I dont get it (need opinions on algae problem)

[patsfan1130]

Heys guys. I need some opinions on what could be wrong with my 90g which has been setup for 4 years. I have this black (film like) algae growing all over the back pane of my 90. as well as all over the rock & overflow. It doesnt grow on the sand or side panels. I am thinking this might be due to the flow in my tank but I am not sure (I run 2 Vortech mp40 which seems to be more than enough flow) A quick rundown of my equip is....90g DT, 20gl sump with fuge (tons of healthy macro which I trim at least twice per month), Octo Ext 160 skimmer, BRS dual reactor running carbon/GFO, 2 MP40 (1 on each side panel) and an 8 x 54w T5. I am thinking strongly maybe it's the lights. The bulbs were SERIOUSLY overdue (like 1 year overdue) for changing which I did over the course of 2 weeks about 3 weeks ago. prior to the change I got a bit of brown algae (especially on the overflow) but nothing like this black stuff.

My perameters...

Trates - undetectable
PO4 - undetectable
Alk - 3.5 meq/l
Calcium 440
SG 1.025
Temp - between 78-80
PH - constant 8.2 - 8.4

Inhabitants... 1 lg GSM, 1 Kole tang, 1 flame angel, 1 CB, a good cleanup crew consisting of cerith, nerite, turbo. corals are frogspawn, torch, bubble, hammer, some zoa & a few acro. all of which are doing fantastic.

I dose kalk in my ATO & use all RO/DI. I have tested my unit & TDS are 0 (filter are less than 4 months old anyway) The stuff comes off quite easily but return within a couple of days. It comes off in sheets almost. I've never seen it before. None of my other tanks have this problem & they are all setup very similarly.

Test results and inhabitant health say the tank is extremely healthy. looking at it though....It is ugly as sin.

Sorry for the long post but I am at a loss here.

 

[mcoomer]

I had algae problems on the rock and acrylic in my tank. My water parameters always looked good but the algae remained. I pulled out my DSB over a period of weeks and things improved dramatically. I have almost no algae in the tank now. To ensure that I keep it that way, I've just added two BRS reactors running GFO and carbon.

Mike

 

[patsfan1130]

I run a remote DSB which is about 3 years old. MY plan is to pull all of the rock out, scrub it and do a 50ish % WC. I do 10% per week faithfully as it is but I am grasping for straws here.

 

[illsquaddotcom]

You may want to set up a new Remote DSP. Best plan would be to add a second RDSB then pull your current one in a month or two,a fter it has had a chance to seed properly and get established. I plan on swapping out mine every two years or so to keep it from releasing anything bad back into the water column.

 

[cfarrow2]

A little off topic here, but if a remote DSB will go bad, doesn't that mean a display DSB will go bad? Or in other words, what's the point of having a DSB at all if it'll just go bad? Do they all go bad eventually? I use crushed coral and just siphon it out every other water change and it seems to work well. Don't want to hijack your thread Patsfan1130, but am curious b/c all I hear is how advantageous a DSB is for reefers.

 

[James77]

Some would argue every DSB will go bad/become a nutrient trap- and others would say they last a really long time if maintained properly. I think they can definitely go bad, but usually from neglect or other poor habits- ie dumping alot of excess phosphate/nutrient laden food and expecting the DSB to magcally take care of everything.

The remote DSB gives you the benefits from it, but if you are having problems down the line, it is easier to take a DSB in a separate area offline than remove hundreds of pounds of sand from a fully stocked display tank.

I would add a remote DSB if I was having nitrate problems, I am not though.

 

[mm949]

black algae is nutrients.....run some chemipure elite and PO4 remover

although the PO4 tests OK the algae is consuming it

 

[luther1200]

Do you have a picture of it?