Algae grows quickly on glass?

[MedcinMn]

I have a RSM 130D, no hood and XR 15 Pro LED that I run one of their presets (traditional growth I think) at 50% from 3pm - 11pm. I've had this setup for a few years, all my water parameters are good with close to 0 on phosphates / nitrates. Fish and corals look good, but I get so much green slime algae on the glass everyday. Sometimes I clean the glass in the morning, and by afternoon it is covered again with a thin layer of green algae. I use NSW and my makeup water I make myself with an RODI, TDS always 0. Filters fairly new.
Thoughts?

 

[droog]

Your nutrient levels must be high if the algae grows on the glass that quickly. It should take between a few days and a week for the glass to develop a layer like that.

The algae is consuming the nutrients from the water which is why your test kits are reading low levels. You might want to move this to the "New to the hobby" section for extra help.

Possibilities:
1] NSW... is it fresh & filtered - don't have experience with this but could be an issue. Test NSW you're using with a sensitive Po4 test e.g. Hanna phosphorous checker
2] Rocks leaching PO4 - do you have any pukani rock, or did you add any rockwork?
3] Light spectrum - not sure what "general growth means" but recommend you find out and/or set an appropriate color spectrum in degrees K or custom. Generally speaking the red channel encourages algae growth, you should probably minimize that channel
4] Are you using a protein skimmer and is appropriately sized, setup and running well?


A few things you could do to fix..

- Run a skimmer... even a HOB model will help
- Run GFO (tumbling GFO in a media reactor is best, but media in a bag also helps)
- Read up and consider carbon dosing

-droog