Out of ideas

Y

yote

Guest
I know you all are going to ask,so I guess i'll post my system info first,then my problem.
55gal tank
Pro-clear 125 wet/dry with mag5 return pump
corallife 65 super skimmer 432 watt Nova T-5 lights on an 8 hours of light cycle for now.
I have about 70 to 75 pounds of LR,with 60lbs of LS.
2 Ocellaris clowns
1 firefish
1 sixline wrasse
1 bi-color blenny
and 1 brittle star
along with about 15 different types of snails and that many hermits,and 1 emerald crab
Peremeters are:
ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 phosphate-0( this is according to 3 different LFS and my 2 of my own kits). ph-8.2 calcium-420 DKH-11 temp-78 constant and salinity-35 ppt.
Now heres the trouble.

I got this algae outbreak that is driving me crazy.Ive tryed every thing I can think of,including leaving the lights out for a whole 7 days and nothing seems to help.
Oh,the tank has been up and running since Feburary.
I sure hope you all can give me more ideas on how to get this stuff out of my tank.
Thanks in advance
Joe
 
laxplaya

laxplaya

Member
Definitely reduce light time, brush it off, and get a few more turbo snails, (the Mexican ones are the best)
 
Y

yote

Guest
Thanks LAX for the quick reply.
I guess I will try that again,Might have to go for 2 weeks and see if that helps.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
dont leave your lights OFF completely. consistency is important. Just reduce the amount of light the tank gets daily, like from 8rs to 6hrs or something.
those mexican turbo snails will tear right through that algae. no problem.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I am assuming everything (eg the lighting) was new in Feb?
And Have you tried just scraping it off and siphoning out?
WHat is your frequency of water changes, and how much?
 
Y

yote

Guest
I only feed frozen foods.Krill,mysis,cylopeze,along with DTs phyto and oyster eggs.I have only been feeding once every other day with the frozen foods,which I switch every feeding in random order.Then only what I can watch my fish in about 4 minutes.The DTs I only once a week each for the phyto and oyster eggs.
 
Y

yote

Guest
OH,and I rinse the feed off with RO water.Also only RO in the tank,from day one.
 
Y

yote

Guest
Yep,thats my sea hare,,he's been in there for the past 2 months and cant keep up with it.
 
Y

yote

Guest
Originally Posted by ophiura
I am assuming everything (eg the lighting) was new in Feb?
And Have you tried just scraping it off and siphoning out?
WHat is your frequency of water changes, and how much?
Yes Ma'am
The lights were purchased new in Feburary.
Ive scaped it to the point of cramping hands.
I change 15 gallons of water every friday.
and only use ro/di water,which Ive had tested also.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
How much ambient light from the room is the tank receiving. If tank is in a room that gets a lot of light from outside source (windows) you probably need to cut that source of light off or at the vary least correspond your tank lights to daylight hours. Even if tank is not receiving direct light from a window this can be a problem especially if you have set your tanks lights to run into the evening hours as many do so they can enjoy the tank up until bed time.
I would set lights to come on a few hours after daylight and off a few hours prior to sun down if you suspect this to be a factor.
Bottom line is the primary vectors for algae growth will be light and nutrient source. If you have ruled out light then there has to be a nutrient source as the main contributing factor so I would be a tad sceptical of the test results at this point. Is skimmer producing properly?
Test kits available at the hobbyist level will give ball park figures at best. Phosphate kits in particular. I have actually added fertilizer to water samples prior to testing for phosphates with various hobby level test kits and gotten low or even zero readings for phosphate. Kits could not have been accurate.
If you take a sample to your municipal water supplier they will most likely test it for you at a professional level. They usually provide services like this especially in areas where well water is commonly used. I suspect they will find your nutrient source.
If you are useing a well funcioning RO unit for top off and change water then this nutrient source is being added after the fact most likely in what and how much your feeding.
 
doglvr

doglvr

Member
I've only had one outbreak of the nasty "green" algae, and that
was when I bought RO water from my LFS. Put 10 gallons of it
in my 30 gallon tank. I've always used the Distilled RO from the
local supermarket, costing 50 (sale) or 89 (reg) cents per gallon.
The LFS was 35 cents per gallon.
My LFS had algae problems, but unfortunately my brain didn't
"click" on that. So I knew the outbreak was from that RO.
The algae went away after I changed out ALL the water in my tank over a week ($26).
Day 1 - 12 gc
Day 3 - 10
Day 5 - 10
Day 8 - 8 (regular Sunday maintenance)
Sticking to Supermarket water now & no more green algae!
 
petjunkie

petjunkie

Active Member
When you left the lights off, did you cover the tank with a sheet so it was recieving no light? Also did it show any effect on the algea? After doing that you should do a large water change. I would try to scrub it off siphoning as much as possible, big water change, lights off for a week another big change. That's what I did but mine was hair algea. Oh yeah and add a ton of snails.
 
Y

yote

Guest
Thanks guys
Murph,I will have my wife take a sample to the water company tomorrow and have them test it.
Both my tanks are in the bedroom,where there are two windows.But my gun safe has the south window covered,and a bookshelf has the west window blocked off.There is very little light coming through.I'll fix that this weekend.
Doglvr
I have been getting my ro water from wal-mart,but I test every batch I mix up before doing a water change.I may switch over to the distilled and see if that helps.
Petjunkie
I am already planning on scraping it tomorrow evening.I already have 25 gallons mixing for a water change,so i'll plan on doing that tomorrow evening also.
Again thanks for the advice guys.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The tricky thing with algae is that it can bind up a lot of nitrates and phosphates, so while you don't test them...they can still be a problem.
Do you have access to another RO source? I would give that a go. Do you use the bottles from walmart or the machine (and bring your own containers?)
 
Y

yote

Guest
Picked up a jar of that today Who Dey.
Ophiura,I do use the machine at wal-mart,along with my own jugs.I will be buying my own ro/di system in the near future though.Just waiting to free up some cash flow.
As of right now,i'm stuck with the wal-mart water.
 
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