people just use a fish net. Thaw the food in a net and then pour RO water over it to rinse it off.

 

[pepito113]

Ok. So Thaw the food and pour r/o water over it. Got it. Now do I place the food back in saltwater from the tank or put the food in r/o water so I can pour it into the tank? So many days can fish go without eating??? I dont want to harm them but would like to cut back so I can help the algae problem. 2 clowns, a 6 line wrasse and a yellow wrasse...

 

[tur4k]

It doesn't matter if you put it in RO or salt. I think different fish have different feeding requirements. I don't know how long it is safe to let them starve since mine will start dinning on my shrimp and such if I don't feed often enough.

 

[btldreef]

Actually, soaking your food in RO, and rinsing it with RO is good for your fish. It hydrates the food more, which as silly as this sounds for an aquatic animal, they need. That being said, I highly doubt that Emerald Entree and Marine Cuisine are the issues here unless you're feeding a lot, etc. I use both and do not rinse either.
You're getting a false 0ppm reading. The algae in your tank means you have phosphates, but it's consuming it, so your test reads 0.
Red Slime is more of a nutrient and flow issue than a phosphate issue. Try siphoning out as much as you can and cut your feeding in half. You might also want to add another powerhead or reposition the ones you have, trying to aim at the areas where more red slime is building up. STOP feeding pellets, this probably a HUGE part of the issue. Pellets really don't have a place in a marine tank IMO.
How many fish are in this tank? What do you have for a CUC? Exactly how much do you feed daily?
When was the last time you changed your RO filters?
How old are your test kits and what brand are they?

 

[pepito113]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385480/my-algae-problem-with-pictures#post_3380883
Actually, soaking your food in RO, and rinsing it with RO is good for your fish. It hydrates the food more, which as silly as this sounds for an aquatic animal, they need. That being said, I highly doubt that Emerald Entree and Marine Cuisine are the issues here unless you're feeding a lot, etc. I use both and do not rinse either.
You're getting a false 0ppm reading. The algae in your tank means you have phosphates, but it's consuming it, so your test reads 0. Well That makes sense. My food releases phosphate but the algae consume it.
Red Slime is more of a nutrient and flow issue than a phosphate issue. Try siphoning out as much as you can and cut your feeding in half. You might also want to add another powerhead or reposition the ones you have, trying to aim at the areas where more red slime is building up. STOP feeding pellets, this probably a HUGE part of the issue. Pellets really don't have a place in a marine tank IMO. I will try to cut out the pellets. I dont give it everyday. Just as a treat
How many fish are in this tank? What do you have for a CUC? Exactly how much do you feed daily? 4 fish. 2 clowns, a sixline and a yellow wrasse. CUC is about 20 snails, 10 hermit and 3 emerald crab. 65 gallon tank. I feed every other day about half a cube. I feed a little wait till they eat most and add a little more. But total is half a cube. I always like a little exrtra so the cuc could get a little.
When was the last time you changed your RO filters? filters are about a few months old. membrane almost a year. tds was 1ppm. I have to watvh since it might be getting dirty.
How old are your test kits and what brand are they? I use API test kits. I have an old one and a new one. I always use both just to compare. New one is under a year and the old test kit is about 2 years old.

 

[btldreef]

Do you know what kind of snails you have?
It might be time for a algae eating fish such as a blenny. I don't like to recommend fish to be part of the CUC, but you have the room for another fish and it would also help you out a little. Besides, they have awesome personalities.

 

[xcali1985]

I battled hair algae about 6 months after starting my tank. I solved it with phosphate removal pads, carbon, both changed weekly. I also lowered the amount of food I fed the fish, they can survive quite a while even without food. I also bought some Mexican turbos to devour any film algae they are bulldozers of algae. I reduced lighting cycle to 4 hours a day & replaced the macro algae in my refuge. When possible I pulled out what I could rinsing my hands with as hot of water as I could stand inbetween each grab.
Its a pain, tried a lawnmower blenny he starved to death never touched the algae.
A Sea hare will work but you have to be careful as if it dies it is poisonous and if it starts to breakdown in your tank will nuke it. Also make sure you have somewhere for it to go once the hair algae is gone or it will starve. Your LFS isn't a good option. In my area theres a few guys who pass it around from tank to tank, but I preferred to try to do it through maintenance changes. I am proud to say it took about 2 months to get rid of but its never resurfaced.
Ohh forgot to say rinse frozen foods with RODI water in a strainer before feeding.

 

[pepito113]

I am going to look into some mexican turbo snails. I will also start to rinse my frozen foods from now on.
1) What do you guys recommend for hair algae in the sand? It seems my snails like the glass and rocks. Not the sand...
2) How many days can fish go without eating? I dont want to harm or kill them, but I want to reduce more then every other day a half cude???

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by pepito113 http:///forum/thread/385480/my-algae-problem-with-pictures#post_3381022
I am going to look into some mexican turbo snails. I will also start to rinse my frozen foods from now on.
1) What do you guys recommend for hair algae in the sand? It seems my snails like the glass and rocks. Not the sand... What kind of snails? Nassarius and Ceriths will help out with the sand.
2) How many days can fish go without eating? I dont want to harm or kill them, but I want to reduce more then every other day a half cude??? I'm a firm believer in "fish have to eat" so you may get varying answers. For you, if they're all juveniles, every other day, half cube would be ok, I wouldn't go any less though.

 

[jerth6932]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385480/my-algae-problem-with-pictures#post_3380982
Do you know what kind of snails you have?
It might be time for a algae eating fish such as a blenny. I don't like to recommend fish to be part of the CUC, but you have the room for another fish and it would also help you out a little. Besides, they have awesome personalities.
Well here's a shock, BTL recommending a Blenny.......

There are some really personable ones, as BTL stated, that will make great interacting additions to your tank!

 

[btldreef]

 
Well here's a shock, BTL recommending a Blenny.......

     There are some really personable ones, as BTL stated, that will make great interacting additions to your tank!
 
 
Lol
Shocking, I know!
They are just such an awesome group of fish.

 

[spanko]

IMO forget about battling the "algae" itself and get to the root of the problem the nutrients that help it to grow. The problem looks and sounds to be in the sand bed.
1. Do you have any critters that reside in the sand bed that consume the nutrients that naturally accumulate there like uneaten food, fish poop etc? If not I suggest some Nassarius, Cerith snail and a Florida Fighting Conch.
2. Do you have enough flow in the tank to keep the above mentioned sources of nutrient suspended in the water column so that they can be use by you coral and fish as food, and be removed by your flitration?
3. Do you have adequate filtration for the amount of nutrient material being constantly introduced into the system?
Look at these causes contributing to the growth of algae before looking at things to consume the symptoms ie. algae.
Again JMO.

 

[pepito113]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/385480/my-algae-problem-with-pictures#post_3381246
IMO forget about battling the "algae" itself and get to the root of the problem the nutrients that help it to grow. The problem looks and sounds to be in the sand bed.
1. Do you have any critters that reside in the sand bed that consume the nutrients that naturally accumulate there like uneaten food, fish poop etc? If not I suggest some Nassarius, Cerith snail and a Florida Fighting Conch. I do have nassarius snails. But I never see them in the sand. Always in the rocks and glass. I will look into a conch. never had one and have not looked into them. But I will.
2. Do you have enough flow in the tank to keep the above mentioned sources of nutrient suspended in the water column so that they can be use by you coral and fish as food, and be removed by your flitration? I have 2 koralia power head plus the flow from the wet dry pumping into the tank.
3. Do you have adequate filtration for the amount of nutrient material being constantly introduced into the system? I have a wet dry with floss. Then it goes through my protein simmer. I empty the cup once a week. I run it kinda dry. Maybe I should run it a little wetter to get more.
Look at these causes contributing to the growth of algae before looking at things to consume the symptoms ie. algae.
Again JMO.
Thanks for all the help and ideas. I hope to get this algae under control. I have started rinsing the frozen foods too. Hope it helps. I

 

[tur4k]

You may want to look into a Phosban Reactor. You can get one for around $35 and they don't take up much space. It's good to have some method of exporting phosphates even if you are limiting the amount going into the tank. I'm a heavy feeder so I use both a Phosban reactor and Chaetomorpha.