Please help with the algae problem???

reefer123

Member
i have a 65g reef with two 250 watt halides, and the brown algae on the sand, and rocks is getting to be a problem.

is there and effective way to get rid of it? :help:
any sand sifters i should get?
i have the lights running 9 hours a day, is that to much?
thanks. :help:
 

wax32

Active Member
How old is your tank? 9 hours isn't normally too much. Do you have any snails? When I re-set up my tank after Katrina it was over run with algae, both brown diatoms like you have and hair algae. I added 10 Astraea snails and a yellow tang. The algae is almost gone after two days.
Make sure you have enough water movement and check for phosphates. Are you using RO water or tap?
 

reefer123

Member
thanks for the reply, wax32.
my tank is about 3 months old.
i have no snails.
and for water changes i am using that tap water purifier.
i will be getting a yellow tang here pretty soon, and how many snails should i get?
 

escape2thewater

Active Member
Its problobly just diatoms b/c the tank if pretty young, its normal for this to happen. They will go away quickly. If not you need to use only RO water for your changes & top offs, NO tapwater period. After a few small WC's it should clear up. And as already mentioned make sure you have enough flow, like 10x turnover minimum. Im sure its just diatoms though....
Escape
:happyfish
 

escape2thewater

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefer123
what does everyone mean by 10x the turnover??
how do i calculate that?
Ok you have a 65g tank, so you want 10x turnover so that would give you 650g per hour of flow. You will need to calculate how much your pumps flow then subtract any head pressure then that is your turnover. Dont forget to include any powerheads, etc. again just multiply your tank size by 10 to get your desired minimum turnover.
Escape
 

escape2thewater

Active Member
as long as you accounted for the headpressure or vertical rise in your plumbing that is correct. If thats the case then you have alomst 20x turnover which is fantastic!
Escape
 

escape2thewater

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefer123
so this would be enough for some sps?
Yep. its fine for pretty much anything you want, especially with the lighting you have. Just let the tank mature a little bit more then you can add some sweet sps.
Escape
 
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