algea problems

[monkeyman]

hey everyone,
new to the site and need a little help. i am having a problem with algae, I think its hair algae. it is covering all my live rock and is staining the substrate. i do frequent water changes and have a decent clean up crew. what could be causing this and how do i take care of it?

[eldiente]

Can you give some details of your tank, size, age, water perameters, livestock, water movement, sump/skimmer, etc?

[dberrong]

Do you have a pic?

[peregrinus]

Algae feeds on nutriants. So without knowing any more about your tank i would say cut down on feeding and cut your lighting cycle back till the algae is gone or almost gone. Let us know your tank info. Size, lighting, volume, livestock, age, water parms.

[monkeyman]

I have a 12 gal aqua pod. the tank has been up and running for about two years and just recently upgraded to the aqua pod about two months ago. i have ten pounds of live rock, 5 astrea snails, about ten red leg hermits, a damsel, scooter bleeny, and some green star polyps. the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph are all at normal levels. no sump or skimmer, just the stock overflow system. will try to post pics soon.

[peregrinus]

what lights do you have? how old are they? you might be going thru a cycle from the change. nutrients are the bad guys here. maybe test your tds? also what kind of water do you use for top off and water changes? you might want to have that checked as well. phosphates can cause alage blooms as well. test for those as well.

[monkeyman]

I tested my phosphates today and they were at 1.0 so it think that is the problem. I just use tap water with chlorine remover. what is the best way to remove phosphates? the lighting is one 27w SunPaq dual daylight and one 27w sunpac dual actinic compact fluorescent lamps.

[peregrinus]

They have phosphate remover pads and other things. never had to use any so maybe someone else can help here.

[Grue]

I used Blue Life phosphate control and it worked for me. A bit expensive, but it went back to .05 in 5 days Phosphate is no longer a issue as I got a DI to add to my ro from Melve (Thanks alot)
Grue

[AuntKaren]

With a 12 gallon tank you can probably afford to just buy RO/DI water by the gallon from your local lfs. That would solve your phosphate problem in the future. 5 gallons should last you a month I'd think, if you do a 10% water change per week.

[monkeyman]

thanks for all the hep everyone. it has come in very handy and i am getting the algae problem turned around.

[saul]

I have 210 gallon aquarium would a 55gallon sump be enough

[Reptoreef]

I'ld advise a 75 to a 90 gl sump/fuge