Need Help!

[bigshoesw]

Hey guys, I have recently been fighting brown alage. It's beginning to grow on the sand, rocks, and even corals. It fades when the lights are off, but it always comes back. Im not sure what the problem is? The water seems to be good all around. any suggestions?

 

[mushroomss]

hey man,
is your tank near a window?sunlight might be creeping through and hitting the sandbed.once the algae grows on the sandbed it spreads.i am fighting the same problem.use a hose and suck it all off.then replace the water so your doing a water change at the same time.this will help fight it.good luck!

 

[rcdude1990]

do a water test cause i heard from someone that a nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia (forgot wich one) problem will cause this
do a water test also there might b not enough water flow by the sand bed wat kinda tank is it? filtration?

 

[bigshoesw]

I added a MaxJet, so I know its not water flow. The tank also recieves no outside light. Let me state this fact, the brown alage fluctuates with the lighting. I have been backing the lighting period back to 6 hours, but I am scared I will start hurting my coral, although the alage is begging to grow on them too. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[bigshoesw]

Ok, so I feel a little dumb, but I believe my problem is related to water changes. I was hoping that someone could inform me how often, how much, and any other helpful tips about water changes for my 24g nano. I am running the stock filtration, no skimmer, maybe 25lbs of live rock, live sand. Last, what kind of additives are you guys using for whater, coral, etc. Thanks a million.

 

[bojik]

Each system is different. Do waterchanges enough to keep the system stable and water paramiters where they need to be. A good test kit will help you figure what the schedule should be for your system. Take a cup and "skim" out some of the water when you do your change. Bassicaly put the cup in at an angle where the water just spills over the edge. That will help keep the surface cleaner. Also highest consentration of disolved organics is in the first top inch? of the tank.

 

[mushroomss]

i have a 24 gallon nano cube and a 12 gallon nano.i replace the water in both of them once a week.These tanks are so small that the water parameters can get off easily.Out of my 24 i change out 3 gallons.And out of my 12 i change about 1.5-2 gallons.hope this helps!

 

[reefkprz]

IMO water changes should approximatly be 15% a week. top off daily. in nanos the parameters can swing fast so it really important to keep every thing the same at all times. I'm in the works of setting up a 2 1/2 gal nano will show pics when done. My first tank was a ten g mini reef. another thing that may help you is getting a copepod pak from a distributer, ceartain cope amph and decas eat algaes. My little tank had the same thing but it was a phase and passed. you may also want to test for phosphates they are key in certain algaes development. good luck.