250 Gallon Algae Problem

[lcheesman]

Been battling some algae (green) hair and some turf in my 250 gallon reef for a long time. I have ruled out all system parameters here on reef central and am following a suitable maintenance regime, I have a deltec ap850 skimmer and perform 30 gallon water change every 2 weeks.

Tank has been set up for 2 years and I have had algae problems from day one, coralline algae grow but are not in abundance like the green algaes which seem to be effecting colouration for the worse in my sps corals.

I have been told that my problem is that I do not have enough grazing pressure in the tank and that is where my problem resides.

I have 24 fish, 10 of which are small green chromis, the other fish are also small specimens

My grazing consists of.

5 Turbo snails
1 Yellow tang
1 Regal(hippo) tang
1 Pin cushion urchin
20 hermit crabs

could this be my problem...everyones views would be very much appreciated.

look forward to your replies and help.

 

[MCary]

5 snails seems like very few. I have 100 astreas in my 150.

Algae seems to be a constant battle. I have heard all kinds of fixes but I never know if they actually work or if the algae just went away on its own.

Good luck.

Mike

 

[reverendmaynard]

Are you running a 'fuge?

More snails would probably be helpful.

 

[lcheesman]

Hi, no fuge. I have a 40 gallon sump but have no space for the refugium.

 

[reverendmaynard]

A fuge would definitely help outcompete the nuisance algae. You could even plant the main tank with macro, but then you may find yourself overrun with macro.

A phosphate reactor would be another way to combat the nutrient problem. I assume you've tested for it and got no or very low levels. Usually that justs means that the algae are pulling it from the water as fast as it goes in. A reactor with a good GFO phosphate remover should be able to pull it out faster still.

 

[fittdog8848]

Well I have been battling nuisance algae as well and have followed all of the threads on it.

I have a fuge and have since day one. I have a phosphate reactor and the algae still prevails. I have tested using multiple test kits and I can't seem to find anything with parameters being out of wack.

I have tested my RO system, tested premixed water and I have no problems there. Finally bought a TDS meter and that is not the best but not that bad to cause all out havoc.

I am getting to the point that I am over it and am thinking about tearing the whole frickin thing down and tryign the scrubbing method.

Oh I do have 50 snails and one non-algae eating yellow tang, a lawnmower blenny and i also have had Seahares the ate everything BUT the nuisance algae I have.

All in all I agree with Mcary, I don't think that there is a definite way of getting rid of it. All I know is that my corals are doing well and that keeps me somewhat sane I guess.

 

[lcheesman]

I have a reactor with 1ltr of rowaphos. Makes no difference to my set-up apart from bleaching the corals.

 

[rustybucket145]

You need about 60 tiny blue legg hermit crabs. The algae will be gone in two weeks.

 

[fittdog8848]

well rusty I will try it but I bet it doesn't work, but I do appreciate the advice........I will update when I try it.

 

[lcheesman]

Hmm, the those tiny little crabs have stomachs the size of a pin head and are lost in most 'large aquariums'I fail to see how 60 would devour about a pound of algae?

 

[rekn]

it depends on what type of algae it is. grazers dont eat all types. if you have hair algae i think a lettuce nudi would help alot. most snail will only eat film type algae, i read.

 

[reverendmaynard]

I think we're getting a little off track here, with all the talk about grazers. Really, if you have a nutrient problem, all the grazers in the world is only going to result in being overrun by a type of algae that the grazerws won't eat.

I know you said you've exhausted all "system parameter" issues but...

What's the source of your water? How much flow do you have in the tank? Any mechanical or biological filtration other than LR and skimmer? How much LR? Sand bed? Lighting (type, wattage, bulb age, cycle)?

A link to a previous thread where these things are discussed would be fine.

 

[lcheesman]

reverendmaynard I agree.

Ok system run down.

setup for 2 years
250 gallon reef approx
3x250 14k halide 5 months old on 7hrs
2x160watt vho actinic 7 months old on 11hrs
2x58watt no actinic
2xtunze 6100 streams @ 12000lph each
2xreturns from sump @ 3500lph each
around 140kg live rock
no biological filter other than lr
deltec p850 skimmer
source water ro/di never greater than 4ppm tds
2 inch sand bed fine and coarse mix
phosphate 0 with deltec/merck test kit
nitrate 0
ph 8-8.2
calcium 430
dkh 10
strontium 12
salinity 1.026
temp 78-80 with chiller
water changes 30 gallons every 2 weeks
24 fish, 10 of them very small green chromis
6 or 7 sps, a few lps, 1 soft toadstool, some mushrooms
feed very little, pinch of cyclopseez 2 x per day, 1 small cube of mysis per day.

Lots of green algae!

reverendmaynard I've seen many many reef aquarium with a couple of snails and a lots of fish that have no algae. I was rather hoping someone would say what you said. The sheer fact the few snails and crabs I do have a walking about have algae growing on their backs!

It seems that since I started this tank over 2 years ago I have had hair algae that went then came strong bristle type algae, then cynobacteria then another pink fluffy form of cynobacteria then more hair algae then large valonia. There must be nutrients somewhere?

Is the deltec ap850 enough?

 

[reverendmaynard]

This may be grasping at straws and/or seem counterintuitive, but you may see better results by slowing down your flow through the sump/return.

Here's a long thread about using small return pumps and the possible benefits this may have, not only for your electric bill and/or heat issues, but actually improving nutrient removal/skimmer performance.


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=550482&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

That and adding some type of macro, either in the fuge or display, are the only things I see to nitpick on your list.

Of course, if I was a BB fanatic, I'd tell you to siphon that sand bed out of there!

 

[Spectre2006]

I have about 15-20 turboes, in my 125. I had a big problem too, but I increased the pump flow and added turboes. They eat the algae so fast that now am worried that there is hardly no algae left.

 

[reef10]

pics...
main sump skimmer etc.

How much skimmate do you pull out every day? How dark? How often do you need to clean your glass?

 

[lcheesman]

I have the skimmer running wet, still it pulls out quite dark skimate at the rate of about 1 cup every 2 days.

I havent access to a digital camera at the moment so cannot provide pics.

glass has a noticable film every 2 days.

Am I changing enough water?

 

[kappaknight]

Maybe it's time to change the filters in your RO/DI? I know you've had the problem since day one, but reducing the 4ppm to 0ppm may help.

 

[lcheesman]

Change filters - will do.

Can my algae problem only be high nutrient levels?

 

[reverendmaynard]

That is a relatively small amount of water to change. I usually see 30% per month (in whatever intervals you want from 1% per day to 30% once a month) recommended by the "experts" You're doing less than half of that. However, if your phosphates and nitrates read 0, it seems just as likely that you're adding something to fuel the algae in the new water as you are to be removing something the algae like. Unless... Your top-off water is not up to par. 4ppm should be fine, though.

What salt mix are you using?

How are you supplementing alk and calc?

I've heard, and seen first hand (although it's kind of a guess that this was the cause), that keeping a higher PH helps to control algae. Perhaps dosing Kalk in your topoff, or using a PH raising alk buffer like Randy's baked 2-part recipe, thus maintaining your PH at 8.3 or higher, would work. My own "algae crash" cooincided with my starting to dose with Randy's recipe and keeping the PH up. It might work for you.