New guy algae problem need some help!

Michael3672 · 10/16/2011, 02:41 PM

Hi all
New guy here and let me start by saying hello and I hope this is posted in the right area.
I had a reef tank a few years ago so can't say I'm new to the hobby but this problem is perplexing me.
I set up a biocube 14 two months ago and it cycled with no problem. Went through it's diatom bloom which has since receded. Now I have a nice new algae starting to take over the entire tank. The best I can describe it is as follows: brown small stringy almost like a filament with a fatter top and a most have a bubble on it. I'll try to post a pic soon. But this stuff is growing like wildfire and overtaking everything. I don't know if it's a form of a hair or slime algae or dinos.
Here are my parameters. Sg. 1.026. Ph 8.2, Am 0ppm, Na 0ppm, alk 8, calcium 400 and 0 phosphate. These results are current as of today. I change 2gallons a week with pre made SW from the LFS. Temp is kept at 79-80 With a 10 hour photoperiod. I have 2 small chromis in it and feed a pinch every 2 days. No other animals in the tank other than a CUC..have been taking it slow. I run carbon,chemipure elite and floss for filtration along with a ball of cheato in the middle chamber on a reverse light cycle.
I know it's hard to diagnose a problem or a specific algae but I'm at a loss and it's getting worse. So I hope coming here will point me in the right direction. Just wondering if this is a normal thing or something to jump at now. It just has stumped me cause I never saw this crap in my previous tank.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Michael3672 · 10/16/2011, 02:47 PM

Dustin1300 · 10/16/2011, 02:47 PM

Have you tried checking the Phosphate with a second kit? Something is feeding the algae and manually removing, going lights out, and removing the fuel would be my strategy. Does your LFS test the water for you to show it has low TDS before mixing with the salt (I won't use water without TDS of 0 before I change out my filters)

10/16/2011, 02:41 PM	#1
Michael3672 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 2	New guy algae problem need some help! Hi all New guy here and let me start by saying hello and I hope this is posted in the right area. I had a reef tank a few years ago so can't say I'm new to the hobby but this problem is perplexing me. I set up a biocube 14 two months ago and it cycled with no problem. Went through it's diatom bloom which has since receded. Now I have a nice new algae starting to take over the entire tank. The best I can describe it is as follows: brown small stringy almost like a filament with a fatter top and a most have a bubble on it. I'll try to post a pic soon. But this stuff is growing like wildfire and overtaking everything. I don't know if it's a form of a hair or slime algae or dinos. Here are my parameters. Sg. 1.026. Ph 8.2, Am 0ppm, Na 0ppm, alk 8, calcium 400 and 0 phosphate. These results are current as of today. I change 2gallons a week with pre made SW from the LFS. Temp is kept at 79-80 With a 10 hour photoperiod. I have 2 small chromis in it and feed a pinch every 2 days. No other animals in the tank other than a CUC..have been taking it slow. I run carbon,chemipure elite and floss for filtration along with a ball of cheato in the middle chamber on a reverse light cycle. I know it's hard to diagnose a problem or a specific algae but I'm at a loss and it's getting worse. So I hope coming here will point me in the right direction. Just wondering if this is a normal thing or something to jump at now. It just has stumped me cause I never saw this crap in my previous tank. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

10/16/2011, 02:47 PM	#3
Dustin1300 Reefaholic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Carmel, IN Posts: 5,135	Have you tried checking the Phosphate with a second kit? Something is feeding the algae and manually removing, going lights out, and removing the fuel would be my strategy. Does your LFS test the water for you to show it has low TDS before mixing with the salt (I won't use water without TDS of 0 before I change out my filters) __________________ INDMAS President Check out my tank in the Large Tank Forums, "A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build"! Current Tank Info: 600 Gallon DT, 140 Gallon Grow Out Tank, 125 Gallon Sump, 90 Gallon Fuge, 200 Gallon Fish QT, 15 Gallon Frag QT

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Algae Problem in my 10 gallon nano reef tank.	aquariumkeeper2	New to the Hobby	20	08/24/2010 09:00 AM
BAD algae problem HELP!!!	saintsaga05	New to the Hobby	8	05/02/2010 03:28 PM
bad algae problem need help	notin2du	Reef Discussion	11	03/16/2010 08:54 PM
Algae Problem	pjscales	Northern Ohio Reef Keepers	18	12/30/2009 08:48 PM
algae problem	djk83	Nano Reefs	13	11/23/2009 05:06 PM