So my algae is normally a bit excessive. i get a lot of green algae so before i go to bed i turn over the sand and scrub the tank. by the same time the next night, it's back so i do it again. I went away for a week and my dad took care of the tank. he called me telling me how bad my algae was but i assumed it was the usual. The day i was coming home my dad cleaned the tank at 9am so it would be clean when i got home. i got back at around 5pm and the tank looked like it does in the pictures! you can't really tell from the pictures but the sheets of algae are like 1/2 and inch thick! i don't even know what to do!
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DISASTER ALGAE!
- Thread starter AChilton
- Start date
How long has this tank been setup . I think some of your problem was scrubbing it and turning over the sand every night . You are releasing nutrients into the system feeding the algae . I would stop the sandbed stirring,add some nas snails or other sand sifters and let them do there job . I would also remove as much of the algae by hand and with water changes and then keep up a better maintenance program . You can also keep the lights off for a few days while doing your water changes to kill off the algae. You have to figure out the nutrient source for the algae to rid it .
What is your filtration? water params,feeding ,etc..cleanup crew?
What is your filtration? water params,feeding ,etc..cleanup crew?
well parameters are perfect. I have no cleanup crew. It's a FO tank right now, soon to be FOWLR. I hate snails and i hate hermit crabs so i don't really want them in my tank. I'll try removing as much of the algae as possible tomorrow morning. Any reccomendations for cleanup crew? nothing to sensative preferably since i use tap water for top offs and water changes.
AChilton said:
phospates
You might really really want to look into start using some RODI water. There is something in your tap water that is causing the algae outbreak. If you want to keep on using tap water, get a phosban reactor or chemipure or phosban to pull out the phosphates.
I have phosphate remover sitting in my sump which dealt with the brown algae. now green algae has just taken over! Any recommendations on clean up crew? no snails or hermit crabs! I don't have any live rock in my tank yet but i'm looking. do all invertebrates need the live rock i know a lot feed off it.
Mexican turbo snails will do the trick
I would stop using tap water asap,your params are probably checking ok because the alga is feeding off the phos. Even though you dont like snails/hermits they do a job in our systems . Fully cured live rock will aid in filtration and like suggested a phos reactor will also be a big improvement . But the best thing you can do right now is to stop using tap water for your changes/top off .
As qwik stated stop stirring the sand it's only adding to the problem. Using RO water or even better RO/DI water will help to reduce the import of nutrients into the tank. Carribean tiger tail cukes would help clean up the sandbed. If there aren't any corals in the tank you don't need to worry about it killing them. You could always just let it go until it burns itself out if you can stand looking at it. If not try vaccuuming it out with tubing into a filter sock in the sump.
What can i do as of now. i mean i know how to prevent the algae in the future but what do i do to get rid of all the algae that's in there already. there's a HUGE layer of it on the back of the glass and and it is covering everything. i can't pick it up because it just crumbles up and is impossible to get out of the tank. i would have to have 600 snails in there to get rid of what's in their now. It's rediculous. So what would be the temporary solution?
malulu
NJRC Member
AChilton said:
beside to make some good RO/DI warer, and do big water change...
- use a small diameter water hose, to siphon and suck them out
- if you do not have small hose, use whatever smallest one you got
- siphon them out to a container (5g, 20g...whatever), use fish net or strainer to filter them out
- and then let the water sit for 20 mins or so, they should be settle on the bottom or float on top
- then siphon out the good water back to your tank
Sound like there was a few shortcuts in setting up the tank.
The reef systems in basic form is a balanced system that takes time. Proper lights, Live Rock, RO Water, Water Flow, Sump, Cheato, Skimmer all work together. For clean up crews Snails, Hermits, Emerald crabs all contribute to a clean tank.
You may want to re think your setup. Every thing that you need to know is posted here.
The reef systems in basic form is a balanced system that takes time. Proper lights, Live Rock, RO Water, Water Flow, Sump, Cheato, Skimmer all work together. For clean up crews Snails, Hermits, Emerald crabs all contribute to a clean tank.
You may want to re think your setup. Every thing that you need to know is posted here.
I don't think i took any shortcuts in setting up my tank. My tank has a protein skimmer, a uv steralizer and the wet/dry. I started with an RO unit but the membrane is now shot and i need to get my hands on a new one (setting me back 100 bucks) There is no live rock in the tank because right now it's just a FO tank. soon to be FOWLR. I don't have any inverts because don't most of them need the live rock? I don't think i took any shortcuts
No insult intended. The absence of live Rock got my attention.
I'm still at a loss of what to do at this point. i can't siphon it out because as soon as get near it with the siphon is starts floating around everywhere and getting buried in the sand. I can't get it out with anything else because like i said it breaks up instantly. I can't do the water change until i can get my hands on some RO water so i have no clue what to do. My tanks is a mess and it's killing me! begging for help!
GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF MAN!! LOL
Just have your overflow drain into a filter sock in your sump. Then try to siphon out the stuff on the rocks. Clean the filter socks out and repeat the next day. If you don't corals you can black out the tank for a couple of days as a temporary fix.
Just have your overflow drain into a filter sock in your sump. Then try to siphon out the stuff on the rocks. Clean the filter socks out and repeat the next day. If you don't corals you can black out the tank for a couple of days as a temporary fix.
AChilton said:
So what kind of rock is that in the pictures and did you cycle it in any way before adding it to the tank?
So what are your parameters? A list of the tests with real numbers for results please. "My parameters are perfect" doesn't help us to learn more about your tank.
How long has the tank been setup? You may have all the right equipment, but there are natural cycles that occur and the equipment ain't going to change that. We need to know where in those cycles the tank falls.
Without any further information I would guess that you bought base rock, soaked it for a week or two at most and it is in a tank that is less than 4 months old, give or take. Between the organics leaching out of the rock which is actually cycling at the time and the nutrients coming in with the tap water, you have more than enough fuel for an algae bloom. Please let me know the correc details if I am wrong.
Moving away from the tap water, doing frequent water changes, and letting the tank stabilize will help. Cleanup crews are good, but few of the crew will attack the really long stuff. Siphon what you can when you do water changes, pull some off by hand, but take a break from scrubbing everything daily. Patience will be rewarded.