Algae after vacation

Kebabian · 01/08/2014, 09:59 PM

Asked a neighbor to look after the tank while I was away and I think he overfed a little. Cam back to patches of dark green on the sand and rock. The patches were about 3 inches in size. There was also a brown film on the rear of the tank. So, did a massive clean up and a 40% water change 3 or 4 days ago. Things are looking much better but there is still a "greeness" to everything and I noticed in some sports where the green is heavier that there are some small (3/8") white worm looking things. They don't appear to move, so I don't know if it's just part of the rock that is now emphasised by the greeness or if I have lots more to worry about.

The tank is only 3 months old with a CUC and a single blue sapphire damsel. Water parameters look perfect. It's a 50 gallon bow with 2" bed. 50lbs rock. HOB Reef Octopus BH1000. I use RO/DI water and Coral Pro Salt.

If I turn the Actinic bulbs off, the whole tank is green. With the Actinics on, it looks "OK"....

See below for pictures and let me know what you folks think.....

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nlgill13 · 01/08/2014, 10:31 PM

Do you know what your phosphate is at?

Kebabian · 01/09/2014, 09:11 AM

It's at zero, but I'm going to get a new test kit to make sure. Current one is very old.

caelanc5 · 01/09/2014, 12:34 PM

Just know that the algae is sucking up the phosphates so it wont show up on your test kits but if that algae is there the phosphates are there from the overfeeding. If you run carbon or gfo replace those and wait it will clear up. Ur tank is still going through the algae cycle it take a while yo go through this

Kebabian · 01/09/2014, 01:47 PM

I don't have a carbon filter or GFO. Just a Reef Octopus BH1000, live sand and rock. Should I do water changes to remove the phosphates? If so, how aggressive? Anything else I should do to remove the phosphates, assuming that is the cause?

nlgill13 · 01/09/2014, 01:56 PM

20-30%, scrap before hand/pull algae

I would suggest in buying a media reactor (they come in handy)...two little fishs have nice cheaper ones, you will however need a pump. Then you can use gfo or carbon

Kebabian · 01/14/2014, 08:10 PM

Media reactor arrives tomorrow. In the mean time, did a massive clean up. Used a turkey baster to clean up the algae. Cleaned the skimmer and did a 30% WC. Looking MUCH better. Ran a carbon filter for a couple of days too! Thanks for the help.

MSreefdoc · 01/14/2014, 08:19 PM

Same thing happened to me but the culprit was my wife while I was gone a few weeks for military training. Now when I go out of town even for a couple days I leave out pre measured amounts of food in little plastic cups in the fridge! Turn the lights off for a couple days if it wants to linger.

01/08/2014, 09:59 PM	#1
Kebabian Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 132	Algae after vacation Asked a neighbor to look after the tank while I was away and I think he overfed a little. Cam back to patches of dark green on the sand and rock. The patches were about 3 inches in size. There was also a brown film on the rear of the tank. So, did a massive clean up and a 40% water change 3 or 4 days ago. Things are looking much better but there is still a "greeness" to everything and I noticed in some sports where the green is heavier that there are some small (3/8") white worm looking things. They don't appear to move, so I don't know if it's just part of the rock that is now emphasised by the greeness or if I have lots more to worry about. The tank is only 3 months old with a CUC and a single blue sapphire damsel. Water parameters look perfect. It's a 50 gallon bow with 2" bed. 50lbs rock. HOB Reef Octopus BH1000. I use RO/DI water and Coral Pro Salt. If I turn the Actinic bulbs off, the whole tank is green. With the Actinics on, it looks "OK".... See below for pictures and let me know what you folks think..... DSC02441-2.jpg DSC02442-2.jpg DSC02445-2.jpg DSC02446-2.jpg DSC02447-2.jpg

01/08/2014, 10:31 PM	#2
nlgill13 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Boulder,CO Posts: 1,291	Do you know what your phosphate is at?

01/09/2014, 09:11 AM	#3
Kebabian Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 132	It's at zero, but I'm going to get a new test kit to make sure. Current one is very old.

01/09/2014, 12:34 PM	#4
caelanc5 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 39	Just know that the algae is sucking up the phosphates so it wont show up on your test kits but if that algae is there the phosphates are there from the overfeeding. If you run carbon or gfo replace those and wait it will clear up. Ur tank is still going through the algae cycle it take a while yo go through this

01/09/2014, 01:47 PM	#5
Kebabian Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 132	I don't have a carbon filter or GFO. Just a Reef Octopus BH1000, live sand and rock. Should I do water changes to remove the phosphates? If so, how aggressive? Anything else I should do to remove the phosphates, assuming that is the cause?

01/09/2014, 01:56 PM	#6
nlgill13 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Boulder,CO Posts: 1,291	20-30%, scrap before hand/pull algae I would suggest in buying a media reactor (they come in handy)...two little fishs have nice cheaper ones, you will however need a pump. Then you can use gfo or carbon

01/14/2014, 08:10 PM	#7
Kebabian Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 132	Media reactor arrives tomorrow. In the mean time, did a massive clean up. Used a turkey baster to clean up the algae. Cleaned the skimmer and did a 30% WC. Looking MUCH better. Ran a carbon filter for a couple of days too! Thanks for the help.

01/14/2014, 08:19 PM	#8
MSreefdoc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 68	Same thing happened to me but the culprit was my wife while I was gone a few weeks for military training. Now when I go out of town even for a couple days I leave out pre measured amounts of food in little plastic cups in the fridge! Turn the lights off for a couple days if it wants to linger.