Hello, I currently have a 2 yr old 90 Gallon Red Sea Reefer. I am having a very hard time getting glass algae under control. My current parameters. Ph 8.0, Nitrates 10ppm, Ammonia 0, Nitrates 0, Salinity 35ppm, Temp 76. Lighting...run 2 Red Sea LED 90. 60 percent Blue, 40 percent white. I also have two internal refugiums that will not take off. I have attached pictures of my tank clean and then a week later it has the algae buildup that you see in the pictures. I am not sure if I am dealing with brown algae or green. In the tank it looks brown but after I clean it is deep green. I have played around with my lighting to no avail and I am totally confused on why my refugiums will not take off. I have attached pictures of those as well.
Algae Problems
- Thread starter af4evr13
- Start date
Oldreeferman
New member
Hello,
Do you happen to have a phosphate test kit?
Id be checking that pram next as it is a major factor of algae blooms.
Hard to see anything in DT pics way too much blue, can you take DT pics in future with just white light would really help visually.
Do you happen to have a phosphate test kit?
Id be checking that pram next as it is a major factor of algae blooms.
Hard to see anything in DT pics way too much blue, can you take DT pics in future with just white light would really help visually.
Very difficult to see anything in those pics. For future reference, it's best to turn down the blue light and jack up the white for photographs, so we can see what you are talking about. I'll throw out some basic ideas and hopefully some will be helpful.
In general, algae is algae, no matter the color or species name. It's either algae you want (like a macro), or algae you don't want. You are in the tricky situation of trying to get rid of the ugly stuff, while trying to get your desirable refugium algae to take off.
How do you favor one and kill the other? Make sure the macros are getting enough light, both by positioning them well and keeping them clear of any algae coating. For the uglies, you need to make a schedule of relentless, manual removal. And that's not just getting it off the glass and rocks. It's getting it fully removed from your tank. Nets and syphons are good tools for this. If you tie a mesh net to end of your syphon, it'll catch the algae and allow you to return the water back to the tank. Algae can feed/recycle itself, so it's important to remove it.
A good clean up crew can help. A diverse selection of snails that reproduce in your tank is key. Get rid of any hermit crabs. They are inferior algae eaters and they kill snails for their shells. For fish, consider an algae blenny or a pygmy angelfish, to help out.
You also need to figure out the root cause and correct it. It often comes down to import/export imbalance. Fish food is the input, skimming and algae removal is the export. You didn't mention Phosphate numbers. You want to get that down near zero (but not zero). There are phosphate absorbing media available to help.
One other thought. Iron is a minor nutrient that gets stripped from closed systems quickly. You may want to try an iron supplement to boost macro growth. Or you could do more water changes. Salt mixes have all the trace elements, including iron, so they get replenished with water changes.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck and welcome to RC!
In general, algae is algae, no matter the color or species name. It's either algae you want (like a macro), or algae you don't want. You are in the tricky situation of trying to get rid of the ugly stuff, while trying to get your desirable refugium algae to take off.
How do you favor one and kill the other? Make sure the macros are getting enough light, both by positioning them well and keeping them clear of any algae coating. For the uglies, you need to make a schedule of relentless, manual removal. And that's not just getting it off the glass and rocks. It's getting it fully removed from your tank. Nets and syphons are good tools for this. If you tie a mesh net to end of your syphon, it'll catch the algae and allow you to return the water back to the tank. Algae can feed/recycle itself, so it's important to remove it.
A good clean up crew can help. A diverse selection of snails that reproduce in your tank is key. Get rid of any hermit crabs. They are inferior algae eaters and they kill snails for their shells. For fish, consider an algae blenny or a pygmy angelfish, to help out.
You also need to figure out the root cause and correct it. It often comes down to import/export imbalance. Fish food is the input, skimming and algae removal is the export. You didn't mention Phosphate numbers. You want to get that down near zero (but not zero). There are phosphate absorbing media available to help.
One other thought. Iron is a minor nutrient that gets stripped from closed systems quickly. You may want to try an iron supplement to boost macro growth. Or you could do more water changes. Salt mixes have all the trace elements, including iron, so they get replenished with water changes.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck and welcome to RC!
I appreciate your guys feedback. I have not tested for phosphates so I will look into that once I have a tester. I do have some clean up crew. Turbo Snails and hermits, and 1 Lawnmower Blenny. As for my refugiums, I am running light for about 12 hours off cycle from the main tank lights. I just can't seem to get anything to take in those tanks. I have one that is totally separate from the the main tank and one that is in line with the flow in the actual sump. I run a protein skimmer for about 2 hours at night to help with PH levels. I have also introduced copepods but I don't think those are surviving either. I have attached some better pictures in white light to look at.
Attachments
Michael has some really good golden nuggets of info for you right there!!! In addition I would separate my live stock I want from the main tank into a QT tank which you should already have until you get this under control. With your fish and corals, as long as you continue to feed them, your going to continue to feed the Algae or Cyno with nutrients, thereby fueling the problem. No nutrients or light for photosynthesis = very little or no algae growth! As long as you continue to have unwanted algae in your tank your desirable Maco algae is going to have to compete with it and will usually come up with the short end of the stick so to speak. That is probably why your Maco Algae is struggling to take off and give you some relief from the problem. I would also reduce the light over the display until you have it under control. Manually remove as much algae as you can in the mean time there by "exporting" the nutrients locked up by the unwanted algae in your tank. I would also increase my water changes a good bit as well to help speed up the fix and get things back on a even keel.
I appreciate everyone's inputs. I will run the skimmer 24/7 as suggested. I do not have a quarantine tank so will it harm my livestock to turn down the lighting for a while? The only coral I currently have are ZOAs. I will also do a thorough clean and water changes during this time to see if I can get it under control. Thank you again for the help guys!
Yes you can turn your lights down for a shorter photo period but how much before the Zoas get negatively effected is the big question for which I dont have an answer. Maybe 6 hours a day will be adequate...IDK. Maybe other here can give you a better answer.
No QT tank? You should really rethink that...I dont care who your getting your live stock from or how reputable they are. Its a heck of a lot easier to prevent nasties from getting in your display tank than it is to get rid of them, if thats even possible once established, than it is to deal with it once you have an infestation! I set one up that can QT everything from Softies to collector grade SPS corals for less than 200 bucks. Yeah that sounds kinda expensive I know but ask yourself this...How much do you have invested in live rock, live sand fish and corals in you display once its up and running for a good year or so. Now can you afford to tear it down, kill everything off and start with a sterile tank about once every year or two? Your Grandmother was right when she said a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and how! After having that nightmare come true a couple of times and loosing a couple thousand in corals, I got a QT tank and its the best dang 200 bucks I have spent to date reefing the last 17 years!!!
Sorry to hijack your thread a bit, but if you had a QT tank, this issue with your main display would be a pretty quick and easy fix with out risking loosing any live stock. Not trying to beat you up, just trying to save you the pain of learning the hard way...like I did!
No QT tank? You should really rethink that...I dont care who your getting your live stock from or how reputable they are. Its a heck of a lot easier to prevent nasties from getting in your display tank than it is to get rid of them, if thats even possible once established, than it is to deal with it once you have an infestation! I set one up that can QT everything from Softies to collector grade SPS corals for less than 200 bucks. Yeah that sounds kinda expensive I know but ask yourself this...How much do you have invested in live rock, live sand fish and corals in you display once its up and running for a good year or so. Now can you afford to tear it down, kill everything off and start with a sterile tank about once every year or two? Your Grandmother was right when she said a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and how! After having that nightmare come true a couple of times and loosing a couple thousand in corals, I got a QT tank and its the best dang 200 bucks I have spent to date reefing the last 17 years!!!
Sorry to hijack your thread a bit, but if you had a QT tank, this issue with your main display would be a pretty quick and easy fix with out risking loosing any live stock. Not trying to beat you up, just trying to save you the pain of learning the hard way...like I did!
I understand what you are saying about a QT tank and I am working to get one and set it up. I have been very fortunate so far not to need one but I realize I am playing Russian Roulette with my tank.
I will shorten the span on my lights and do another good clean to see what that gets me.
Thank you for the feedback.
I will shorten the span on my lights and do another good clean to see what that gets me.
Thank you for the feedback.
Its cool man...hopefully the force is with you on this issue. There aint too many things more of a bummer than dealing with a out of control algae or Cyno issue. I have seen both drive a lot of aspiring reefers out of the hobby out of flustration. I have been there and done that myself a few times...more than I would like to admit to anyways.
Oldreeferman
New member
If its mainly on the glass and not the rocks its pretty common & normal buildup after a week, does sound like a good snail CUC would do the job nicely. I have a couple old big snails and a lot of tiny ones that only come out after lights out that do the rounds daily on my entire tank and they get rid of most of the glass algae. Like stated don't get any hermits hard on snails.
When you use an algae magnet only a very small amount of the algae get's removed from the system. Most will be floating around in your tank and a lot of it will resettle very quickly on the glass. I use paper towels to physically remove algae that's growing on the glass from the system so it won't resettle on the glass. This is a messy process as multiple towels need to be used and thrown away after one or two swipes across the glass. Dpending on how bad the algae and other system parameters is I might see significant reduction after two or three cleanings a week apart but it can take longer. Most paper towels work ok but the blue paper shop towels used mechanics works the best.
https://youtu.be/_yoh9DYkiWA
https://youtu.be/_yoh9DYkiWA
