Reducing Algae in SPS Aquarium

[reefyourself]

Hey everyone,

I have a 25 gallon SPS aquarium and the past 6-12 months, Ive been plagued with algae. When i say Algae I mean green hair algae, bubble algae, red hair algae (or cotton candy not even sure), Algae that requires so much force to pull off i can almost hold my rocks up with it...etc.

I also am 4 weeks into the neo zeo system (dosing all their additives according to the guide).

I am running a Octopus NW-110 6520B skimmer (21 hrs a day - Off when i dose my stuff).

Tank parameters:
Alk: 2.5 meq/L (salifert)
Cal: 440ppm (salifert)
Mag: 1320ppm (salifert)

Nitrate: undetectable
Phosphate: 0 (according to hanna meter)

I feed my fish once a day (down to 2 now. Wrasse decided to suicide by jumping out).


My coral colors are very nice (growth is under average i think)


This is my main concern:

I am dosing via profilux doser randy's 2-part. I have decided, its been over a year and a half now to go with the baaling light method (so I include those in the 2-part solutions)

Right off, I am thinking could the iron in my 2-part be causing an algae problem?

 

[reefyourself]

I also do 3 gallon water changes every week.

 

[rigleautomotive]

you are trying way too hard IMO.My suggestion would be to slowly reduce and remove all variables(additives without ingredients listed and even the ones with it listed that are not,alk,cal or mg supplements)especially pro biotics(bac and carbon dosing ,on a 25 gallon system,it is suicide) and return to basics.Large cleaner crew with the a mix of snails,tiny hermits,tuxedo urchins and herbivore fish.Do weekly water changes with 0 tds water and a good trusted salt.strong protein skimming(wet).and add nothing until the rock looks right,coralline encrusted and no nuisance algae.Old school thought process was 1 snail or hermit per system gallons so u need a minimum of 25 and a few other critters will help.Like a small tuxedo urchin or a lawnmower blennie.This natural method of control for a small system is the only safe way I know of with your issues.GL

 

[Jmikitz]

I also do 3 gallon water changes every week.

dont do that. theres no stability gained by a large change every week . I would do nothing but sit back and enjoy it for a month .. top off water only . shorten light cycle till it all clears . which it will .

 

[reefyourself]

hmmmm.....I only have 1 turbo snail and 2 nassarious snails.

I used to have hermit crabs but they slowly died off and some were picking on the sps.....not to sure....what I should be getting as clean up crew

 

[reefyourself]

you are trying way too hard IMO.My suggestion would be to slowly reduce and remove all variables(additives without ingredients listed and even the ones with it listed that are not,alk,cal or mg supplements)especially pro biotics(bac and carbon dosing ,on a 25 gallon system,it is suicide) and return to basics.Large cleaner crew with the a mix of snails,tiny hermits,tuxedo urchins and herbivore fish.Do weekly water changes with 0 tds water and a good trusted salt.strong protein skimming(wet).and add nothing until the rock looks right,coralline encrusted and no nuisance algae.Old school thought process was 1 snail or hermit per system gallons so u need a minimum of 25 and a few other critters will help.Like a small tuxedo urchin or a lawnmower blennie.This natural method of control for a small system is the only safe way I know of with your issues.GL

Ever since i started using NeoZeo with the supplements...my corals really took off in color and look super healthy. Before that they were kinda pale looking and didnt have such good polyp extension.

I think my big problem is not having a clean up crew besides 1 turbo snail and 2 little Nassarius snails (which I read dont eat algae)

 

[Metal Man 1221]

I think my big problem is not having a clean up crew besides 1 turbo snail and 2 little Nassarius snails (which I read dont eat algae)

Adding to your CUC would be a good starting point, what you have is defiantly IMO not enough. But it likely wont completely solve the problem. I would recommend getting a few zebra turbos if you can find em. The Mexican turbos like cooler water and IME don't last much more than a month or two. The only remaining member of my first CUC is a zebra turbo, and you'll never guess what the others were. After seeing this I got a handful of zebras and I haven't lost a single one.

What is the quality of your source water? You would be surprised what 1 TDS could do to an already existing algae problem.

 

[reefyourself]

Yeah i have a zebra and hes been in here for around a year. I think im going to go pick up some blue leg hermits at least 15-20

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

 

[Piper27]

dont do that. theres no stability gained by a large change every week . I would do nothing but sit back and enjoy it for a month .. top off water only . shorten light cycle till it all clears . which it will .

3 gallons a week on a 25 gallon tank is a large water change? Your also saying shortening the light cycle by it's self will get rid of all the algae?

 

[Jmikitz]

3 gallons a week on a 25 gallon tank is a large water change? Your also saying shortening the light cycle by it's self will get rid of all the algae?

yes . 12% on an sps system a week is large in imo. I can see doing that to attempt to clean up . but to do it as a steady regimen .no . this seems to be an on going issue with the poster . cutting back on feeding . reduce the photo period and allow the bio system time to recover and strengthen . a clean up crew is needed . I'm suggesting fo get back to the basics . build it on a strong base . then take it from there .

 

[RRaider]

yes . 12% on an sps system a week is large in imo. I can see doing that to attempt to clean up . but to do it as a steady regimen .no . this seems to be an on going issue with the poster . cutting back on feeding . reduce the photo period and allow the bio system time to recover and strengthen . a clean up crew is needed . I'm suggesting fo get back to the basics . build it on a strong base . then take it from there .

As long as the alk, cal and mag match his tank those water changes won't hurt a thing.

 

[rigleautomotive]

As long as the alk, cal and mag match his tank those water changes won't hurt a thing.

BINGO!!!

Doing a WC with param matched sea water,mixed and aerated overnight,made with 0 TDS RODI and a quality proven salt can not be a negative unless you are trying to raise tide pool corals that live in nutrient rich water.Reef crest and reef building corals live in extremely clean water devoid of the junk we have in our captive reefs and will do better in water with similar qualities of that nature in general.Recommending to not do a WC weekly as a plus is not making much sense to me or my school of thought.There are many ways to keep corals and many types to keep so to each his own and GL with your method.

 

[kawicivic]

bingo!!!

Doing a wc with param matched sea water,mixed and aerated overnight,made with 0 tds rodi and a quality proven salt can not be a negative unless you are trying to raise tide pool corals that live in nutrient rich water.reef crest and reef building corals live in extremely clean water devoid of the junk we have in our captive reefs and will do better in water with similar qualities of that nature in general.recommending to not do a wc weekly as a plus is not making much sense to me or my school of thought.there are many ways to keep corals and many types to keep so to each his own and gl with your method.

+1

 

[flyingphish]

you are trying way too hard IMO.My suggestion would be to slowly reduce and remove all variables(additives without ingredients listed and even the ones with it listed that are not,alk,cal or mg supplements)especially pro biotics(bac and carbon dosing ,on a 25 gallon system,it is suicide) and return to basics.Large cleaner crew with the a mix of snails,tiny hermits,tuxedo urchins and herbivore fish.Do weekly water changes with 0 tds water and a good trusted salt.strong protein skimming(wet).and add nothing until the rock looks right,coralline encrusted and no nuisance algae.Old school thought process was 1 snail or hermit per system gallons so u need a minimum of 25 and a few other critters will help.Like a small tuxedo urchin or a lawnmower blennie.This natural method of control for a small system is the only safe way I know of with your issues.GL

Do exactly what Dan just outlined. guaranteed success.

 

[mv123]

I have a 28G SPS tank, and had some algae issues recently. I started dosing vodka/vinegar per the dozens of threads in the chem forum. Phosphates and nitrates are now 0 after a couple of months of slowly ramping up. That helped, but what really broke the back of the algae was remarkably simple: 5 nice sized turbos and a cucumber. I had also been slacking off on water changes, and getting back on schedule with that helped too, I think.

 

[Piper27]

yes . 12% on an sps system a week is large in imo. I can see doing that to attempt to clean up . but to do it as a steady regimen .no . this seems to be an on going issue with the poster . cutting back on feeding . reduce the photo period and allow the bio system time to recover and strengthen . a clean up crew is needed . I'm suggesting fo get back to the basics . build it on a strong base . then take it from there .

What does letting the bio system recover and strengthen mean? Is the posters tank very new? I also do 12% waterchanges weekly and attribute my success partly to that.

 

[OneReef]

Feed every 2-3 days
Add more CUC
Make sure water is 0 TDS
3G a week WC is fine

Do you have enough flow? What's your flow?
What type of lighting? How long do you run it? Are the bulbs old?