Algae Help Please

Hey guys, I have a 265g that was set up about a month ago. I have been checking my parameters here and there and last night everything looked fine. I just came downstairs and was like *** is all this green junk on my rocks. This literally happened within less than a 24hr period. So I decided to do a chemical test on the water. Everything was better than the last time I checked it!! What gives? Where is this coming from? Any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW I have a BRS dual reactor that has GFO and carbon in it. And I also have a fuge with some newly added Chaeto as of about 5 days ago. I have a reefocto 110INT thats working like a champ pulling out some nasty stinky junk. One thing that I have noticed which also doesn't make sense is that my glass keeps getting algae on it. I have three Aqua Mars 300w LEDs and there is one right in the middle that I put up to help with shadowing so I can assume that's why the glass has it on it but with my phosphate at 0 I don't understand. My lights are as low as they can go which I believe is 15%. The blues come on at 8am and off at 7pm, my whites come on at 9am and off at 6pm.
 

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You set up a month ago? I doubt you are fully cycled. Even if so, the tank will go through periods of diff algaes for nearly a year.
 
You set up a month ago? I doubt you are fully cycled. Even if so, the tank will go through periods of diff algaes for nearly a year.

Yea I put in two bottles of tims one and done. Forgot to mention I have some fish in there too. A huge porc puffer, filefish, two tiny damsels that were my test fish when I added the tims. Everything is eating and doing great. Added the puffer about a week ago.
 
If you are getting a fast build up of algae on the glass, you have a lot more nutrients in the water then you think or that the tests show
 
Welcome to a new tank..
100% normal and just part of reefin' life..
It will pass as the tank "matures" more..
 
If you are getting a fast build up of algae on the glass, you have a lot more nutrients in the water then you think or that the tests show

I purchased a hanna phosphate tester that showed up yesterday I will use that tonight and see what my readings are. By nutrients, is there anything else I can test or do that would help?? I thought it was the lights but they are as low as low can get with out them being off.
 
You appear to already be testing the basics levels. Be sure to check salinity. A refractometer is the most commonly used. Amazon them, typically around $20.

Down the line you can add Calcium, Mag, & Kh.
 
You appear to already be testing the basics levels. Be sure to check salinity. A refractometer is the most commonly used. Amazon them, typically around $20.

Down the line you can add Calcium, Mag, & Kh.

Thanks, that what I use. 1.025 is where I keep it.
 
Photo period is too long. 11hrs on blue 9hrs on white. Even at 15% with nothing else established to make use of the light and available nutrients . This is on top of whatever else others are saying about being cycled.
 
At one month ; I'd wait it out for cycling to complete. The rock may be giving up nutrients too at this point.
 
Photo period is too long. 11hrs on blue 9hrs on white. Even at 15% with nothing else established to make use of the light and available nutrients . This is on top of whatever else others are saying about being cycled.

So how many hours are you thinking of ea then?
 
I have a mixed reef and run 8hrs with blue and 7hrs with white. And I have a algae scrubber running 16hrs. If u don't have any corals yet I would run the lights only when u are likely to view the tank only. And I would just use the middle light for now just so u have something to look at while it is cycling.
 
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I also recommend killing the gfo and the skimmer and during this cycling because the bacteria u are trying to culture needs those nutrients. If u are comfortable with ammonia being zero then some hermits will help with the algae and also something u can feed that will in turn help the cycling process. I would monitor phosphates and nitrates and do water changes or run whatever media to remove both but only to bring levels down to non alarming levels. U want both present so the bacteria can use it to grow and also want nitrates to build bacteria that gets rid of nitrates.
 
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I have a mixed reef and run 8hrs with blue and 7hrs with white. And I have a algae scrubber running 16hrs. If u don't have any corals yet I would run the lights only when u are likely to view the tank only. And I would just use the middle light for now just so u have something to look at while it is cycling.

The only "corals" so to speak I have are toadstool and pagoda, which seem to be thriving. Was planning on getting a couple more things today if this guy messages me back off of CL.
 
I would still kill the gfo and skimmer for now and run only 6hrs light. Softies don't need that much light and they benefit from "dirty" water
 
You can have a solid green tank and have your tests show 0 phosphates...because the phosphate is in the algae. Kill it, and the phosphate goes into the water, to be sucked up by more algae.

The answer is GFO reactor...cheap, efficient if media is changed out often enough; and of course using RODI. GFO (granulated ferric oxide) binds free phosphate so ultimately the plague starves out.
 
Kill the gfo along with the lights. He is still in cycling mode. Build up the bacteria first, otherwise this will be an issue for a long time. I have had so much phos and nitrite that it maxes out the test kit with no algae bloom. Algae growth here and there but no crazy blooms
 
If u want to stay the course u are going but just want the algae gone, a week blackout will kill most of it. Just gotta figure out where to put ur corals in the mean time. But it will probably come back once the lights go back on but u can ease into the lighting and not go 11hrs photoperiod right away
 
You can have a solid green tank and have your tests show 0 phosphates...because the phosphate is in the algae. Kill it, and the phosphate goes into the water, to be sucked up by more algae.

The answer is GFO reactor...cheap, efficient if media is changed out often enough; and of course using RODI. GFO (granulated ferric oxide) binds free phosphate so ultimately the plague starves out.

Running BRS's dual reactor now with GFO High capacity and carbon. Had to use the high cap because for the size of my tank i need 4 cups of the granular and the reactor cans are only good for a little over 2 cups. I will start with lowing my photo time, I don't see it growing anymore than in the pic it was just alarming that it happened over night. And as far as shutting down my skimmer I don't know if I can pull myself to do that with all of the horrid nastyness its pulling out. Its enough to gag a maggot and I don't even have a big bio load yet.
 
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