Red and Green Algae

[sunnyspony]

I have a 75 gal. tank, my problem is algae. I have a seaclone protein skimmer which seems to work pretty good. I do water changes (20%)every 2-3 weeks. The only thing i have in the tank is a small porcupine puffer, and a yellow and a orange clown. What am i doing wrong? I use a cheap tap water purifier for now, since i cant afford a good ro unit. help please!

 

[jacrmill]

i think you probably know the answer. you said you use a cheap tapwater purifier. thats probably not gonna get the phosphates and silicates that this ugly algae eats. might wanna look into a place that sells RO water, i get mine from a grocery store, 5 gallons for $2.50. also how long do you keep your lights on and what kinda are they? that could also be a problem.

 

[b_ball12_99]

Another thing is all tanks will get algea (if healthy). Algea feeds of materials in waste and food. If you don't have a clean up crew you really should get one.

 

[sunnyspony]

I have a single flourescent strip light, its on a timer, 12 hours an 12 off, which i also hope to replace shortly

 

[abombinus]

I also have a 75g. I went through the same thing you are.. ALGAE. Mine was solved by more water movement and about 10 snails and 4 larger reef hermits. also get your calcium lvl up to start coraline algea growth. If you have lr or any corals you should be using kalkwasser for all your top offs from evap. i drip just about everynight

 

[goldfish]

I'm going thru the same thing right now--trying to avoid the ro unit at all costs!! But, what kind of clean up crew can I get if I have an aggressive tank? I have a cowrie snail right now but he is not really doing much. I had two mexican turbos but they are not doing much either. I'm using a phosphate sponge right now directly in the water flow to see if that will help pull someout and bring my levels down. I'd like to hear what others are doing--I think I am going to have to suck it up and buy an ro unit. I hate the brown algae!!!

 

[goldfish]

my levels are all zero except ph of course which is 8.2. I am not getting red algae but brown algae. I'm hoping the phosphate sponge in the water flow will help lower the phosphate levels in a day or so. If not, then I'm going to have to break down and get an ro unit.

 

[jimi]

Sunnyspony, Sammy pretty much summed it up, too much nutrients. Your cheap water purfier is probably not doing much and your skimmer is not exactly high rated. What kind of bulb do you have like actinic, 50/50, daylight, etc. The wrong spectrum can promote undesirable algae growth.

 

[goldfish]

My tank is in a room that has lots of natural sunlight via skylights. I do have the lights on for about 6-7 hours a day. I cut way back after the algae was so bad.
I do know I'm going to have to break down and buy the ro unit--actually its only around $200 so not the end of the world.

 

[fishman1]

You can use a tap water filter that deioniz your water for about $25.00 at your lfs. It worked for me for years. Plus it will give you time to save your money for an R/O unit.

 

[goldfish]

Oh I"ve got the money--just too lazy to have to really go and do it!
Thanks for the tip. It might be something worth trying.

 

[surfergirl]

Sounds like a lot of us have that algae problem! Well, me too! I am new to this hobby, my tank has been running for about a month now. I have 4 damels in it and a horrible brown algae problem! I have one Vita-lite 30w and one Power-Glo 30w for lighting. I finally added snails and hermits and they are doing a fabulous job cleaning up the algae! If you don't have the "clean up crew" get them asap. They really do work.

 

[shadowucd]

Just as an aside here. One of the reasons that algae growth is so bad in fish tanks is that people overfeed their fish. The other thing I wanted to add was that I have been REALLY happy with using the ecological approach to any problems in my tanks. Like using algae eaters (turbo snails, astrea snails, margarita snails, abalone) for algae or cleaners (cleaner gobies, cleaner shrimp) for parasites. I think the ultimate goal for me in this hobby is to have a self sustaining system.