Help With Algae Bloom Please

[cavyroo]

I am posting this for a gal I know.
She is having a HUGE green hair algae bloom, and has been for the last month and half. Its all over her glass, live rock, and floor. She says she also has a fowl smell in the tank.

Here is her stats:

125gal reef that has been set up for about 5yrs I do believe.
She has a 36inch light with 2 65watt true actinic...and 150 watt 10,000hqi Metal Halide lamp in the middle of it.

She has been keeping that metal halide on for about 12hrs..but just recently..last week cut it to 8 hrs.
Her actinics come on at 9am..then metal halide at noon...then off at 8pm..and actinics off at 9pm.

I am not familiar with MH yet, but I thought I have read..you have your actinics come on first..then your day lights..then metal halides for about 5-6hrs..then day lights..then actinics.

She has a sailfin blenny and snails..and even the snails have long algae on them...
She is using phosphate pads to help reduce phosphates..and she feeds 2wice a day.

SO.
Bring all suggestions, so that I can help her....I gave some ideas..but would like to know more.
Thanks

 

[wrightme43]

R.O.D.I water? from what I understand algae needs food, phosphates and nitrates. Live rock and sand (as hard as it was for me to believe it, Boomer, Mike and others showed how it happens) bind phosphates to a point, and then release them. Usually a massive algae bloom in a established tank points to phosphates and nitrates greater then removal and binding capicity fuelling algae growth. Massive water change, it goes down, and boom it comes back out of the sand and live rock. I may have this all wrong just my understanding of how it works.
Maybe massive waterchange(s) with rodi, and a rowa phos reactor, and cut down on feeding. There will be other answers. This is just what I would do in the situation as it is described.
Check for phosphate and nitrate levels. and Find out what is feeding the algae and make it go away.
Lettuce slugs will eat it but the underlying cause is still there. You can get them on ebay for like 30 bucks for 6 I think I saw yesterday, plus shipping. HTH Steve

 

[Ed Hahn]

Algae growth can be accellerated by CO2, Do you have a glass top on your tank? I am wondering if you are allowing that gas exchange to take place. I am concerned with water movement in your tank. Do you have good water movement to promote oxygen. I would highly recommend a top line skimmer If you do not have one. Wrightman states better Water RO/DI water and doing water changes, and find out what is feeding your algae. The above are some really good points to consider fixing your issue. I wish you luck.
Ed

 

[cavyroo]

Like I said above. Its not my tank. I will find out though!
Thanks!

 

[bigdave]

The best skimmer you can afford i.e. Euro Reef, ASM, PM, ETSS, GEO, BY THE BEST ONE NO MORE ALGAE PROBLEMS. Good luck Dave

 

[cavyroo]

So...a better skimmer..will help this aglae bloom ? She is just not sure cause she has had her tank up for about 5yrs..and then this.

Thanks

 

[wrightme43]

Mojo has a great anolgy for that. We are walking a tight rope with our systems. a little bump here a little bounce there and bam off the rope. Usually a combo of stuff. Fish get bigger and bigger, eat more and more, clean up crew slowly fades away, sand builds up biological waste products more and more, corals grow and grow the system reaches a point where the weakest link fails. To give a definite answer needs
skimmer type, and size
all tank parameters, I.E. Sal, temp, phos, NI, NA, alk, ca, ph,
depth, type, grain size, age, and maintence procedures for sand bed
Lbs and age of live rock
fish load and types and sizes
lighting type, watts, and age of bulbs
filter media used ie carbon? how much and how often
The more she shares the better the responses will be.
Steve

 

[bigdave]

This is all great advise. Take a look at The Captive Marine Aquarium by Wayne Shang great book and new on the market. He talks about that the skimmer and live rock is the most Important pieces in the Reef tank. Maybe say some money on some stuff, But not on the skimmer. Thanks Dave

 

[gobie]

I Am Concerned About The Bad Smell Need To Know If It Is A Sulfer/ Rotten Egg Smell. If So, You Can Change All The Water You Want It Wont Do Crap. The Die Off Of Algae Will Just Feed Algae Most Times Faster Than The Pads Can Absorb. She Needs To Take Each Rock Out Scrub It Clean Shut The Lights Down. What K Bulbs And How Old And Mfg. Not All Mh Is Equal. I Have Heard That Coralife Mh Bulbs Are Garbage Along With Most Japanise Mfg Bulbs. My Understanding Is They Are Made From Crappy Components. I Don't Know How True That Is. But Judging From Most Stuff Made In That Part Of The World It Wouldn't Surprise Me. I Went Thru The Same Crap When I First Started I Bought All Of My Rock Out Of A Tank That Had Tons Of Calurpa In It My Rock Was Just One Giant Phosfate Farm. She Has Some Work A Head Of Her. Get A Fox Face Rabbit And Sally Lightfoot Stop Feeding Twice A Day. I Know It Sounds Bleak And It Is A Pain In The Ass But Alot Of Love, Elbow Grease And Perserverance She Will Win. Eliminate Phosphates , Nitrates And All Food Sources.

 

[LakeEd]

Her system is about 5 years old... and has a bad smell...

I don't suppose she has a Deep Sand-Bed Substrait???

 

[gobie]

I bet she does and i bet its crushed coral or rubble

 

[NaH2O]

cavyroo - I'm going to be repeating some things that were already mentioned, sorry to those that brought these up already, but I have to type all my thoughts out, or else I'll forget. Good responses so far!

Ask her the following questions:

Is she using RO/DI water?
Does she have a substrate?
If so, what kind of substrate?
What kind of smell?
What are the water parameters?
Have her take a phosphate reading from the water column, then make a little divot in the sand (if she has a substrate), take a water sample from there, then check the phosphates from that sample.
What kind of husbandry does she perform right now (blow off the rocks with a powerhead, water changes, does she pull out the algae, etc.)?
What kind of filtration does she have on the tank - besides the phosphate pads? (skimmer, filter sock, UV sterilizer, pounds of live rock, anything you can think of)
If she has a test kit that can be used on freshwater (I believe Salifert can), have her check the freshwater she uses for top off and water changes for phosphates and nitrates.
Doesn't sound like she has a very high bioload with one fish and some snails. Have her cut her feedings back. Does she have any corals in there?
How long has she had the algae?

She's in for some work, but will likely see a difference when we can figure out what her nutrient source is. I suspect it is a few places. Let's hear the answer to these questions, then figure out a mode of action for her. Tell her not to be overwhelmed by the bombardment of questions. We'll help get her on the right track.

 

[CarlaW]

Right now, it's all hearsay, but I think Lake Ed might have hit it on the head.

 

[mojoreef]

DO some testing and list the equipment of the tank. Best place to start.


MIke

 

[cavyroo]

OK! Got some info.
She has had her lights for about 3weeks...The algae also grows in a circle right by the metal halide. Every day. She wants to know the answer to the light question I posted in my first post.

Her water.
Amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 8.2
sal 1.022

She is testing for phospates tonite..just bought the kit she did...
She has a Seaclone skimmer..same one since she set up.
Huge canister filter...

Yes she uses carbon.
She has 7 fish in this 125 gal.

Yes on the deep sand bed...

She feeds ONE time a day..just as much as they eat...just a bit she said.

How long does she keep those metal halide on?

So..there is some more info. She said tonite that the algae seems to be dying back with help of the phosphate pads...And she has the brown diatom algae too.

SO..what can you suggest?

Thanks.

 

[wrightme43]

Check the Kelvin or color temp on the bulbs. Corals like blue white and algae likes yellow red orange light. That is my understanding anyway. With the smell I would guess a sand bed crashing but it is just a guess. Can you see up into the bottom of the sand bed from underneath? If so take a flash light and check for large black spots in the sand. See with all that algae growing nitrates and phosphated are being sucked up into plant cells. Fueling the growth. I mean the sand bed could be dumping very large amounts of (fertilizer for lack of a better term) into the water colum. I like sand beds but I dont treat them like people tell me I should. I stir the top layer around very frequently and shiphon the stuff out. I used to siphon out portions of the bed and run a power head with a filter cartridge and then put it back in the tank. I got a lot of junk out that way. I belive that sand beds can become saturated and maybe even supersaturated with stuff because its easy for stuff to get in and hard to get it out. She may have to take her favorite corals, and her MH lights and best pieces of rock and the seaclone skimmer if that is all she has and set up a rubbermaid tank in the garage or on the floor while she removes the sand bed. Probley keep the tank dark for a couple of weeks and kill off the alage and then get rid of the phosphate and nitrates that the algae releases as it dies. and then keep doing water changes to lower the levels in the tank, letting it seep out of the rock and raise the levels again, followed by more water changes. Then back in with the corals and treating her rock that was set aside in the tub the same way the rock in the tank was treated. Do not take this as the only way. This is only what I would do if it were mine. Someone else will probley have another way to do it. Get all the info you can and decide on a course of action you believe will work. I can only use my one brain and there are lots of smarter people than me here. HTH Steve

 

[gobie]

I agree with steve on removing the livestock and lights. i also fee she should take the time to physically remove as much algae as possiable before it dies off. It will shorten the time it takes to clean up the tank. basically she needs to cook her rock. this has been discussed on here before.

 

[CarlaW]

Try taking about a cup full of sand out of the aquarium and take a whiff. If that is where the smell is coming from, she may not have to much of a choice. If she has to remove the sand bed, she is in for a long day. I did that in my 80 about 4 years ago, only took about 12 hours, but I took beer breaks.
Is it a deep SAND bed or is it crushed coral?
I agree with Nikki and Dave about needing a more efficient skimmer. I don't think you can overskim, especially with an algae problem.
Keep us in the know!!

 

[gobie]

to give you an idea about skimming i had a super reef devil deluxe on my 75 gal lps tank, it is a good skimmer. I recently steped up in size to an E.T.S.S. 500 evolution. some might say im overskimming but can you really over skim i don't think so I cant see pulling out what isn't there.She may consider moving up in skimmer size when this is all done.