ALGAE BE GONE!

[ocean]

I'm fed up with this algae problem so if someone wants to work on this with me i will be very grateful. I have algae everywhere and Today i did a water change with some RO water i bought from the store 35 cents a gal is pretty good isn't it? anyways i have been reading more than accomplishing. This is a reasonably new tank about 4 months after the cycle. when i gravel vac i seem to suck more sand than algae that isn't good.
i do water changes every Friday about 10 gal I'm going to start doing them with RO water now. here's the setup 55gal tank one 250 wat heater one double carbon filter (hob) three power heads not sure of gph , a double pc light fixture 110w one reg. fluorescent light fix with one moon light and one reg f light. 80w and about 10pounds of live rock 2 inches of sand bed half ls half crushed coral thanks to anyone who wants to help... ill take pics of changes if anyone helps.

[bjpembo]

if you havent been using ro water before thats probably a big part of your algae problem. Also make sure to test the lfs's ro water to make sure they are giving you good water, sometimes they dont change the filters like they should and they could be giving you water thats not as clean as it should be.

2nd, the regular floresent lights burn somewhere around 3300-4500 K which is in the red color spectrum and that happens to be the color of light that algae is able to utilize the best so you should change those bulbs to something at least 6500k or higher.

Also the hang on filter should have the media removed from it, its likely trapping a bunch of detritus which will cause nitrates to build in the tank and nitrates are like fertelizer for algae.

What are your nitrates testing at? for a reef tank they ideally should be zero but up to 10-15 you can get by with but also right in that area can cause you to start having algae problems or make them worse if you already have them.

Do you have any critters in the tank that require light? i.e. corals and such? if not kill the lights and make sure the tank doesnt get any natural light, if the tank is close to a window or something you should move it so that the sun doesnt shine into the tank. If you are able to kill the lights that'll take care of most of the trouble, the algae needs light and will die off allowing you to clean it out of the tank. also pull the stuff out with your fingers, just grab bunches and remove as much as you can without letting too much get loose into the tank. some will, but as long as your taking the majority of it out you'll be removing those nutrients that are causing you problems in the same way harvesting macro algae from a fuge removes nutrients.

[dakar]

$.35 a gallon for RO/DI water? Not being critical here, just ignorant if you will, since we've never purchased water from an LFS, never really considered it so we've never looked, but is that the average going rate elsewhere too?

[ocean]

The r/o water came from a grocery store but i will buy some of both LFS and grocery store water and see witch one is better. I was planning on buying a R/O unit but i have other priority's at the moment so the 35c a gal will be fine for now ..I only have one reg fluorescent light witch i will head to the LFS right away in the morning to buy a 10k. what do you suggest i put in the filters instead of the carbon? I just took a Nitrate reading its a solid ZERO none at all, surprising.. (did it twice just to make sure) PH is 8.1 alk is high. i have a rock with a colony of brown polyps i just bought a week ago witch have all been contracted for about two days seems like they are dieing(i hate myself) other inhabitants include: two Orange fire-fish, one coral angel beauty fish, three turbo snails, and three or four red legged crabs. Oh the tank is in the basement with absolutely no sun light hitting it I made sure of that when i started.

[bjpembo]

you dont really need any mechanical filtration other than a skimmer (which i just realized you didnt mention owning) so the hang on power filter is really not needed except to occasionally run carbon to polish the water for a couple of days and then be removed again. if you want you can keep the filter minus any media for the extra flow it provides, personally i'd remove it from the tank, one less thing to worry about.

As for the skimmer, do you have one? if not you really should, especially since your are a beginning reefer, it'll make keeping the tank clean easier because it'll removed disolved organics from the water keeping them from fueling the algae.

As for your nitrate test zero is not unusual, any available nitrate is probably tied up with the algae being used as fuel. if you test in the morning just before your lights come on you may or may not be able to get a reading since the algae will have released some of the nitrate while the lights were out.

if your polpys do die, cut your lights and take care of your algae problem before buying anything else that is light dependent, it'll be easier. in the meanwhile you can cut your light back to 3 or 4 hours to help kill the algae off.

[ocean]

No, I don't have a skimmer.I tested the nitrates in the morning it was a zero. but thanks for your help ill update you on changes.

[bjpembo]

imo the next step would be to start researching a good skimmer, the aqua c remora pro would be a good hang on model and if you have or plan to add a sump then aqua c, euroreef, my reef creations, life reef, and a few others all make excellent in sump skimmers. If you decide to buy one, and i recommend that you do, dont skimp, a skimmer is your primary means of waste removal and a cheap one just doesnt work as well as a quality skimmer.

[Reptoreef]

ASM is a sweet skimmer... goto www.ASMSkimmer.com for discussion, sweet pricing, and advice.

Repto

[Whoyah]

$.35 a gallon for RO/DI water? Not being critical here, just ignorant if you will, since we've never purchased water from an LFS, never really considered it so we've never looked, but is that the average going rate elsewhere too?


$0.35 is what I was paying for RO/DI as well. I was getting it from the grocery store out of a machine. It sure is a lot nicer just to be able to walk out to the garage and get some water since I got my RO/DI setup. Well worth the $200 bucks. Should have done it a long time ago.

[jerryc]

Can you describe the algae just wonder if its algae or cyno you have

[ocean]

#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Its light brown on the glass, and the sand its black sheets of it witch ive picked most of it out with my hands. ive been doing 20% water changes once a week with ro/di h20 , its really killed it for the most part and stoped the growth of it. it was getting so ridiculus i could watch the algea on the glass grow.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#