almost ready to quit

[ducati1212]

So tank is 2 years old now and I have had an algae problem since about month 2. Its pretty bad. The tank is a 30 Gal, Aqua C remora, 45 lbs of live rock, 2 powerheads, 30 lbs sand, power compact lights.

I feed frozen shrimp what I think are correct amounts. Non of my params seems off. everything I can test for is 0.

I change water about 10 gal a month.

the only issue I see as a potential problem is the tank tends to get afternoon sunlight. not always i usually have the curtains closed but lots of days they get opened and tank gets direct sun light.

Any thoughts on things I an try. My plan is to potentially break down the 30 and put my 2 gobies in a 10 gal I have in a diff spot until I can finish my basement next summer.

Thoughts or advice welcome. I can add a pic if that helps

 

[Monkeyfish]

What kind of corals and how many fish are in the tank? How deep is your sand bed?

I'd start by changing 5 gallons a week... it's what I do with my 29g. Also, I'm sure the direct sunlight is NOT helping. You stated that you are feeding the tank shrimp - what's eating them - coral, fish or both? It helps if you thaw out the shrimp and then pour them into a net to get rid of the water and debris. A little can be good for a tank, but too much is easy to do. Also, cut down on the amount you feed at any given time.

Your parameters may test fine, but if you have algae then you have an excess of phosphates and/or nitrates. Hobby test kits aren't all that accurate and even if they were the algae consumes the nutrients leaving you with "perfect" test readings.

 

[ducati1212]

I have 2 Gobies, 1 green chromas, 1 emerald crab, 1 blood shrimp, bunch of snails and hermits.

I think both nit and phos test 0 because all the algae is eating it. the only thing I can think of is the sun but I hoped to get it under control anyways.

I do thaw and rinse my fprzen shrimp, I feed avout 1/3 of the little cubes each night usually taking 1 or sometimes 2 nights off.

I have several test kits from all brands. I tested everyday for about a year now I almost never test. maybe once a month. params always look good. And i am using the test kits correctly I have used them for many many years.

Sand bed is about 1 to 2 inches in most spots

 

[ducati1212]

one more note I never got corals because I have been waiting for the algae to clear up first. been a long wait

 

[nalbar]

If you do not have corals....turn out the lights. And cut WAY back on the feeding. WAY back.

The gobies can probably live off the tank if you have lots of algae (lots of creatures in there, then).

I am sure you are aware that your problem is phosphates. They are getting into your system. The most likely sources are your change water and the fish food. Without corals, the fix is VERY 'doable'. You have to be SURE of your water. Double/triple check that. Then cut WAY back on feeding. And turn out the lights. No lights, hungry fish, good water = no algae in two months.

nalbar

 

[Tswifty]

Here's some before and after pics on my 55g tank... I cannot tell you exactly what worked, because I added about 4 different things at the same time.

Before:

2 weeks later:

 

[Tswifty]

Here's what I did...

1. removed all my LR and scrubbed the heck out of the pieces with algae on them in a bucket of tank water

2. took a window cleaner long razorblade... and cut out as much by hand as possible, and scrubbed all the walls in the tank. Syphoned out as much floating gunk as possible while I did this, then used a net to fish out what I missed.
**did this again the following day to clean up what I missed**

3. took a turkey baster and basted the crap outta my substrate releasing all and any trapped deritus. then did a 20g water change right after I was done.
**did this again the following day to clean up what I missed**

4. Hooked up refugium with caulerpa and cheato in it

5. Hooked up a phosban reactor with phosban media.

6. Added a small yellow tang... he did an AMAZING job of cleaning up not only what I missed, but keeping the algae from coming back. He would pick off any new sprouts as soon as they popped up.


Like I said... this is what "I" had success with.

 

[stuccodude]

tswifty8, you should post the 4 things cause whatever you did it worked, i never had algea but i could see how you would want to quit but the reward of a nice tank is well worth the work.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12513659#post12513659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stuccodude
tswifty8, you should post the 4 things cause whatever you did it worked, i never had algea but i could see how you would want to quit but the reward of a nice tank is well worth the work.

gotcha covered :thumbsup:

 

[DNickell]

One thing I finally tried that has helped a lot is to put an algae refugeum in my sump. I just made a stand from PVC pipe to elevate a plastic tub from the Dollar Store above the water level in the sump.

I put sand in the bottom of the tub, ran a "Y" out from my overflow hose coming from the main tank with one dumping straight into the sump, the other having a plastic faucet for flow control and running into the tub. Keep the water flow very slow--just a trickle.

I then put a cheap flourescent, low wattage light over the tub that stays on 24/7. I pulled algae by hand from the main tank and put it into the tub. Then turn off the lights for the main tank for about a week--repeat as needed (you will need to evacuate any corals until this comes up to speed). The older the bulb the better--you want to do whatever would cause algae to grow!

The result was that I have a thick growth of bad algae in the tub in my sump. It uses up the nutrients, starving the algae in the main tank. I regularly hand harvest algae from the tub (not all of it, just thin it down) and use it to fill potholes in the driveway.

The water in the tub trickles over the edge and into the main sump, but the algae stays in the tub. The 24/7 light schedule keeps the contained algae growing, but prevents it from going sexual and spreading back to the main tank.

I don't know if this would work in your case, or even if your set up would allow it, but it did work for me. When you harvest the bad algae from the tub, you are removing the nutrients that would have fed algae in the main tank.

When the algae is thriving in the sump and dying in the main tank, you can begin to slowly turn the lights on for increasing periods up top. If the algae begins to rebound there, just shut down the lights for awhile and let the algae in the sump take up the nutirents.

Hope this helps. I bet everyone who has kept an aquarium for long has come very close to quitting.

 

[Longchamp]

Dont give up. Running some GFO is a big first step. The algae NEED it. bulkreefsupply sells it for pretty cheap, way cheaper than phosban. A reactor is only like $30-$35 for the 2LF one, or the kent one is 40 from bulkreef.

I say run that, and let the tank go dark for a few days. cover the whole thing in towels.

Just dont give up. this algae isnt a big deal and itll go away, especially if you start doing more WCs

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12513680#post12513680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DNickell
One thing I finally tried that has helped a lot is to put an algae refugeum in my sump. I just made a stand from PVC pipe to elevate a plastic tub from the Dollar Store above the water level in the sump.

I put sand in the bottom of the tub, ran a "Y" out from my overflow hose coming from the main tank with one dumping straight into the sump, the other having a plastic faucet for flow control and running into the tub. Keep the water flow very slow--just a trickle.

I then put a cheap flourescent, low wattage light over the tub that stays on 24/7. I pulled algae by hand from the main tank and put it into the tub. Then turn off the lights for the main tank for about a week--repeat as needed (you will need to evacuate any corals until this comes up to speed). The older the bulb the better--you want to do whatever would cause algae to grow!

The result was that I have a thick growth of bad algae in the tub in my sump. It uses up the nutrients, starving the algae in the main tank. I regularly hand harvest algae from the tub (not all of it, just thin it down) and use it to fill potholes in the driveway.

The water in the tub trickles over the edge and into the main sump, but the algae stays in the tub. The 24/7 light schedule keeps the contained algae growing, but prevents it from going sexual and spreading back to the main tank.

I don't know if this would work in your case, or even if your set up would allow it, but it did work for me. When you harvest the bad algae from the tub, you are removing the nutrients that would have fed algae in the main tank.

When the algae is thriving in the sump and dying in the main tank, you can begin to slowly turn the lights on for increasing periods up top. If the algae begins to rebound there, just shut down the lights for awhile and let the algae in the sump take up the nutirents.

Hope this helps. I bet everyone who has kept an aquarium for long has come very close to quitting.

Something like this I'm guessing:

Also a good point I left out... I also upped my lighting in the fuge to 24/7

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

ducati1212- are you using RO/DI water or tap?
*check your Mg levels and bump it up to snuff using Kent's Tech M
*run some GFO
*add more snails
*add a small Sea Hare
If you're located in Mass there's lots of sharp reefkeepers in the Boston Reefers club. Maybe somebody close by to you can help. All of us fight nusiance algae every day.

 

[DEXNC]

how old are your test kit and the bulbs?

 

[Otto2]

How old are you PC bulbs? If they are 2 years old, it may contribute to your algae.

 

[ducati1212]

my bulbs may be getting old but not that bad. Think I replaced them at the end of last summer.

I cant do a fuge because of where the tank is.

I did try mag a few months back with no great results.

This algae does not seem to care about light because it grows under rocks. but I will try with no lights for a while..

I use only RODI since day one. and test to make sure its 0.

Maybe lights out for most of a week will the fish care? or shrimp?

 

[Jane]

I'm in the same boat...7 years witha great tank then a full blown break out. I'm half way there. It's getting better - here's what I'm doing:

I upped my water flow to over 1800 gph (75 gal tank) by adding 2 Koralia 3 Power Heads.
Changed out the sand bed (your isn't old enough to have to do that)
Upped the mag with Tech M.
Added a Phosban Reactor with RowaPhos.
Do 5 to 10 gal water Changes weekly.
Cut down on the lighting time to 4 to 5 hours max daily.
Added some Calerpa.
Started dosing with Kalkwasser.

There is no more Hair growing on the glass or anywhere except the live rock - it's going to take some time for the GFO to get the phosphates out of the saturated rock. I'm told at least 8 weeks.

 

[aquaman67]

I used GFO and a longspine urchin. He ate my Kenya Tree too, but that's not really a bad thing, if you know what I mean...

 

[jcjule]

1. Avoid direct sunlight 24/7
2. Do 5 gal water changes at least once a week
3. Turn off the lights for a few days as stated before

Don´t give up... you´ll get it back...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12513812#post12513812 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ducati1212
This algae does not seem to care about light because it grows under rocks. but I will try with no lights for a while..

what kind of algae is it?