Algae Question

[Sports Girl]

What can I do to cut down or eliminate the brown coraline-like algae that accumulates on the plexiglass in my tank? I have a 60 gallon mixed reef with 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, 40 ppm nitrates, and 1.025 sg salinity. Biologically filtrated w/DSB and LR. Any suggestions appreciated. Also, my water always seems to have particulates floating in it, not cloudy, but definitely not as clear as I would like it. Should I run carbon for that? Or something else? Thanks!

 

[Tang Salad]

Sadly, I don't think there's much you can do to keep coralline from growing on the tank walls. Unlike other algaes, which can be controlled by limiting nutrient levels, coralline is always growing in a healthy reef tank.

So, just keep scraping...

 

[Tang Salad]

For your 2nd question, carbon will help remove some particulates. A better skimmer will also help more. A filter sock can also be used, but you need to change them regularly.

 

[Sports Girl]

That's what I was afraid of...Any suggestions on the water clarity?

 

[affan]

Although the pros and cons of this route may be debatable, a UV sterilizer, however, will definitely turn your water crystal clear and may help with your algae issues as well.

 

[Sports Girl]

I have a 9 watt Turbo Twist currently, here is a pic of what I am experiencing (though not my tank). I found this pic after googling "diatoms" if that helps with the solution.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j281/sarabrookes/tank.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
My problem is limited to the plexiglass only, not on the sand or LR at all. Also, my tank is two years old and lights (pc) are on from 2-9 pm.

 

[Paliya]

I'm getting that stuff too. I heard that a florida fighting conch will cruz around on the sandbed and eat the brown algea. I'm not sure where you can buy them online though. None of my LFS' have them either.

-P

 

[affan]

Diatoms are a normal occurence in the chain when the tank has been newly established so don't fret too much. Just know that this kind of growth feeds mainly on Silicates, DOC's, nitrates, and phosphates etc. Your best bet would be to use RO/DI water for WC's and top offs as most of the aforementioned nutrients are typically added to the tank via unfiltered tap water. Reducing photoperiod may help as well.

 

[littlemannin]

I don't believe your brown stuff is coraline. It looks tlike diatoms to me. That being the case I would run carbon and increase your flow to the problem area. And as for the 40 ppm Nitrates... that could be the cause. Several water changes of 10% per day for about 1 week should bring that down.

 

[Sports Girl]

Okay, other than it being a PITA to scrape, is it harmful to my fish, corals, or inverts?

 

[littlemannin]

I would say no... but you say "scrape" is it a hard algea?

 

[Sports Girl]

Yeah, it is, that's why I described it as "coraline-like." Does that change things?

 

[Tang Salad]

No, coralline algae will not harm anything. It's a welcome, attractive sign of a healthy reef tank.

It's only a nusiance when you need to scrape it off the glass, or as in our cases, off the acrylic. I use a credit card to do this. Just be careful not to scratch the tank too much.

 

[littlemannin]

Not sure. Maybe do some reading on GARF.org. He is is the coralline master!