Why is algae a problem?

[Tod]

I am a newcomer, my tank is up for 3 months now and has its first fish. There is a lot of algae in the tank, some green, some red, on the surface of the sand... I may have been overfeeding the corals, crabs and snails. I don't need crystal clear glass, I sit close and enjoy looking at everything in the tank. Water tests show everything is very good, all 0s except nitrates around 25ppm. I have no skimmer or filter. I have lots of pods and a few snails that are a week or two old. Everything looks good to me, but I wonder about the algae... is it a problem? Why do people hate it so much? What would go wrong in tank that had *way* too much algae? How would it be harmful?

Thanks for helping me learn!
-Tod

[reefhead165]

do you like the looks of that nasty stuff? How big is you tank? IMO you should have a filter and skimmer

[rayn]

I suppose it all is in what the tank owner wants. Most, myself included, don't want to stare at algea all day. It grows all over in the ocean, so I would venture to say it isn't neccesarily bad for your tank. Remember, there is so called good and bad algea. Some types we want, just mainly in the fuge of a sump to help clean the water chemistry.

[kingfisher62]

A lot of algae will probably give you good water parameters because they will thrive on nitrates. So you might be testing 0.0 on nitrates and phosphates because they are absorbing them as fast as they are produced. Your fish will do great but the algae will eventually choke out your coral! The price we pay for corals , I doubt you want to do that!

[Chris27]

Exactly, really the only thing that makes algae bad is when it smothers corals, preventing them from getting flow and light. Other then that, it's natural.

[agreeive?fish]

I intentionaly introduced green hair algea because i like the "wavy grassy" look..so its all about what you like personaly i prefer the natural look compared to the fake manacured look

[nox99]

just for a lil spelling lesson-algae

at least thats what I always thought...maybe I'm wrong!

[timmytimtim]

Tod, unfortunatley algae is something that you will always deal with. Some break out occur from "dead spots" that don't get enough flow. Do you have any powerheads in the tank? A couple good powerheads will reduce/eliminate the dead spots. Algea will bloom anytime there are excess nutrients in the tank. That can be from overfeeding, new/too much lighting, the type of water your using, etc....... To bring down the Nitrates do a couple of 15-20% water changes a few days apart.

If you have excess nutrients the algae will bloom out, take over, then (hopefully) starve out because they eat the nutrients. Unless you figure out the main source for the nutrients they will continue to eat and bloom. Giving some specifics like...How big is your tank, how many and what kind of fish do you have, what kind of lighting and how long your running your lights. All that info can help folks give you some good feedback.

[chimmike]

Tod, your parameters are probably good because those algae have soaked up the phosphates and other nutrients from your water. If you eliminate those nutrients via export (macro algae in fuge, phosban reactor, carbon reactor, skimmer), use 0 tds RO water, you're less likely to have algae breakouts

IMO, algae makes a tank look unkempt and ignored. Agreeive- you could've gotten GSP for free from someone. It'll give you the wavy look without being considered a pest algae too

Most times when you go to an aquarium, is there algae everywhere? Do you see algae covered coral reefs in photographs? Typically not. I consider algae a result of sometimes poor husbandry. Like having a dog but never walking it and letting it crap all over the house.

[bmiller1234]

If you have that much algae and still show 25 nitrates your waaaaayyyyyy overfeeding. A little here and there does sometimes look nice and natural but if you look around and search for tanks that have been taken over you will see its more work controlling algae than it is keeping corals. Once algae gets a good grip then you will have a fish only with algae and will eventuality start to smell like a stinky harbor.

[mike_cmu04]

Most people dont like the looks of the algae but if you do the only problem you may really have is it killing corals by covering them up.

[cloak]

I love coralline!

Different levels I guess...

[Tod]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll try and post a few photos tonight... I don't think I have *way* too much algae yet, and indeed there are some spots on the sand I don't like (will try to vacuum up)...but I realized I didn't understand what exactly the problem was with algae. I probably have been overfeeding the snails and crabs. I also have been feeding DTs live plankton because I have some clams from ISPF and didn't want to starve them out right away. A few weeks back I introduced 4 or 5 coral frags and they brought in a lot of green algae from the rocks they were on. I have a 55 gallon tank with MP40 powerhead and 2 T8s and 2NO T5s, 3 bulbs actinic, one walmart. The new clown fish has survived his first two nights!

-Tod

[chimmike]

you really don't need to feed snails and crabs that much.

What is your water source?

[domb54]

i love algae and the way it looks but you definately need to manicure it to keep it under control pods love the stuff as well as cuc. its your own choice to keep it natural or completely manicured. i like the natural ocean look with some algae and some clean.

[Allmost]

algea could give off chemicals to kill your corals,

it will also consume the oxygen in your tank.

if those are taken care of with flow and carbon (GAC) then no Issues with planted tank

to ME, it just looks dirty though.