Need help, algae issue

DJasak

New member
Ok guys I'm gonna lay it all out there for ya. I'm gonna break down everything I have from tank size, stock and equipment. I can't seem to get a handle on my tank when it comes to keeping my display clean. I know my tank is overstocked but with the equipment im running I didn't think I would have this issue...any way here we go...

Equipment:
I have a 45 gallon tank, all my equipment is HOB since I kinda got setup a.s.s backwards from the start and was nervous about drilling my tank. It is the aqueon 45 gallon arch ensemble that I picked up from petsmart on black Friday 2 years ago. I have about a 2-2.5 inch sand depth (used dry aragonate (sp?) And rinsed the hell out of it before putting it into my tank) again, that sand was introduced 2 years ago. Im using a Fluval led light fixture, I can't remember the exact specs on the light but i know it's one step down from the pro and was rated good for soft and LPS corals but not SPS. a mixture of dry and live rock was used during the set up process. I have a 2.5 gallon HOB refugium with about 1 inch of refugium mud and half an inch of sand on top. In the fuge I have dragons breath growing attached to pieces of rock rubble and a few extra pieces of rubble scattered in the sand. Also have an astrea and turbo in there. I'm running the reef octopus classic 90 HOB skimmer. 2 aqueon circulation pumps rated at 500gph, and the BRS dual reactor with GFO and Carbon. I have the BRS 4 stage RO/DI Plus that I use for top off and water changes.

Habits:
I do not do any kind of regular water testing, all I have is API master test kit and I've heard it's unreliable. Money has been tight so I have not been able to invest in better test kits.
Thermometer is set to 74 degrees Fahrenheit, temp is steady at 75, with only a 1 degree Flux when I do a water change. The circulation pumps are on opposite sides of each other one pointed up to help with surface agitation and the other pointed down toward my corals. None of the corals are blasted by the pumps, they have a nice gentle sway and all seem to be quite happy. I clean the front glass pane of my display about once a week, sometimes twice, although lately I've been letting the film build up a little and leave it for my snails and starfish to enjoy for a few days before wiping it away which is usually about a 10-14 day cycle between cleanings. I do a 10 gallon water change every 3-4 weeks, unless the tank starts to look too dirty for my liking, then I'll up it to every 2-3 weeks for a couple months. But it's usually every 3-4 weeks. I use IO reef crystals for my salt, when I make RO I usually mix in the salt, give it a good 10-15 minute stir then let the fresh water sit for a day to come up to room temp and let the salt fully dissolve. Sometimes the salt doesn't completely dissolve in the 24 hours so I Strain it thru a pillow case before adding it to my tank...I should note all of this is done before I start my siphoning. I keep my salinity right around 1.025 to 1.026 checked by a refractometer. I change out my GFO once a month and and Carbon is done about every 6-7 weeks. Lighting in the fuge is left on 24 hours a day, display light is left on from 8:30 AM to when I come home from work which is between 9:45PM and 10PM, at which point it is switched over to my blues for the evening. I recently read that's not a good idea and that you should do a blackout period, so lately I have been doing 1 night with both the fuge light and display light completely off each week for 3 weeks, 4th week I leave the blues on. When I'm siphoning I clean the top half layer of my sand and I do pull up quite a bit of detritus. I do not push my siphon all the way to the bottom of my sand. Usually pulling out 10 gallons of water per water change. I do a small cleaning in my fuge once every 2-3 months depending on how quick the snails waste builds up. Fish are fed on a daily basis a mixture of frozen brine, frozen mysis and a pinch of flake food all soaked in a capful of seachem garlic guard and a capful of seachem vitality, all food is consumed by the fish, crabs and serpent stars within 3-5 minutes...funny side note: I have a 16 gallon bow front in my son's room with a pair of zebra gobies and a firefish. Tank is quite honestly ignored, and is very basic with just a fluorescent light, hob power filter and a heater. Lighting period is crazy long usually from 8pm-noon the next day as I use it as a night light for my son. Sand is pristine, water is crystal clear, corals are thriving and the fish are happier than a pig in you-know-what! Lol never had a disease outbreak or anything.

Coral stock:
1 kenya tree, 1 Florida ricordia, 1 blue mushroom, 1 duncan, 1 acan, 1 green finger leather, 1 hammer, 1 stylo, 1 plating monti, 1 trumpet, 1 pulsing xenia

Livestock:
3 turbo snails, 3 astrea snails, 2 trochus snails, 10 cerith snails, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 zebra hermit, 2 red leg hermits, 3 scarlet hermits, 2 banded serpeant stars, 1 red linkia star, 1 scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp, 4 blue/green chromis, 1 tomato clown, 1 ocellaris clown, 1 coral beauty angel, 1 yellow wrasse, 1 melanarus wrasse, 1 orchid dottyback, 1 green mandarin goby. All the fish are juvenile except for the ocellaris, and melanarus. All fish have been healthy and disease free, aggression is low, all have been together for for 6-8 months. Have not had a disease outbreak in the tank in over a year, which is when i started to quarantine all new arrivals.

Algae issue:
The problems I am experiencing is after about a week I start to see diatoms on my sandbed. They will slowly start to build up until I stir up the top layer of sand or do a water change. That was the only issue I was dealing with until 2 weeks ago when I started to get this film that grows on the surface of my water, kinda looks like an oil slick. Other issue that developed is red slime algae is starting to take over the sand bed. I tried to remove as much as I could when I did my last water change but after 48 hours just about all of it grew back.

Like I said I wanted to lay everything on the table so whoever decides to tackle this one has a full understanding...I'm sure I'm doing a few things wrong which is where I'm looking for your generosity and to point me in the right direction. I know I'm over stocked, but all my fish are quite happy and healthy. Might relocate the tomato clown and melanarus wrasse but haven't yet decided.

What I'm looking for:
-Advice
-tips
-tricks
-opinions
-what's worked for you

What I'm not looking for:
-Internet Trolls

Thank you to all who try to help!
 
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Add more flow, the diatoms are feeding on the waste produced by the bacteria at the sand water interface. You only have 20x flow you can easily double the flow in your tank. I just had the same problem
 
Add more flow, the diatoms are feeding on the waste produced by the bacteria at the sand water interface. You only have 20x flow you can easily double the flow in your tank. I just had the same problem

Should I get 2 aqueon 700s or 2 aqueon 950s?
 
You could add a 500 or replace one with a 950, and see if the issue improves and decide from there. Its difficult to recommend a fixed flow number. I know 20 to 50x tank size is generally recommended. Everything I have read is that more is better as long as you dont have sand storms.
 
You could add a 500 or replace one with a 950, and see if the issue improves and decide from there. Its difficult to recommend a fixed flow number. I know 20 to 50x tank size is generally recommended. Everything I have read is that more is better as long as you dont have sand storms.

Thank you! I'll give it a shot! Should that help with the red slime as well??
 
1. Get the water flow high enough detritus has a hard time sitting on the sand bed, but not so high that the sand is entering the water column.

2. Verify that NO3 and PO4 are under control. If they are not, I would perform a series of large water changes to get nutrient levels in check.

3. Verify that Ca, Alk, and Mg are where they should be.

4. Verify the quality of water from the RO/DI unit is what you are expecting as far as TDS and that there is no Chlorine/Chloramine breakthrough.

If after all of that the cyano persists there is Red Slime Remover which I have read people have had success with.
 
I'm gonna switch out the 500s with two 750s and might possibly position on of the 500s closer to the sand toward the back to try to keep things suspended longer. Also looking at getting a tunze osmolator. Thanks for your help!

I'm saving for a couple hydra 26s and a mp-40...can't wait!
 
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