I have a ton of algae in my tank... have a 75g..einning 6 T5s...4 blue..1 purple and 1 white.. I know if you run lights to long you can grow algae..but I'm only running them about 8 hours.. is the white running to long or is there a problem with something else ? ? It's all over my overflow column and back wall...and my powerheads. its so much that some of it looks like hair...also is this bad ...because it also has little bubbles sticking to it?
Lots of algae
- Thread starter drew930
- Start date
Floowid
New member
How old is the tank? Algae blooms are a normal part of a new tank. Even hair algae can come and go as part of a normal post cycle establishment period. So tell us how long ago you set up the tank, how big it is, what filtration you have, what clean up crew, what other livestock is in the tank, and what you have done already to try to control the algae.
8 hours is a relatively short photoperiod, and should not be the 'cause' of your algae problem, but any light will be a contributor to the problem if one exists. Usually the problem (in an established tank) is due to high levels of nutrients such as Nitrate and Phosphate. Are you testing for those? Are you testing for Alk, Ca, and Mg? If so, what are the levels. Finally, what is your salinity?
8 hours is a relatively short photoperiod, and should not be the 'cause' of your algae problem, but any light will be a contributor to the problem if one exists. Usually the problem (in an established tank) is due to high levels of nutrients such as Nitrate and Phosphate. Are you testing for those? Are you testing for Alk, Ca, and Mg? If so, what are the levels. Finally, what is your salinity?
BEen set up for about 2 months..salt level is at 1.025.. I have 2 clowns....some coral.. Frogspan..hammer..zoas..Duncan..blasto..acans... haven't tested nitrates.. I know I need to. looking to buy test kit soon. No snails yet.. only have some centipede lojjibg things. so no clean up crew.. and I have a blue tang and blue powder tang already shipping due for drop off tomarrow... is that a problem ?
SushiGirl
Premium Member
Are you using RO/DI water or tap water? How much are you feeding? What is your filtration? Filter? Skimmer? Sump? How much live rock and sand? What are your ammonia and nitrite levels? How long have the clowns been in the tank?
You definitely should get a cleanup crew, at the least snails. Also you should have had test kits before ever getting fish to make sure your cycle was done. If you can do it, you should at least go get a nitrate test kit today, they're like $16. You also MUST have an ammonia test kit if you don't already have one and test that too.
2 months is a really short time period to be adding fish without testing anything, especially the 4 that have high bioloads and adding 2 tangs at the same time.
I'm at 2 months with this tank & just added my first coral yesterday. It was a month & a half before I added a cleanup crew. I won't add a fish until next month, and then it will just be one for a week or 2 before adding any more.
You definitely should get a cleanup crew, at the least snails. Also you should have had test kits before ever getting fish to make sure your cycle was done. If you can do it, you should at least go get a nitrate test kit today, they're like $16. You also MUST have an ammonia test kit if you don't already have one and test that too.
2 months is a really short time period to be adding fish without testing anything, especially the 4 that have high bioloads and adding 2 tangs at the same time.
I'm at 2 months with this tank & just added my first coral yesterday. It was a month & a half before I added a cleanup crew. I won't add a fish until next month, and then it will just be one for a week or 2 before adding any more.
