I'v been going through a tough battle with green hair algae growing on my rocks, red slime algae all over my sand bed and on my rocks, and also what seems to be brown algae. Also, Phosphate, Nitrates are at 0. Water changes are performed on weekly bases, and i am not over feeding. tank is fed every other day very small portions. what can be causing this problem? Thanks if advance.
Algae outbreak HELP!
- Thread starter alex32388
- Start date
taillonjohn
Member
do you have enough water flow in the tank? what kinda water you using? How old is the tank?
trpigg
New member
Same problem here...plenty of flow.
I am currently in the process of trying this four days without lights thing that i saw someone talking about...you run your atinics the first day, no lights the second and third day and atinics again on the fourth. Then followed by a water change to hwere you vacume as much detrius out as possible....seems to be working from what i can see...i will keep you posted.
I am currently in the process of trying this four days without lights thing that i saw someone talking about...you run your atinics the first day, no lights the second and third day and atinics again on the fourth. Then followed by a water change to hwere you vacume as much detrius out as possible....seems to be working from what i can see...i will keep you posted.
reeftanker04
Premium Member
From what I've read Alex, the best thing you can do is increase the flow in your tank and do more frequent water changes.
What kind of powerheads are you running over there? Most people will tell you that you would like around 20x turnover, meaning if you have a 30 gallon tank, you want around 600 GPH turnover.
What kind of powerheads are you running over there? Most people will tell you that you would like around 20x turnover, meaning if you have a 30 gallon tank, you want around 600 GPH turnover.
taillonjohn
Member
If you have 2 small powerheads, what size is your tank?
taillonjohn
Member
im currently running 2 small powerheads i belive 160gph on my 25 gallon tank.......
I think you need a lot more flow
I think you need a lot more flow
reeftanker04
Premium Member
That would be 800 GPH for a TO rate of 32. That's a lot of flow but if it's a fish only tank I think that should be fine. If you have coral or are planning on having coral I believe that flow would be too high for certain species.
I'm running 2 MJ 1200's (rated at 295 GPH) in my 30 gallon and the flow is great.
ricwilli
Member
This is what was posted in one of my thread when I ask about lights and algae.
Light does not fuel algae, typically dissolved organics are the fuel source (nitrates, phosphates, etc.). Light is necessary though for them to process the fuel. Eliminating light also does not solve the problem, just delays things until you turn them back on. To eliminate nuisance algae, you have to reduce or remove the fuel source as much as possible while providing a good environment for other species that can outcompete the nuisance varieties.
If your tank is new or less than 1 year old, be patient and continue proper water changes, protein skimming, etc. to limit nutrients. It is typical for new tanks to go through several stages of nuisance algae outbreaks. If it is an older tank, review your maintenance schedule to determine where the excess nutrients are coming from. Some of the likely sources are not enough water changes, not enough export via skimming/fuge/etc., or through food sources (such as adding packing juice from frozen food, etc.).
Light does not fuel algae, typically dissolved organics are the fuel source (nitrates, phosphates, etc.). Light is necessary though for them to process the fuel. Eliminating light also does not solve the problem, just delays things until you turn them back on. To eliminate nuisance algae, you have to reduce or remove the fuel source as much as possible while providing a good environment for other species that can outcompete the nuisance varieties.
If your tank is new or less than 1 year old, be patient and continue proper water changes, protein skimming, etc. to limit nutrients. It is typical for new tanks to go through several stages of nuisance algae outbreaks. If it is an older tank, review your maintenance schedule to determine where the excess nutrients are coming from. Some of the likely sources are not enough water changes, not enough export via skimming/fuge/etc., or through food sources (such as adding packing juice from frozen food, etc.).
xian
Premium Member
I do have one comment on the first part here. Removing the light will not solve the problem, but it will allow your herbivores to catch up, thats the point.
I usually ask people with algae problems how many herbivores are in their tank. A significant increase in snail population can help.
Also, I recommend getting a TDS meter. I would be willing to bet that the publix brand water is not as pure as you would like. It might be worth saving up to get an RO/DI system. That is more than likely the source of your nutrient problem.
It's something I just forgot about how important thee little guys are.
xian
Premium Member
RO/DI systems are available through many vendors. I got mine on Ebay. They can be run in a variety of applications.
They work by forcing water through a membrane. Water that passes through the membrane is filtered, then passed through Deionization resin that removes any additional ions. The resulting water is highly purified. You can get one for around $100
I used to run mine off a tap adapter and fill containers in the bathtub, when they overflowed I turned off the filter
Now that I have my own home I run my filter into a large rubbermaid container that has a float valve installed in it.
Does that help?
They work by forcing water through a membrane. Water that passes through the membrane is filtered, then passed through Deionization resin that removes any additional ions. The resulting water is highly purified. You can get one for around $100
I used to run mine off a tap adapter and fill containers in the bathtub, when they overflowed I turned off the filter
Now that I have my own home I run my filter into a large rubbermaid container that has a float valve installed in it.
Does that help?
reeftanker04
Premium Member
I use Publix water for top off and I've never had an algae outbreak and my tank is 30 gallons.
xian
Premium Member
I'll revert to my first suggestion here. Get a TDS meter (Usually about $15 on ebay) and test the water. Just trying to eliminate possibilities.
I have a bottle of store brand steam distilled water here that tests at 1ppm tds which is low. However in order for algae to grow there needs to be a nutrient source.
If the water is clean you may want to increase the water flow in the tank to stave off the cyano.
How many snails live in this tank? Increasing your herbivore population will help you get rid of the hair algae.
