Green algae in a 55 gal. saltwater tank

[Aikenreefnuts]

We are having an excessive and persistent problem with green algae. We put snails, hermit crabs and a fire shrimp to help, but it keeps coming up on the glass the more we clean it. The snails and crabs are doing well with the rocks and live rocks. We have no direct sunlight on the tank. We keep lighting at high output from 9am til 6pm, blue actenic runs 7am til 8pm, moonlights all night. There is a skimmer, aquafilter 500, cascade 1500 for filtration system. Salinity runs about 1.024, temp 80, ph 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5.0.
Are we suppose to clean the filters? The tank has been setup for about 6 weeks. Is the water supposed to be changed 5 to 10% weekly or by-weekly?
We are getting conflicting stories, and need some answers. Thank you

 

[Wayupnorth]

Yes you should clean the filters. I do a 10% water change every 2 weeks in my 230gallon but you will get varying recommendations on this. If you are getting that much algea you might want to do even 10% or more a week. I was having algea with one of my 12g. Nano tanks and so I took a bunch of chaeto (sp) algea out of my refugium on my large tank and put it in there and it outcompeted the green (hair) algea very well so you might want to think about putting some good algea in your tank. Also watch how much you are feeding as this can also lead to algea problems.

 

[NaH2O]

Are you using RO/DI water? If your water quatily is poor, then weekly water changes may not help with the algae. However, the set-up only being 6 weeks old, I would expect some algae blooms. Is it hair algae or film on the glass only?

 

[Aikenreefnuts]

yes, the hair algae is on rocks, and green on glass. We did a 5 gallon water change and cleaned the filters with the water we took out of tank. The aqua clear filter was awful phew it stunk. First lesson learned, clean filters. It's looking a little better today. We plan on changing another 5 out today. How can you tell good algae from bad?

 

[NaH2O]

For sure it is a nuisance algae problem, however, it is also a normal part of post tank cycling. There are ways to minimize nutrient inputs, so the blooms are not so bad....such as the type of water. Are you using RO/DI (reverse osmosis/deionized) water or tap water? What livestock is currently in the tank? How often and what are they being fed?

 

[Boomer]

Do you have any direct or indirect sunlight hitting your tank ??