WHAT AM I DOING WRONG! (yet another algae thread)

[LowKey]

I cannot stop the continuous tide of green hair algae. It's in the sand, rocks and on the glass. Tank is 8 months old and it cycled fine. But itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s been a fight from then on!

Relevent Information
90 gal tank
30 gal sump
Fuge (chaeto+2" of sand)
Skimmer (AquaC120)
lots of water movement
Filter (RO/DI) always
Monthly water changes
10hr photo periods
lacking a strong numbered reef crew
1.5" of sand
Soft corals 5-6
Fish: 2 Tomato Clown, Firehawk.
I dont over feed
I use the Kent 2 part for additions of ALk and Cal
Water always has a good balance
Lots of live rock

I guess my question is: whereââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s all the freakin nutrients coming from???? Surely to good itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s not a bio load issue. Is it??

Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m second guessing everything at this point. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m just about ready to throw in the towel as its become an aggravation rather than a hobby.

 

[RandyP]

Well what do you mean by the water has a good balance.
What are your readings via your test kits......The first place I would look at is your nitrates and Phosphate readings ...
I could ask many more questions but lets take it one step at a time....

 

[mhhauser]

what are your water readings, do you ever test for phosphates.

 

[LowKey]

Nitrates are always within the ideal range. Im assuming the water changes are sufficient

Phosphates read 0 (without the assistance of reduction product such as phos ban)

 

[20 20]

Ideal range for nitrates is zero. Nitrate is algae food.

 

[LoneStar45]

One thing you are lacking is a good cleanup crew. I had the same problem and I posted almost daily about algae problems. I got a 100 gal. cleanup crew for a 150 gal. tank from Marine Depot and they cleaned it up very nicely. It doesnt answer your nutrient question but this crew was my best investment.