Algae Problems

[gakayaker12234]

I have a 100 ish gallon system, a 72 gallon display, 20 gallon frag tank, and a sump. I have been having issues with many types of algae including red slime and hair like algaes. My tank has been set up for about a year now, and I am using RODI water. I am running a coralife 65 skimmer which is a little small for my system and a 25 watt UV. I have a chiller and heater regulating temp, and have a 175 halide on the frag tank and 4x65 watt power compact on my main tank. My parameters are pH:8.1, Nitrate:0-5, phosphate 0-.25 (API test), ALK:8, Calcium:400. I haven't been able to fight off red slime and the hair like algae which i think is briopsis. I've used chemiclean to get rid of the slime, but it always seems to slowly come back. Ive been considering hooking up a phosphate reactor or even an ozonizer because I can't seem to get rid of the algaes. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to improve my system and get rid of or slow the algae growth. Thanks!

Edit: Also, I have three clownfish, an algae blenny, and a mandarin. I feed pellets every 2 days and occasionally frozen mysis. Do 20% water changes monthly using IO salt.

 

[pufferchris]

the red slime cryno siphon out as much as possible do you run power heads cause you may want to up your water flow in the tank

 

[gakayaker12234]

I have 2 power heads and my return which combined move about 2500gph

 

[pufferchris]

red slime usually pops up around dead spots maybe try repositioning your power heads

 

[skriz]

Your problem in nutrient export. You have next to none right now and need to work on that rather than adding chemicals or messing with flow.

Don't waste your money on O3 or reactors right now. Instead, invest it in a quality skimmer. If you can't do that, you need to perform weekly water changes and use a syphon; you'll eventually get the crud out of there and things will start improving.

 

[davidinga]

Skriz;708311 wrote: Your problem in nutrient export. You have next to none right now and need to work on that rather than adding chemicals or messing with flow.

Don't waste your money on O3 or reactors right now. Instead, invest it in a quality skimmer. If you can't do that, you need to perform weekly water changes and use a syphon; you'll eventually get the crud out of there and things will start improving.

This

 

[chemically_balanced]

I agree with Skriz. Get some export of nutrience going. If you are feeding frozen make sure you wash the unfrozen food. I normally put the food in a net and run either RO water over it or if I have it fresh saltwater. If you really want to test for something test for magnesium. If you have green hair algea make sure it's not bryopsis. If it is you can find plenty of threads on how to get rid of it by upping your mag.

 

[kirkwood]

what is your lighting schedule? I am running my actinics for 6 hours and my whites for 4.. I didn't realize it until recently that I had been running my lights far too long each day(like a 10/8 hour schedule) and that was allowing the algae a lot more time to grow...

 

[captain copper]

and since its not been mentioned yet, ill throw the obvious out there. In an ideal scenario, nitrates will be .25 or less, phosphates .04 or less. Coral takes very little of both to grow, any excess of these two components is just food for algae, this is why a larger skimmer helps to rid tanks of algae via pulling dissolved organics out prior to conversion to nitrates and phosphates. Getting a good skimmer is a must (coralife skimmers are glorified paperweights, no offense), but in addition too that a minor form of nutrient control is anaerobic bacteria culturing via a good media (such as matrix/denitrate) and carbon supplements (microbacter7/reef bio fuel, nopox, vsv dosing, ecobak).

In other words, dont overcomplicate this problem. 99% of the time, algae issues are easily solvable because the root cause is a basic misunderstanding of the nutrients that cause algae. At the end of the day, things like ozone and chemical remedies are all bandaids for bad husbandry, so the real question is, how much do you want to spend so that you can do it wrong.

 

[jennm]

20% water change monthly is likely not enough to export all the nutrients.

A smaller amount (say, 10%) more frequently (ie weekly) changes more net water over time, and will keep your parameters more consistent.

I'd suggest getting the water tested with a different brand of test kit too - you may find discrepancies there too. In my opinion/experience, API isn't the most reliable brand and you may have issues going on that you aren't aware of.

That along with what others have said - upgrade the skimmer first before you spend more money on chemical fixes.

Jenn

 

[captain copper]

JennM;709970 wrote: 20% water change monthly is likely not enough to export all the nutrients.

A smaller amount (say, 10%) more frequently (ie weekly) changes more net water over time, and will keep your parameters more consistent.

I'd suggest getting the water tested with a different brand of test kit too - you may find discrepancies there too. In my opinion/experience, API isn't the most reliable brand and you may have issues going on that you aren't aware of.

That along with what others have said - upgrade the skimmer first before you spend more money on chemical fixes.

Jenn

I agree. In my experience seachem and red sea are the most accurate hobbyist grade kits readily available. Api kits are not bad, they just arent super accurate, so they are good for regular quick checks, but not much more. Think of api kits as the strip test of titration kits.

 

[gakayaker12234]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I am planning on a skimmer upgrade in the near future. Also i don't have an RODI system yet... i know thats another problem. I have to buy water so I havent been too great with water changes. I will try and do more frequent WC's combined with a better skimmer and see if that helps. Also i'll try other test kits and see if I can't adress any of the other problems. All advice has been very helpful!