Red Algae Control

[DubT]

Help. I have had my 75 gallon reef tank up and running for a couple of months now. Red algae is taking over my tank. I have live rock and a few little fish. I believe that I was over-feeding my fish, which caused the over-abundance of nutrients in my saltwater tank. I have since only feed my fish once a day.

I did a 15% water change with ocean water. I scrubbed my tank as well. It looked much improved, but a week later, I can see the red algae has returned as strong as ever. I have 15 Astrea snails, 1 emerald crab, and 9 red-legged hermit crabs. I will be purchasing a yellow tang soon. Please advise what can I do to get rid of this red algae in my tank. Advise needed. Thank you.

 

[REMF]

You have Cyanobacteria, here is a product to get rid of it, and here is a good article about it.

 

[santi]

You should check your water param. weekly since you have this problem. If nitrates is too high, then do about 10-15 gal. water change weekly until you have it under control. Do you have enough lr, at least 75lbs and enough water flows? And make sure you feed only what your fishes can eat, and try to take out the leftovers if there are still alot left. You should take care of that problem first before adding the YT because they are an eating and pooping machine. Good Luck

 

[bjonesjr1]

I had the same problem, check your phoshates, and try to get that under control... make sure those are as low as you can get it, I used stuff called chemi-clean in my tank, by boyd enterprises, its half the price as that red slime remover stuff, and marine depot carries it. I did water changes, but water changes doesn't fix your phosphates as they are due to other things, I.E. over feeding, silicates. Correct me If I'm wrong anyone.

I also heard something about the light spectrum, might have an effect on red slime algae, or not enough flow. But I increased the flow in my tank, use chemi-clean once a month, and also use phosban in my tank, and target feed all the time now, to make sure that no food hits the bottom, and now I'm all good.

 

[dallascwbyz]

There are plenty of chemical quick fixes out there, but my advice is to get top the root of the problem. Definitely check your phosphates weekly at this stage. Continue doing your water changes. Cut your feeding back to every other day(the fish won't mind). Are you using ro/di water? If not... start. Bobby made a good point about your lights. How long have they been in use? Most people change their lights out every 9-12 months. And last but not least definitely do not add any more fish until your water params are stable.

 

[DubT]

Thanks for all the advice. I do water changes with ocean water from the LFS. When I add fresh water when the salinity is high, I use ro/di water. I have not checked my phosphate level. Good point. I am definitely cutting back on my feedings. The lights advice is a good point. I will look into that as well. I currently have 56 lbs of live rock. Along with the fishes, I have the following invertebrates:

15 Astrea snails
10 red-legged hermit crabs
1 Emerald crab
2 Cleaner Shrimps
4 Peppermint Shrimps

Would you suggest that I purchase more clean-up crew? Any other advice is welcomed.

 

[bjonesjr1]

I have 5 Nassarius Snail's, they do a good job under the sand, to keep things moving their, If you like star's then a sand sifting one is ok, not sure if its reef safe though... I also have 3 mexican turbo snails, they do a good job all around too. so maybe some of those would help you out.