Lots of green alge

tvotaw · 09/24/2010, 10:27 PM

reefers please tell me what to do i am getting a crazy outbreak of green alge all over my tank how can i take car of this. i clean it completely off and its back in less than 2 days.

nothing has changed in the tank except the fact that i just started calicum dosing one teaspoon every other day. my fish are unbelieveably happy. my levels are ammonia - 0, no3 - < 5, no2 - 0, ph - 8, and salinaty is .025. please let me know what i should be doing.

Tuscaquatics · 09/24/2010, 10:51 PM

How old is the tank? Algae outbreaks like this are common in newer setups.

mdbrit · 09/24/2010, 10:57 PM

What and how much are you feeding? Have you checked phosphates?
Also, check your lighting. Reduce it for a while. Do you have old bulbs?
Have you got a decent clean-up crew? Snails/hermits etc.

Palting · 09/24/2010, 11:02 PM

The nitrate is in the algae, that's why your reading are low. You can scrape them off, but unless you remove all that you've scraped off, the nitrate just recycles.

You can do several things.

Scrape off all the algae and siphon off as much as yo can with a large or several large water changes.

Start a refugium or place some macro algae in the DT to compete with the GHA.

If your tank is new, you can wait it out until your rocks start processing the nitrate to nitrogen gas. That could be a while. Feeding less and shorter light periods will slow the algae down a bit, may give the rocks a better chance to catch up.

Get algae eating livestock. if you have a big enough tank, get a tennenti tang. No algae, GHAor macro, survives in my tank with my lawnmower tennenti!

Check for phosphates. That's another factor to algae growth.

tvotaw · 09/24/2010, 11:42 PM

My tank has been up and running like 3 to 4 monthes mabye more. it is a 75g with 125 lbs of live rock. it is t5 coral lighting not exactly sure on the specs its 2 white baulbs and 2 blue baulbs. i have 3 turbo snails, 10 blue leg hermits, and about 3 to 5 crabs im not exactly sure. my lights are on a timer that goes from 2pm to 2am. what livestock should i get for the 75 i do have some soft corals in there not sure it this will change livestock prefrance. thanks

reefer4ever · 09/24/2010, 11:50 PM

Not trying to sound bad here, but your lighting schedule is REALLY stupid! What are the means of doing it like that?

tvotaw · 09/25/2010, 12:14 AM

no clue? i thought it was 12 hours or so and those are the hours i can enjoy the tank. you could just let me know when a better times would be thanks

Iguana79 · 09/25/2010, 12:40 AM

Your lighting schedule really does not play a part in the algae. Its not stupid. People run their lights when they are home and enjoy the tank. Coral & fish will adapt to the light schedule you give them. You can go lights out for a few days and then cut your photo period to 8-10hr. You still have a baby tank. It will go through these changes until things settle. It takes up to 6month for a tank to start to stable out. A full year before things get really stable. Keep with it, Water changes, pull the algae as much as you can. Find a way to starve it. If you are using tap water and you have high TDS in your tap, then you could have high phos in your water. If you are using RO/DI make sure your TDS is less then 10ppm. Run some GFO in a reactor. If you don't have room for a sump or can't get any cheto, you can run the GFO. Might be a better situation for you. Make sure you change the GFO at least every week but if you can try every 4 days until things calm down.

Hang in there.

Iguana79 · 09/25/2010, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefer4ever

Not trying to sound bad here, but your lighting schedule is REALLY stupid! What are the means of doing it like that?

Its not stupid. Some people don't have 9-5 Jobs.

grn99cobra · 09/25/2010, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefer4ever

Not trying to sound bad here, but your lighting schedule is REALLY stupid! What are the means of doing it like that?

Well, you did sound bad and immature to boot.

Anyways, your lighting schedule is almost identical to mine. Have your lights on when you can enjoy the tank. Mine come on just before my kids get home from school, so that they can enjoy them, and they go out shortly after I go to bed, so that I can relax at night and enjoy.

Palting · 09/25/2010, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefer4ever

Not trying to sound bad here, but your lighting schedule is REALLY stupid! What are the means of doing it like that?

13 posts you've made so far, and this is one of them. Our tanks need to mature to get stable. We, the posters, have to as well, I guess.

rcoughtrey · 09/25/2010, 09:14 AM

We have more or less identical setups. I work 8am to 6pm

12 hours for your lighting is way over the top imo. I have my lights on for no more than 7 hours a day.

I also try to recreate a dusk a dawn effect so for 30 minutes at the start and end i only have the blue lights on.

Your algae issue is differently being increased with the amount of lighting. I know for a fact that If I had my lights on for 12 hours a day my algea would go through the roof on a new setup.

My water is also passing through an 8 stage RO.DI filter system.

tvotaw · 09/25/2010, 02:34 PM

thanks alot guys. i think im might scale the lights back just a little bit. all i use is ro/di water also. i know it will take some time to straiten out thanks for all the comments new pictures of my tank will go up later in my 75 build thread. any suggestions would be great.

Biermann · 09/25/2010, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvotaw

My tank has been up and running like 3 to 4 monthes mabye more. it is a 75g with 125 lbs of live rock. it is t5 coral lighting not exactly sure on the specs its 2 white baulbs and 2 blue baulbs. i have 3 turbo snails, 10 blue leg hermits, and about 3 to 5 crabs im not exactly sure. my lights are on a timer that goes from 2pm to 2am. what livestock should i get for the 75 i do have some soft corals in there not sure it this will change livestock prefrance. thanks

I'd add some more snails to the clean-up crew also. I have 3 turbos in my 125 along with about 20-30 Astrea and Margarita snails.

09/24/2010, 10:27 PM	#1
tvotaw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Canton Ohio Posts: 136	Lots of green alge reefers please tell me what to do i am getting a crazy outbreak of green alge all over my tank how can i take car of this. i clean it completely off and its back in less than 2 days. nothing has changed in the tank except the fact that i just started calicum dosing one teaspoon every other day. my fish are unbelieveably happy. my levels are ammonia - 0, no3 - < 5, no2 - 0, ph - 8, and salinaty is .025. please let me know what i should be doing.

09/24/2010, 11:02 PM	#4
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	The nitrate is in the algae, that's why your reading are low. You can scrape them off, but unless you remove all that you've scraped off, the nitrate just recycles. You can do several things. Scrape off all the algae and siphon off as much as yo can with a large or several large water changes. Start a refugium or place some macro algae in the DT to compete with the GHA. If your tank is new, you can wait it out until your rocks start processing the nitrate to nitrogen gas. That could be a while. Feeding less and shorter light periods will slow the algae down a bit, may give the rocks a better chance to catch up. Get algae eating livestock. if you have a big enough tank, get a tennenti tang. No algae, GHAor macro, survives in my tank with my lawnmower tennenti! Check for phosphates. That's another factor to algae growth. __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam

09/25/2010, 09:14 AM	#12
rcoughtrey Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Noblesville, IN Posts: 168	We have more or less identical setups. I work 8am to 6pm 12 hours for your lighting is way over the top imo. I have my lights on for no more than 7 hours a day. I also try to recreate a dusk a dawn effect so for 30 minutes at the start and end i only have the blue lights on. Your algae issue is differently being increased with the amount of lighting. I know for a fact that If I had my lights on for 12 hours a day my algea would go through the roof on a new setup. My water is also passing through an 8 stage RO.DI filter system. Last edited by rcoughtrey; 09/25/2010 at 09:32 AM.

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09/24/2010, 10:51 PM	#2
Tuscaquatics Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 1,324	How old is the tank? Algae outbreaks like this are common in newer setups.

09/24/2010, 10:57 PM	#3
mdbrit Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	What and how much are you feeding? Have you checked phosphates? Also, check your lighting. Reduce it for a while. Do you have old bulbs? Have you got a decent clean-up crew? Snails/hermits etc.

09/24/2010, 11:42 PM	#5
tvotaw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Canton Ohio Posts: 136	My tank has been up and running like 3 to 4 monthes mabye more. it is a 75g with 125 lbs of live rock. it is t5 coral lighting not exactly sure on the specs its 2 white baulbs and 2 blue baulbs. i have 3 turbo snails, 10 blue leg hermits, and about 3 to 5 crabs im not exactly sure. my lights are on a timer that goes from 2pm to 2am. what livestock should i get for the 75 i do have some soft corals in there not sure it this will change livestock prefrance. thanks

09/24/2010, 11:50 PM	#6
reefer4ever Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 39	Not trying to sound bad here, but your lighting schedule is REALLY stupid! What are the means of doing it like that?

09/25/2010, 12:14 AM	#7
tvotaw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Canton Ohio Posts: 136	no clue? i thought it was 12 hours or so and those are the hours i can enjoy the tank. you could just let me know when a better times would be thanks

09/25/2010, 12:40 AM	#8
Iguana79 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 124	Your lighting schedule really does not play a part in the algae. Its not stupid. People run their lights when they are home and enjoy the tank. Coral & fish will adapt to the light schedule you give them. You can go lights out for a few days and then cut your photo period to 8-10hr. You still have a baby tank. It will go through these changes until things settle. It takes up to 6month for a tank to start to stable out. A full year before things get really stable. Keep with it, Water changes, pull the algae as much as you can. Find a way to starve it. If you are using tap water and you have high TDS in your tap, then you could have high phos in your water. If you are using RO/DI make sure your TDS is less then 10ppm. Run some GFO in a reactor. If you don't have room for a sump or can't get any cheto, you can run the GFO. Might be a better situation for you. Make sure you change the GFO at least every week but if you can try every 4 days until things calm down. Hang in there.

09/25/2010, 02:34 PM	#13
tvotaw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Canton Ohio Posts: 136	thanks alot guys. i think im might scale the lights back just a little bit. all i use is ro/di water also. i know it will take some time to straiten out thanks for all the comments new pictures of my tank will go up later in my 75 build thread. any suggestions would be great.