Algae Outbreak (A Beginners Guide)

[jamesbaur13]

#1 Have your source water (fresh saltwater mix) and your tank water tested either by yourself or by the local fish store for Phosphate, Nitrate and Alkalinity. You need to have the source water tested as this will determine what actions you need to do to counter it. You need the tank water tested to establish a baseline.

*Note: If the source tests high for phosphates then you need to purchase an RO/DI system or obtain water which does not contain phosphates from a fellow reefer or local fish store... if your source of clean water is messed up you are going to have a difficult time beating it.

#2 That collection of nasty looking stuff in your tank is in all reality a gift. If it wasn't growing it's likely your corals would not be alive and your fish would be having a hard time. Although it is a serious pain in the rear, you can harvest it from the tank and export it from your system. I would suggest removing it in sections when you first start rather than all at once. Once you are sure things are stable you can remove it more aggressively. Research the particular algae you are trying to remove for the best means of removal. There are some types of algae that you will help to spread if you harvest it inappropriately. However, if it is not removed and left unchecked it will spread on it's own. It's always beneficial to remove it, but always remove it in the most effective means possible.

A good resource I've used for identifying algae and tips on removal... http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.ph...d=54&Itemid=60

#3 Harvest a section and do as large of water change as you can. Remember that you tested alkalinity at your source and at your tank in your baseline test. Those numbers will dictate how large of a water change you can do at one time. Here's where math comes in as you'll need to figure this out for yourself... I would avoid doing a water change that would swing your Alkalinity greater then .5dkh. In addition you don't want the Alkalinity in your tank to fall out of the range of 7-11dkh. As with any water change, you always match salinity and temperature.

#4 Give it a couple days and test your tank water. You want to be looking at 2 things. First, has the algae come back in force and the tank doesn't look like it was cleaned? Second, did the levels of phosphate and nitrate increase from your baseline? If you answered "no" to both feel free to repeat step #3 and #4.

If you answer "yes" to either of these then there's likely something else going wrong. Something is adding excess nutrient to the water. Most likely something has either died or you are overfeeding. That ugly algae is actually helping you at this point and It's best to stop with removal and ask for help on the forums at this point.

#5 (optional, but helpful) You can introduce a predator to consume the undesired algae from your system once you ensure the system is stable. Realize with doing so you are not eliminating the nutrients that fueled the outbreak in the first place. The little critter is only helping it look like you don't have a problem when in fact you still do. Also, finding a predator can be very hit or miss. Some vary based on species, geographical location in which they were harvested, and whether or not they can get a side of cole slaw with their order.

#6 (optional and even more helpful) There's a number of ways to reduce organics (Phosphate and Nitrate) from your system without the tedious weed pulling. Do a search on the following and see which one/ones seem appropriate/affordable... GFO, carbon dosing, biopellets, protein skimming, algae turf scrubber, deep sand bed (DSB) and refugium. They all have their pluses and minuses... you'll need to decide which is appropriate for yourself.


Hope this helped.