Green Algea

[mark7616]

How do I get rid of this green algea I know you said ski to scrape it but I cant keep dissmantling the tank to scrape in the areas the scraper cant get to. The rock is starting to go a bit green the glass is going green the intake and out shield on the skimmer are going green. Now what can I do to combat this am I not using enough rowa-phos should I up that??? What about how long I have my lighting on for I have my 2x white lights and 2x atcinic light on from about 7am till 7pm then I just have the blue atcinics on till I go to bed should I switch the lights off every 4hrs for 2 hrs??? I need to combat this problem. The tank is a new setup only a couple of weeks old maybe that has something to do with it?

Here is a full tank shot you can see the snail trail on the front and you can see some green on the rocks.

Here is my skimmer going green.

And my back wall HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mark7616]

Anyone

 

[SkiFletch]

"beating" those glass algaes is nearly impossible, finding a good scraper seems to be the only way around it.

 

[mark7616]

Hmmm there has to be a way of getting rid of it its actually hair algea.

 

[mark7616]

Right this grren algea is getting stupid I do not believe for 1 second that it is normal. It covers the whole of the glass in a green film and when you scrub it off it looks like a powder in the water. Within 3 hours its back on the glass again. Now is this part of having a new tank or am I doing something wrong I dont believe for 1 second that everyone scrubs there tank 4 times a day. what am I doing wrong?

 

[SkiFletch]

Hummm, yeah that doesn't sound right, something's amiss. Time for the barrage of questions to look for the smoking gun

How big is the tank?
How old?
How much LR?
How much BR?
What lighting (bulb number, type, and color temp)?
How long are the lights on?
Any significant supplimental sunlight (tank hit directly through windows)?
What skimmer, if any?
Input water source (RO, distilled, tap, etc)?
TDS of input water source?
Water change regimen (how often and how much)?
Substrate Vaccuming?
How much turnover (flowrate)?
Livestock list?
Any recent deaths?
What foods are fed?
How often is it fed?
Any chemical filtration (phosphate, carbon, etc) and if so, how implimented?
How often is chemical filtration changed/maintained?
Chemistry: (temp, sg, pH, nitrate, phosphate)?
Is the algae soft, or hard and calcerous?

Answer as many as you can and we'll get the ball rolling

 

[AndyS]

There should be a sticky that says when anyone is having problems with their tank they should list all the things Ski has asked for above, that would make responses a lot easier all round.

Sorry i have no relevant answer for this thread though, keep battling it though, it will subside eventually.

Andy

 

[mark7616]

How big is the tank? 180ltrs about 40g
How old? Its been setup just over 3 weeks
How much LR? 20kgs
How much BR? whats this if its base rock then none
What lighting (bulb number, type, and color temp)? 4x t5 2x 14,000k white 2x acinic blue
How long are the lights on? blues on a 10am them all lights on at 11am just blues on at 7pm all off at 8pm
Any significant supplimental sunlight (tank hit directly through windows)? Not in direct sunlight had no problems when it was fw
What skimmer, if any? skimmers is a deltec mc300
Input water source (RO, distilled, tap, etc)? RO
TDS of input water source? Not sure (when I asked my lfs they sounded a bit funny and blamed it on lights and that it was a new tank)
Water change regimen (how often and how much)? Weekly 20% although I did a 50ltr change Thursady
Substrate Vaccuming? Have not vacumed substrate
How much turnover (flowrate)? 2x 1100lph power heads and spray bar from fluval 305 external
Livestock list? 9 red leg hermits 1 nassarius snail 4 cerith 14 turbo/astrea 1 sally light foot 1 sand sifting star 2 percular clowns
Any recent deaths? 1 death of red legged hermit but it was removed think it was attacked by another as it was out of its shell and in half.
What foods are fed? ocean nutrition prime reef flake
How often is it fed? every other day
Any chemical filtration (phosphate, carbon, etc) and if so, how implimented? In fluval 305 external I have carbon rowaphos and some biological filtration (eheim)
How often is chemical filtration changed/maintained? Ive changed the rowaphos once trying to rid the algea so I upped the amount
Chemistry: (temp, sg, pH, nitrate, phosphate)?temp 26c, 1.0024, ph 8.2 not sure of phos.
Is the algae soft, or hard and calcerous? Its like a green haze and when you magi float it it looks like a powder in the water.

 

[sianeds]

Well..it sounds to me like there are a few possible issues here.

Firstly the tank is still new at 3 weeks so it's not unusual to get algea blooms.

1: Get yourself a phosphate test kit. will cost around £10. Test your tank water.

2: Test the pure RO you are buying from your LFS. If you have any doubts about it's quality then seriously consider buying your own RO unit. You can pick one up for around £50 and it will pay for itself. Otherwise ask the LFS what the TDS reading is and when the membranes were last flushed. If they can't answer you then stop usuing their water.

Carry on doing what you are doing now, it all sounds fine to me. Maybe consider shortening the lighting times for a while. If you have no corals then you may want to think about leaving the lights off for a few day as a last resort.

 

[Filmoholic]

your lights are on 7am-7pm? I would try reducing the amount of time your lights are on.I have the same lighting and mine are timed for 8hours.

 

[rictheredneck]

i agree with the above, your tank is still immature alot of people have algae problem in the early days. i have heared alot of people use rowaphos (i think thats what its called) never used it myself but from what i can gather you place it in your fluval and it removes phosphates which i presume algae needs to grow, like i say never used it so i could be totally wrong. you could try a diffrent approach by intoducing a creature that eats hair algae, id suggest a sea hare i had a problem with hair algae a few months ago when i upgraded my lighting so i bought a sea hare and after a week i had none!

 

[Zukari]

Sup mark

I think we started our tanks around the same time, mine is almost 5 weeks old and I am also fighting this algae. I use a magnetic scraper it's been working great. snails have been taking care of the rocks and the back of the tank. I also purchased a lawnmower blenny today, and hes already at work on the gravel and glass...awesome fish to watch too..

I have yet to try any chemical solution, but if I do I'll post.

-Zuk

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok well first off, you're doing a LOT of things right here so I have to congratulate you Mark. I must agree with Sian and others here that you have to know the TDS of your input water source. I can't speak for the UK, but I know here in the states, there are countless LFS' that dont know their rear from a hole in the ground when it comes to operating and caring for an RO unit. They just turn it on and expect it to work. Consequently, the RO membrane eventually gets clogged up and needs a flushing. However nobody flushes it and it slowly deteriorates and is no longer effective. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids and is a measure of how clean the water is. A properly functioning RO membrane should output a TDS anywhere from 1-5ppm. That means the water coming out of the unit should only have between 1 and 5 parts per million of ANY solid. Exceptionally pure. When membranes get clogged, RO output can skyrocket to 30-50 or higher. At these levels, phosphates and silicates are likely leeching past the membrane and into the output water, thus fueling nuisance algae.

If your LFS is being dodgy about TDS or doesnt know what it means, they probably are not caring for the membrane properly. If I were you, I'd get a TDS meter anyways as its a great piece of equipment to have and cheap. Prolly only 10-15 GBP. They're sold all over ebay, so just go pick one up and test the water your LFS is giving you.

Secondly, you should start vaccuming the substrate when you water change. Its a good idea to have a small gravel vac or one with a valve to restrict the output. A vac with a low enough flow will not suck up aragonite sand but will suck up lots of trapped detritus. Its quite possible that you have some decaying food/waste in your sandbed that's fueling your algae bloom.

Third, a bit about the algae... Its growth rate and the fact that it "disintigrates" into the water lead me to believe that it is cyanobacteria, not an algae. Cyano can use MANY different nutrients as fuels and is very difficult to rid ones tank of. If all else fails and a few weeks or month goes by and you're still unable to stop it, consider an antibiotic treatment like red slime remover. W'er talking last-ditch here, but dont rule it out.

And lastly, you might consider switching to a different type of food. Its possible the food is fueling the algae outbreak.

Hope that helps

 

[mark7616]

Im not sure if its cyanobacteria it does feel slimey. Ive ordered a tds meter and ill get a phos test kit today and ill post all my stats tonight. So what would be a good amount of time to have my lights on when should I first put my blues on then whites then when should I turn off my whites then when to turn off the blues. Ill post my full stats tonight and we can see how it is.

 

[SkiFletch]

You have actinics on for 10 and whites on for 8? Thats a good light cycle