Help me get rid of algaes

[bobbo]

Hi guys I setup my new tank 3 weeks ago, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, ph is around 8, alk is a bit high (9.9). However I am have a aglae boom... how can I kill them off? :|

 

[LITTLEFISHEE]

What type of filter are you using? Check your pH again and get an accurate reading, around 8 isn't good enough IMO. The first thing you need to do is get a few snails and blue legged hermit crabs. Also, if your pH is right you could get a lawnmower or sailfin blenny.

[Tempest]

You can remove pieces of rock and scrape them with a soft toothbrush in a bucket of salt water. Increase water movement in the tank. DO you have powerheads and/or HOB filters? Maybe add a powerhead or move them around so there are no "dead spots" in the tank. You should be doing 10% weekly water changes after your initial "cycle" is complete.

 

Check the phosphate level in the tank water. If it is high you can use Phosban to lower it. Also, what type of water and salt mix are you using? You should use RO or RO/DI water as most tap water has a lot of impurities which can cause algae blooms. Red Sea salt is infamous for causing algae problems.

 

Some of the algae (red slime) in the tank pics looks like cyanobacteria. This can be done away with by using Maracyn or No-Cyano. Maracyn should not adversely affect the bacteria involved in the ammo-nitrite-nitrate cycling process. (Gram - vs. gram +)

 

Finally, if the cycle/brak-in period is over, get yourself a clean-up crew - a variety of snails (astrea, margarita, etc) some blue and red leg hermit crabs, an emerald crab and maybe even a "algae"cowrie.

[Aiptasia]

Yep, algae. There is no escape, only control.

 

First, what is the tank's nitrate level? I see that ammonia and nitrite are zero, but what about nitrate? aaa-hah! Your pH should run between 8.1 and 8.3, but pH has a tendency to fluxuate a little during the course of the day. This doesn't concern me that much. Your alkalinity is just fine, anywhere from 8-12 is o.k. for a reef tank. My bet is the tank has cycled and the algae you see is growing because of nitrate buildup.

 

Algaes love nitrates and phosphorous. You should aim for as close to zero nitrate as you can (realistically less than 10 ppm) and zero phosphate (acheiveable if you use steam distilled, RO/DI or RO water instead of tap).

 

Phosphorous is easy to remove, with phos-ban or poly pads placed directly in a moving stream of water.

 

Nitrate is a little more tricky, but you can accomplish reducing it through water changes, heavy skimming and introducing some DOC loving algaes, such as Caulerpa, Ulva (sea lettuce) or paintbrush algae (penicillium) to the tank or in your sump. If you add them to your sump, you'll also need to add a small full spectrum light for the macro-algae to grow. You should prune your macro algaes weekly by pinching off new growth and throwing it away or using it for fertilizer for your houseplants or in your garden.

 

As a last resort, you can also use products like Purigen (seachem) or hyper-sorb to remove the nitrate.

 

Now that we know how to deal with nitrate, how do we get that #### out of there and under control... If you can take the rocks out one by one and scrub them off, do it, but you'll probably need a coarse nylon brush to get tough algaes off the rock (tuft, hair, etc.). You can find a scrub brush like that at a hardware store. Scrub them one by one and rinse them off to get that crud out.

 

It does look like you have red cyanobacteria (red slime algae), and there are products like erace or SW maracyn to kill it without harming your beneficial bacteria. Remove any carbon media if you're using antibiotics for 48 hours.

 

The last step is to employ a janitor crew for your reef tank. You need roughly 1 snail per gallon (astrea, nerites, ceriths, etc.) and 1 true mexican hermit crab per 2 gallons (the really teeny hermit crabs) to mow down the algaes and prevent that from happening again. I really like the janitor packs from GARF (www.garf.org) because they offer you four different species of long lived snails and they carry the true ultra teeny mexican hermit crabs. The smaller the species of hermit, the safer they are around fish and corals.