Regarding algae (i know...) (also fan heads)

[mgrelik]

I'm currently running three 300 gallon tanks, they're bare bottom and just have coral in them and a tang in each tank, I'm having tons of algae problems it's growing on some of my corals, and on my acroporas and stuff... killing areas of them and i have to do emergency clippings... I know my phosphates or something have to be really high even though my tests show wonderful results. So i'm assuming its just getting taken out of the water nearly as fast as its going in.

Should i be scraping all the algae i see out of the tank all the time? does it somehow feed off it's self? Second. we have power heads in the tanks, should they be angled towards the ground to stir up the detrius? (and does coral/algae make detrius? or is that just fish).

Also. my fan heads are getting pretty full of algae... Is there a more effective way than scraping it off to clean them? Can i run the heads in a bucket of bleach or vinegar?

Any help would be great. thanks.

 

[warforged]

We had several Algae threads pop up recently FYI if you want to go over the info in them.

IF your tank is fairly new, You are cycling still…I doubt this but I need to cover this base.

Algae loves to grow when, you provide the food it needs. Phosphates come into the tank several ways. Things to consider from here on.

1. Over feeding and unwashed frozen foods will introduce nitrates and phosphates.
2. Using Tap Water as Top off Water will introduce Phosphates,Nitrates, and possibly other nasty things. Just isn’t worth the troubles.
3. Poor tank maintenance means nitrate build up and be food for the algae.
4. Photo Periods being way too long …anything over 8 hours is asking for headaches.

In your current problem where you can literally snip off the algae… sounds like Hair Algae …Fun stuff =). At this point I believe the best route for you to go is clean it all up.

Get a bucket and fill with water from the tank (when you change up water again).
Take the rocks out and scrub those things. Scrub all you can off.

Next you should purchase RoPhos, Phosban, or Seachems PhosGuard and put that stuff in your sump or buy a reactor for them.

Caution: Adding that to your system will affect PH so keep an eye on it and have a buffer on hand. Don’t add too much or you will change water chemistry very fast… you don’t want to stress the corals yah know?

After scrubbing out all the mess and adding a phosphate remover, just practice prevention from here out.

 

[JasonD]

I like this article for hair algae:

http://melevsreef.com/gha.html