Algae on glass?

Heatherabel3 · 05/14/2015, 09:50 PM

How do you guys keep it away? I can scrap it, do a water change, make sure all my parameters are good and the glass is still covered in a day or two. I have a 28g with the stock media basket that came with it and a hang on back skimmer.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - ~10
Phosphates - less than 5

Am I missing something?

Coelli · 05/14/2015, 10:29 PM

Phosphate less than 5? Can you be more specific? A phosphate of 4.0 would be kind of insane... Ideally you want to be anywhere from 0 to .03-.05 depending on your livestock. If your test kit won't tell you a value other than 0-5 you should take a water sample to your LFS and ask them to test it. You may need to run GFO to reduce the phosphate. If it's high, that's probably the answer to your algae problem right there.

Heatherabel3 · 05/14/2015, 10:40 PM

Oh, .05 Sorry. My test kit just shows 0 - .05 so its somewhere in there. It's darker than the 0 but slightly lighter than the .05.
Could it be that phosphate is coming out of the rock still but it's showing low numbers because the algae is using it up? The rest of the tank is fine, CUC does a good job of keeping it cleaned up, it's just the glass.

Coelli · 05/14/2015, 10:57 PM

Okay phew!

Yes, it could just be that more phosphate is coming out than is being used up (by the algae). My phosphate tested at .13 when I first set up my last tank. I used some GFO (4 teaspoons for my 29g) in a media bag for a couple of weeks and it brought it right down.

fishgate · 05/15/2015, 08:30 AM

Get a GFO reactor and up your water changes. Also you could do Cheato in your sump.

FlyingPigNJ · 05/15/2015, 08:41 AM

My blue linckia keeps it squeaky clean.....and keeps on pulling my thermometer line off while doing it.
I ordered a 2" blue linckia and they shipped me a 6". I'm so worried that I don't have enough algae for it.
It also likes to stick part of its tentacle out which also worries me.
They are not supposed to be exposed to air.
I had to quickly build a tight fit acrylic lid for my tank. That was a pain in the you know where to cut for a bowfront. I broke 3 dremel attachments doing it.

Sk8r · 05/15/2015, 09:10 AM

Linckias are not advised except for expert tanks. Enough for it to eat is a serious problem...cultivating film algae is good for it. Bad for the OP.

OP, if you want to get rid of film algae, you just have to remove the phosphate that's fueling it, and if you have any testable phosphate while having a lot of algae, you have a whole lot of phosphate. Using only ro/di helps. A GFO reactor helps.

Heatherabel3 · 05/15/2015, 12:00 PM

I use only RO/DI and do weekly water changes. I will look into getting GFO. Thanks everyone.

05/14/2015, 09:50 PM	#1
Heatherabel3 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 182	Algae on glass? How do you guys keep it away? I can scrap it, do a water change, make sure all my parameters are good and the glass is still covered in a day or two. I have a 28g with the stock media basket that came with it and a hang on back skimmer. Ammonia - 0 Nitrates - ~10 Phosphates - less than 5 Am I missing something?

05/14/2015, 10:29 PM	#2
Coelli Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Tujunga, CA Posts: 1,443	Phosphate less than 5? Can you be more specific? A phosphate of 4.0 would be kind of insane... Ideally you want to be anywhere from 0 to .03-.05 depending on your livestock. If your test kit won't tell you a value other than 0-5 you should take a water sample to your LFS and ask them to test it. You may need to run GFO to reduce the phosphate. If it's high, that's probably the answer to your algae problem right there. __________________ "Get a reef tank!" they said. "It'll be relaxing!" they said. 65g mixed reef, 30g display fuge, 20L sump/pod fuge, ATI 4x24 + 2 Kessil A360NEs, Aquamaxx EM100, Gyre 130 Last edited by Coelli; 05/14/2015 at 10:55 PM.

05/14/2015, 10:57 PM	#4
Coelli Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Tujunga, CA Posts: 1,443	Okay phew! Yes, it could just be that more phosphate is coming out than is being used up (by the algae). My phosphate tested at .13 when I first set up my last tank. I used some GFO (4 teaspoons for my 29g) in a media bag for a couple of weeks and it brought it right down. __________________ "Get a reef tank!" they said. "It'll be relaxing!" they said. 65g mixed reef, 30g display fuge, 20L sump/pod fuge, ATI 4x24 + 2 Kessil A360NEs, Aquamaxx EM100, Gyre 130

05/15/2015, 08:30 AM	#5
fishgate Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Damascus, MD Posts: 3,340	Get a GFO reactor and up your water changes. Also you could do Cheato in your sump. __________________ 125RR in-wall, 40B Sump, CS180 BM Skimmer, ATI 4x80 watt, eheim 1262, custom wrap around rock wall, ReefKeeper Elite 120g in-wall, 40B Sump, PC 54wx4, Jabao DC-6000 (full siphon), future seahorse t Current Tank Info: 125g, 120g, 2x40b sumps, ATI 4x80 T5HO

05/15/2015, 09:10 AM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Linckias are not advised except for expert tanks. Enough for it to eat is a serious problem...cultivating film algae is good for it. Bad for the OP. OP, if you want to get rid of film algae, you just have to remove the phosphate that's fueling it, and if you have any testable phosphate while having a lot of algae, you have a whole lot of phosphate. Using only ro/di helps. A GFO reactor helps. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

05/14/2015, 10:40 PM	#3
Heatherabel3 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 182	Oh, .05 Sorry. My test kit just shows 0 - .05 so its somewhere in there. It's darker than the 0 but slightly lighter than the .05. Could it be that phosphate is coming out of the rock still but it's showing low numbers because the algae is using it up? The rest of the tank is fine, CUC does a good job of keeping it cleaned up, it's just the glass.

05/15/2015, 08:41 AM	#6
FlyingPigNJ Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: The Armpit of America Posts: 117	My blue linckia keeps it squeaky clean.....and keeps on pulling my thermometer line off while doing it. I ordered a 2" blue linckia and they shipped me a 6". I'm so worried that I don't have enough algae for it. It also likes to stick part of its tentacle out which also worries me. They are not supposed to be exposed to air. I had to quickly build a tight fit acrylic lid for my tank. That was a pain in the you know where to cut for a bowfront. I broke 3 dremel attachments doing it.

05/15/2015, 12:00 PM	#8
Heatherabel3 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 182	I use only RO/DI and do weekly water changes. I will look into getting GFO. Thanks everyone.