Algae Help

[austinp]

I bought a tank from a friend about 3 months ago and transferred all the live rock, a few corals, sand, corals, fish and a few crabs. Recently i've added a few snails, and crabs, and also added a remora skimmer and new bulbs to the fixture. Lately i've been getting alot of green algae on the sand and rocks. What should I do? Chemicals? more CUC?

[plantman1028]

What size tank? Have you checked your water params? What type of filtration?

[reef-luva]

What type of lighting and how long are the cycles?

[austinp]

Its a 29g. I did a water change today and all the params tested ok. The nitrate test showed about 0-5 ppm. Im new to this and haven't gotten my phosphate or calcium test kit yet. Could either of those be the cause of algae.

 

Its 130w cf fixture. the 10k bulbs run from 12-4 and the actinic run from 330-8. Then i have a stunner led strip thats i turn on after.

[Squared]

even if phosphate and nitrate test low, it could be because algea is using them up. I would def. get a phos and cal test kits. I wouldn't say calcium could be the culprit, but maybe phosphate.

[austinp]

Cal and Phos test kits are in the mail on the way to me. If it is caused by phosphate, how do I begin to cure the problem? If its not phosphate what should be my next step?

[Squared]

i do believe there are special filtering media for phostphate, like phosban, and doing bigger water changes might help as well. Do you know what kind of algea it is? Can you post a pic?

[austinp]

[Trolldoll]

where do you get your water from?

[Squared]

could be that your tank is new. maybe a good sandsifter will help.

[austinp]

I get my water from my LFS. And usually do about 6 gallons every 2 weeks.

[Trolldoll]

not all LFS are good. make sure the water is ro/di. after you get your test kits test your freshly mixed water before the change to make sure phos is zero.

[austinp]

They did tell me that it is ro/di water, but i will double check once my test kits arrive. Any suggestions for sandsifters? I've read that gobies and sand sifting stars are good, but ive also read that there is the possibility of starving them in small tanks.

[Dizzle21]

you can also get a portable tds meter to see. some lfs dont change there RODI filters when they need to so the water they sell might be high in TDS

[Trolldoll]

True about the gobies. Most of them like deep sandbed. They dig and move sand around constantly. They will spit the sand out on coral. They also eat the good stuff in the sand.

 

Nassarius snails will help keep the sand clean.

 

I would change your light schedule for dawn to dusk. Actinic 1200 - 8 and Daylight 1-7 or have them set for your schedule to view it when your home.

[brandon429]

the browns in that sandbed are organic accumulations and are part of the problem, they got stirred up into the water. ideally a new sandbed should have been used, not the old one. at worst some seeding from the old one, but only a few handfulls. its a nutrient sink that got disturbed and moved to a new tank. wastes that had penetrated the bed are now back on top, its in the pics

 

A sandbed in a nano tank with fish is like the transmission oil on a car. They go a long time, but they are finite in lifespan and should be switched for new if the opportunity arises. accumulation always outpaces reduction in a nano sandbed that has fish in the tank