Hi I just started my tank. It is a 75 gallon tank. It has 37 pounds of live rock, Emperor 400 filter, aqua C remora (Protien skimmer), and four maxi-jet 1200 power heads. I have a thin layer of green and brown algea on the sand. It only grows on the sand. I don't really have any of this algea on my rocks or glass. I made the mistake of using RO water instead of RO/DI. now my phosphates are coming down. the algea is still holding on though. any ideas? I atached a photo of my tank.
Algae controll problem
- Thread starter squash110
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btuck
Well-known member
Looks like you've got a nice battle with cyano going there. It's a natural progression that I think everybody goes through when starting their tank. And some after the tank has been up for a while. I'm sure there are more then a few threads on it. I would just type in cyano or cyanobacteria in the search engine and follow the advice there.
Krish
RF STAFF
Welcome to RF!! I agree on the cyno being a usual occurance on newly setup tanks. Once things stabilize and parameters get better, then it will start to suside. What you could do in the meantime when doing your water changes is siphon it up off of the sand bed. Algae needs to be exported/removed out of the system as it binds up excess phosphates and nitrates which is how it grows, but leaving the algae in the tank means you are leaving these excess phosphates and nitrates in the tanks as well. Just give it time and as you do your water changes, be sure to use ro/di water to start flushing out the old water that was just ro. Good luck!
Welcome to RF!! As stated above, I think you're experiencing a normal problem with new tanks cycling. One thing that I would suggest is getting 40-50 more pounds of live rock. You don't have enough live rock in the tank and once it's cycle is complete, adding more live rock will most likely start the cycle over again. If possible, try aiming your powerheads more towards the areas effected by the algae. It looks like that one big rock could be blocking current from getting to the effected area. Good, strong circulation has been a very successful way to get rid of Cyano Bacteria. Also, be careful with that Emperor filter. Make sure you clean the media on a VERY regular basis or it'll become a nitrate factory, causing more algae problems. One more thing to consider....I love Remora Skimmers....they're awesome and I have one on my 46 bowtank. Unfortunately, they're upper end rating is for 75 gallons. A good rule of thumb is to always get a skimmer rated for at least 1 1/2 times the size of your tank.
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