Algae control in small SPS tank

[mv123]

Hi all,

I have a 28G SPS tank that is doing well, but I am getting a bit of algae that I can't seem to kick. This is shown in the picture below, and the best way I can describe it is that it looks and feels like grass. It is high up in the tank, and I try to pluck it out weekly and can get most of it out, but it grows back pretty quickly. Otherwise, I don't have a lot of hair algae, or algae on the glass, that the cleanup crew does not take care of. For cleanup, I have various snail types and a dozen blue leg hermits or so.

Can anyone suggest a way to try to get rid of this? Keep in mind that this is a 28G tank, with 4 small fish ( 2 false percs, 1 6 line wrasse, and 1 bicolor blenny). I know a tang would probably eat this stuff up, but if I put a tang in a 28 gallon tank I think people from reef central would drive to my house to slap me up side the head, so that is out. Any other fish or invert suggestions to help get rid of this stuff?

Thanks,
Marc

 

[MammothReefer]

More water changes, or you can go with a carbon dosing solution. VSV or Pellets. Best thing to do is figure out where the nutrients are coming from in the first place? RO/DI? Food?

 

[mv123]

thanks, but it isn't really a nutrient problem. Think of this more like the type of algae that would grow in a fuge or scrubber. I don't generally have a slime or hair algae problem, but this stuff will probably take up any nutrients in the tank as fast as the SPS would. So really I just need a reliable way to control it.

thanks

 

[Brian Chong]

i'd be more afraid of the tang becoming more aggressive in a tight space than the tang police. lol
do you have turbo snails? I found the large ones clean up more varieties of algae better than the small ones.

 

[Brian Chong]

you could always get a small tang. I heard they were easy to catch with a fish trap

 

[chase01]

I ran Chaeto in one of the back compartments of my 34 gal Solana- I used a lamp kit and a foil bread pan to make a light fixture that was small enough to fit behind the tank (used a 65K spiral bulb). I ran it on a revers photoperiod. This worked great to remove excess nutrients for me.