First Real Algae Problem

[patmayo]

The tank has been up about 142 days now. Coralline is growing out the gazoo but I am now getting some brown hair algae on the rock. Not green this is brown. I am also getting quite a bit of some type of macro algae that is growing on the rock. This macro algae is a large flat type leaf.

I have good flow about 26 X my total gallanage. I feed the 2 fish I have in the tank every other day and I also feed about 3 times a week with DT's. I use RO/DI water only.

I have no other type of algae in the tank. But a little in the overflow that I clean out about once every month or so. I also have a little in the sump.

I have a salifert phospate kit but it reads zero. I feed a pellet food and a little bit of flake. In addition I feed once in a while a frozen food that is rinsed very well so I don't get the juices in the tank.

I also have a large bundle of cheato in the sump. It grows well.

I have a phosbane reactor but have not been running it for the last 2 weeks.


My parameters are,
ph 8.24
Calcium 420
Alkalinity about 2.86 Meq/l
magnesium is 1250.
temp 82
phosphate test kit test zero.

What suggestions do you experts have out there for me to try to get a handle on this?

Regards,

Pat

 

[matts125]

im not expert but this may be due to the temperature, I would guess that because 82degrees is about 4-6 degrees too warm. other wise this is a very common stage in a new tanks cycle and believe me 142 days is very new...
hope this clears up for you soon....

Matt

 

[4251cpd]

As Matty sez, there is a normal "cycle" for macro's that grow. As for temp, 82 is fine as long as the swing is no more then 2 degrees either way in a 24 hr period. If it starts to spread and it concerns you, get some forceps and start pulling. Get as close to the rock as possible and let your inverts take care of it. You may want to think about a fuge in your sump, it will deprive the macro in your display. As for feeding, cut back the flake and pellet to once or twice a week, go with frozen marine foods, Hikari, Ocean Nutrition and the likes have wonderful products that are extremely affordable and much better for your critters. The flake and pellet contains a tiny bit of phosphorous that we be virtually undetectable but just enough to feed nuisance macros. HTH, Mike.

 

[BCT182]

I'm not sure, but I did live DT's for a while and had a problem with algae blooms

 

[4251cpd]

I'm not sure, but I did live DT's for a while and had a problem with algae blooms

How often were you using it? I use it once a week, and not have a problem. There was a huge debate on another forum about if any live phytoplankton product introduced phosphate or caused algae blooms. My levels of PO3 are non existent. If you are using amounts that are recommended by the company then of course you may run into problems. There is no regulation once it comes to marine food, supplements, treatments etc. that the iodine we are dosing may be nothing more then pure water.

 

[BCT182]

I was just thinkin 3 times a week is a little excessive. Id say try backing off the DT's for about 10 days and do some water changes. See what happens.

 

[bc_slc]

Sounds like this is covered. The algae is probably spurned by the natural cycle of the tank, and I agree, the DTs is probably contributing unless you have a very very heavy bioload of corals. It is not uncommon for the tank to have algae blooms and the test kit to still read zero. You are doing all the right things as far as chaeto/competitive algaes.

The only other questions I have is:
how are you running your lights?
how are you running the lights on your refugium?
how often and how much water are you changing?

This will likely pass, but if you want to make it faster you can restart the phosban with phosphate binder, reduce your photoperiod and run your refugium lights 24/7. The macro you have in your display is probably halimeda or a "money plant". They are a decent macro, but do bind up some calcium. Sounds like your levels are fine (as evidenced by your coraline growth and test level).

Mat

 

[ronj]

what kind of fish do you have ? i know alot of people only feed their fish once or twice a week. if you have fish that graze in the wild, this is not healthy for them. i personally don't think it's healthy for any fish except maybe predators, but it's everyone's personal decision.

 

[patmayo]

To answer the questions, my actincs turn on at 12:00 noon and the MH's turn on at 1 pm. The MH turn off at 10 PM and the Actinics turn off at 11 pm. The sump is lit 24/7. I change 8 gallons per week or a total of 36 gallons per month. I have calculated with rock sand etc the total tank volume is right at 100 gallons give or take a little.

The only fish I have in the tank are 2 clowns. I have had the fish about 8 months. They came from my 46 gallon tank.

I have some pictures of the ugly hair algae. I also have some other type that looks like a macro algae growing in the tank. I think it is a good type algae but can't be sure. I will try to get these pictures posted If I can figure out how to post.

Thanks for the help. For now I am going to discontinue the DT's and feed only the frozen food I have for the fish.

I'll keep you informed and watch for the ugly algae photos.

Regards,

Pat

 

[jsmkmavity]

try running the sump during the off cycle in the main tank.

 

[patmayo]

Pictures of the bad algae

Here are the pictures of the bad algae. Assuming I can get this to work.

And this one

And the last

Humm seems I still can't get these to come up on the page. I must not be linking them correctly. Can someone help me with this?

Regards,

Pat

 

[Al G.]

Your tank looks clean compared to my algae covered tank.

Right click on your pictures and then copy image location.

 

[patmayo]

Thanks Al G. I will try that.

So does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this stuff? I have heard kalk paste, take the rock out and scrub.

Would, could this be related to feeding the tank with DT's? Should I stop this type of feeding?

Any help on this stuff would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Pat

 

[4251cpd]

PM: a couple of questions. A. do you have any corals in your tank? B. any type of grazing inverts? I know very few will take out hair but you'll be amazed at what a turbo grazer will chow down when first introduced to a tank. Mine mowed three sargassum plants out of existence. There is a type of sea slug that is a dedicated hair algae grazer. I will attempt to get its proper name.

 

[cheeks69]

My opinion is remove the rock and srub as much as you can off, cut back on the DT's feed your fish very lightly and stay away from flake food which is very high in PO4 also get some more herbivores in your tank. The best algae eater I had was a Longspine Black Urchin, maybe a Tang such as a Ctenochaetus strigosus would be a good ideia. Did you cycle your LR in the main tank ?

 

[patmayo]

I just added some corals this past weekend during the PSAS meeting. I have not had much luck with grazers. And this stuff is do ugly, I doubt anything will eat it. I am leaning toward taking the rock out and scrubbing the heck out of it in fresh saltwater and then putting back in the tank.

As well I am giong to cut the DT's off for awhile and see if that helps and I will eliminate the flake food totally. I also use pellets but I think I will use the frozen food after rinsing well.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

Pat

 

[ronj]

i think it will just die off on its' own as long as you keep your nitrates and phosphates down . algae blooms are normal for newer tanks.Like 4251 cpd said, it would definately help to throw in some turbo snails . they will clean your rocks smooth, at least they did mine.

 

[patmayo]

Pictures of new corals.

Just got these for the tank this past weekend at the Puget Sound Aquarium Socitey BBQ in Poulsbo.

The place was packed so I didn't get the chance to write the name down. I know the first 2 are a plate coral, but I don't know what type and I am unsure of the third.

Is there any help out there?

Regards,

Pat

 

[patmayo]

I think the turbo snails might not be a bad idea. I will try that. I have some snails but they are not turbos and other than that algae I don't have much else to eat in the tank. It's actually pretty clean. I think I will get one and see what happens.

Thanks for the help.

Regards,

Pat

 

[ronj]

if you have any plants that you want to keep, watch out for these snails. they will devour them rather quickly.