sps tank- need advice please

[Tek]

Check your Mg. What is your ALK at? How ofter are your water changes?

15 fish is a bit much. I had 3 small and 3 medium fish in a 70G and my oversized skimmer still could not keep up. I also fed them heavily. After I couldn't get cyano under control some of the fish were removed and now the tank is back in line.

 

[franklypre]

If your tangs aren't eating them I'd fire them and get one that will. My tang destroys GHA.

 

[jroovers]

my photoperiod was 10 hours, I dropped it yesterday to 7. I was running 6 bulbs from 1-6 pm, 8 bulbs from 6-8, 2 bulbs 8-10 pm. I cut down the 6 bulb length by a few hours. Im also planning on running a small amount of GFO. Even though my phosphate and nitrate levels are low(0.02 and 0). I will also change bulbs asap, slowly of course, 2 bulbs every week until all 8 are new. Will anything eat this hair algae? I wont do a seahare because it will get chopped up by powerheads. On a side note, I am currently removing sand bed because I was getting algae growing on it. One last thing, the algae seems to be primarily in the lower 1/3 of the tank? IDK if that means anything

Thanks for all the responses. It gets the wheels turning in my head

The lights really aren't that old that they should be causing the problem on their own, it has to be a nutrient issue. I just swapped out bulbs that were 12 months old and they weren't really causing any problems. Also, just because you get readings of 0 phosphates doesn't mean there aren't phosphates in there... I consistently get readings of 0 phosphates and still have my issues with cyano and bubble algae from time to time. If you are taking out your sand bed, that could be compounding the problem. Where did you get your rocks from - is it possible they are full of phosphates? The algae growing in the lower part of your tank is indicative that conditions there are better for it in terms of nutrients, light and flow. I would start getting into a good basting routine - blast your rocks off once or twice a week, and manually remove any GHA that you can. Definitely put a very small amount of GFO online - but less is better than more (if you get overzealous you could cause major problems by dropping nutrient levels too extremely). Leave your photoperiod lower for the time being. As for your substrate, if it was growing algae, it is probably chalk full of nutrients and you are likely doing the right thing by slowly removing it. I just did that to my tank, it was unbelievable how gross it was, and I was stirring it up and vacuuming it regularly. Just resist the urge to remove too much at one time, take out what you can with each water change and then leave it, without getting anything into the water column if it can be avoided (i.e turn off your power heads when vacuuming).

 

[likefish]

i am suffering a bit of alge bloom in my 120 SPS tank as well. I limited my feedings and started a serious turkey basting schedule on all my rocks but the algae continued.

I made a slight adjustment to one of my powerheads that resulted in a patch of sand getting disturbed, within a week the algae EXPLODED! my sand is filthy! Even though i routinly stir it in an attempt to keep it clean and feed my corals. I intend to slowly start removing it with water changes and possible go bare bottom.

Its amazing how much gunk can get trapped in the sand.

Best of luck to ya!

 

[nate150dd]

Check your Mg. What is your ALK at? How ofter are your water changes?

15 fish is a bit much. I had 3 small and 3 medium fish in a 70G and my oversized skimmer still could not keep up. I also fed them heavily. After I couldn't get cyano under control some of the fish were removed and now the tank is back in line.

mag is 1380,alk is 8.2 never changes. water changes are between 10-15 gallons weekly(religiously).

 

[nate150dd]

on a side note after manually removing a handful of algae, the algae is slimy, green and brown mixed, long (about 2 inches or so) it is very easy to remove. it appears detritus has collected because when I pull it out it looks as if it was planted in a thin film of detritus. I do siphon the rocks when I do a water change and once a month or so I take a tunze and run it through the rock to blow any extra detritus into the water column to be skimmed out( this is before I do a water change) IDK if this info helps. maybe its no GHA or it is . I have had a few tanks. Never had an algae issue before so I am no expert in identifying it, removing it, or overall dealing with it. THX

 

[outssider]

try some big turbo snails....

 

[nate150dd]

any suggestions for a CUC would be good as well considering I only have a few astrea snails. I typically try to stay away from crabs because they roost in sps and get aggressive with snails( obviously for a larger shell) but I don't want to leave emptys for them to grow in to

 

[greg1786]

Ive always kept apincushion urchin in all my tanks, they mow algae down. Blennies are beasts at eating algae. Kole tangs are good. Anything but crabs. I hate those little bastards. Anything with a claw gets near my reef and it ends up in a pot of steam with old bay and onions!!! Seriously though hermit crabs and emerald crabs do not eat enough algae to make up for the destruction they can cause imo