Algea on glass???

Wd40 · 09/21/2009, 09:57 PM

Okay this is seriously ****ing me off.
Ill wipe my glass with my magnet and in about 30 minutes I have algea back on my glass...
What can it be??? Ive never had this happen to me before..
Phosphates are 0
Nitrates are below 5
Nitrites are 0
Calcium 400
Alk 9
It just doesnt add up. SPS are fine and so are the fish but the algea is unbearable...

jasoncampbell83 · 09/21/2009, 10:06 PM

Once I had the same problem I think... is it green algae? I also cleaned the glass with the magnet cleaner and then the glass looked like it had a green flim on it. My water parameters were fine, I cut down my lighting for a week or so to just a few hours a day and in less than a week it was fine. Wish I had more to tell you than that. Good luck hope that helps

Toddrtrex · 09/22/2009, 12:07 AM

Don't care what your tests are showing, if the algae is growing back that fast you have some nutrients (( most likely phosphates )) that is feeding the algae. Odds are the phosphates are being used up by the algae before it can be tested.

Are you using RO/DI water? And if so, what is the TDS?

Running any phosphate removing media?

What size tank, and what is all in the tank?

What are you feeding, and how often?

Wd40 · 09/22/2009, 06:59 AM

Thanx guys.. It actually could be the light. I was told to run my halides for 10 hours and thats when it started.
I am using ro/di with 000 tds.
No phosphate removing media
150g tank with about 40lbs of rock, 4 anthias, 1 blue tang, 1 pbt, 1 yellow tang. Some sps and frags.
I feed twice a day with pellets.

tydtran · 09/22/2009, 07:12 AM

Get some astrea snails.

d2mini · 09/22/2009, 07:19 AM

The only thing snails do for glass cleaning is leave a pattern of trails, which imho looks even worse than an even coat of algae.

Wd40 · 09/22/2009, 09:31 AM

No one else has ever had this problem??!!

tkeracer619 · 09/22/2009, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wd40
Thanx guys.. It actually could be the light. I was told to run my halides for 10 hours and thats when it started.
I am using ro/di with 000 tds.
No phosphate removing media
150g tank with about 40lbs of rock, 4 anthias, 1 blue tang, 1 pbt, 1 yellow tang. Some sps and frags.
I feed twice a day with pellets.

What kind of skimmer do you use? Is it performing as well as it could? How large and frequent are water changes?

I would add a phosban reactor and add just a little bit of phosban to start off with. Even with a 0 on a test it is still present since your adding it with the food twice a day. Reducing the lighting will help short term but you need a long term solution. Consider switching to frozen food like Formula 1 & 2 once a day.

09/21/2009, 09:57 PM	#1
Wd40 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 715	Algea on glass??? Okay this is seriously ****ing me off. Ill wipe my glass with my magnet and in about 30 minutes I have algea back on my glass... What can it be??? Ive never had this happen to me before.. Phosphates are 0 Nitrates are below 5 Nitrites are 0 Calcium 400 Alk 9 It just doesnt add up. SPS are fine and so are the fish but the algea is unbearable...

09/21/2009, 10:06 PM	#2
jasoncampbell83 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 97	Once I had the same problem I think... is it green algae? I also cleaned the glass with the magnet cleaner and then the glass looked like it had a green flim on it. My water parameters were fine, I cut down my lighting for a week or so to just a few hours a day and in less than a week it was fine. Wish I had more to tell you than that. Good luck hope that helps __________________ Umm... No I dont set a chair in front of my tank and look at it for hours. Current Tank Info: (1) 75 gallon reef tank (1) 37 gallon reef tank, (1) 6 gallon nano cube reef tank

09/22/2009, 12:07 AM	#3
Toddrtrex Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 23,162	Don't care what your tests are showing, if the algae is growing back that fast you have some nutrients (( most likely phosphates )) that is feeding the algae. Odds are the phosphates are being used up by the algae before it can be tested. Are you using RO/DI water? And if so, what is the TDS? Running any phosphate removing media? What size tank, and what is all in the tank? What are you feeding, and how often? __________________ Click my name and then "visit toddrtrex's homepage" for tank pictures Current Tank Info: 210g reef and 65g reef

09/22/2009, 07:19 AM	#6
d2mini Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 10,344	The only thing snails do for glass cleaning is leave a pattern of trails, which imho looks even worse than an even coat of algae. __________________ -dennis Elos Diamond 120xl \| Elos Stand \| Radion G4 Pros \| GHL Profilux Controller \| LifeReef Skimmer \| LifeReef Sump Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.

09/22/2009, 06:59 AM	#4
Wd40 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 715	Thanx guys.. It actually could be the light. I was told to run my halides for 10 hours and thats when it started. I am using ro/di with 000 tds. No phosphate removing media 150g tank with about 40lbs of rock, 4 anthias, 1 blue tang, 1 pbt, 1 yellow tang. Some sps and frags. I feed twice a day with pellets.

09/22/2009, 07:12 AM	#5
tydtran Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 853	Get some astrea snails.

09/22/2009, 09:31 AM	#7
Wd40 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 715	No one else has ever had this problem??!!