Fighting algae issues ???????

Chitown1

I have seen many posts regarding algae issues so I thought I would put up some general info on what some of the causes are and how to keep it under control.

New tanks will have algae outbreaks sooner or later, even though your tank may be cycled to contain fish or other llivestock, it can take a year or more before it becomes completely stable, outbreaks during this time are very commmon.

FEEDING
Over feeding is one of the major causes for algae issue as if feeding with flakes that are high in phosphates. To give a couple examples, I have a 26 reef with 2 clowns, they are fed 1/3 cube of mush (mysis, squid, krill, formula 2 and garlic I make myself and freeeze) every other day, in my 280 gal reef with 2 yellow tangs, 1 regal tang, 1 kole tang, 1 coral beauty angel, a royal gramma they get 1 cube every other day.

LIGHTING
Too much or older bulbs are another cause of algae issues. Bulbs loose their ability to hold the correct spectrum in a short amount of time, you may not notice a change as it is gradual, but it does happen. PC bulbs are only good for about 8-10 months, T5's are good for about 10-12 months and MH are only good for 1 year, then they should be replaced even if they are lit in order to project the correct spectrum. Leaving the lights on to long will also cause algae to grow, I keep my actinics on 10 hours per day and daylights on for 8, this works for me

SUBSTRATE
Crushed coral will trap waste from the fish, un-eaten food etc. causing high nitrates which algea thrives on, it can work but requires a lot of maint. too prevent issues down the road and it is difficult to clean under the rock, decorations, etc. Sand however does not have this issue, it is much easier to maintain and will be more suitable for many lifeforms from bacterias that will prevent algae to borrowing life like star fish, snails and fish that stir up the sand which does not give algae a chance to get planted and grow.

WATER
Prob. the number one cause of algae. Most tap water is high in nitrates, which as I mentioned, algae thrives on. By using RO or RO/DI water you will eliminate the addition of unwanted nitrates, phosphates and flouride which all add to algae issues. Regular water changes are also key to prevent the problem, the smaller the tank the more often and higher percentage needs to be done, on my tanks under 75 gallons, I do 20% weekly, over 75 gallons, I do 10% weekly and the use of a trukey baster to blow off the rocks, decorations etc. before the change is another helpful item.

PROTEIN SKIMMERS
A good skimmer set right will be a HUGE help in fighting algae, it will remove un-disolved waste which brings us back to nitrates.

FILTRATION
This is a highly debated area, I use live rock and live sand to do my bio filtration and a skimmer to supplement, but you need enough to do the job, 1 1/2 - 2 LBS per gallon of water and at leats a 2" deep sand bed is what works for me, cannisters and hang on filters are not able to turn nitrates into nitrogen gas to allow it to escape the tank, only LR and LS can complete the cycle. Cannisters and other filters can be used if cleaned on a regular basis, but they can be nitrate producing machines if they are not cleaned. Under gravel filters IMO have no place in a salt water tank, they are nitrate factories and very difficult to keep clean. A UV filter can be an aid as well, they will prevent algae blooms from the start and will even help with parasite control but they need to be used correctly, the proper wattage and flow are needed for them to be effective at all, I use them on all 15 of my tanks, the reefs are only used when the actinincs are on, FOWLERS and FO are on all the time.

WATER FLOW
Water flow is a very important factor, if you have enough flow, algae will not be able to set up, you do not want everything blowing around in your tank, but ideally you want to turn the water over at least 10-15 times per hour, for a 100 gallon tank, it should have at least 1000-1500 GPH of flow and so on.

BIO LOAD
Over stocking your tank is another cause, by having more bio load that the set up can handle, well we are back to high nitrates (are you seeing a theme yet?), ideally you want no more than 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water. The fish size should be calculated at their fully matured size, not the size they are bought, a Maroon clown that is 2" in the store, will grow to about 6" in a short amount of time.

CLEAN UP CREW
This is a very important part in alage control and a highly debated as well. I do not use crabs as they are aggresive towards each other, snail and anything they can catch, but others swear by them.
There are many creatures you can use for this, I prefer snails, stars, shrimp and a few others depending on needs.
There are many types of snails and they all do different things, some like mexican turbos and great at cleaning glass, rock, power heads etc. Nassarious snails are great for eating uneaten food and stirring up the sand to prevent algae and those are just 2 types, there are many more. The fish you choose can also aid in clean up, a Kole Tang is known for being the janitor of the tank, they eat algae from any surface and do it well. Stars like the sand shifter will prevent algae from forming on the substrate, shrimp can eat uneaten food and even keep parasites off your fish depending on type.

There are many ways to be succesful in this hobby, these are what work for me. I am sure others have different methods that work for them, but the basics are always the basics. I hope this will help some people have a better understanding of how to prevent, control or eliminate the issue depending on circumstance. One of they keys IMO is to use good equipment, this is truely a "you get what you pay for" hobby so get better equipment like skimmers, lighting etc. and it will prevent many issues caused by bargin buys. I also do not use chemicals, they always have a side effect, so I avoid them unless absolutely needed.

Tinylino

Thank you, the post was very informative to my situation.

MG

CAMDIDDY

hey tinylino, in your sig. picture what is the brown stuff on your sand bed? diatoms? I have the same problem

hell on wheels

I'm also having this issue now. Little strange actually. I can't figure it out. Never had the issue of diatoms since I started the tank in June with not so good equipment. Since I changed out my 1 powerhead for 3 powerheads and increases my flow, I started to get a breakout of diatoms. It is driving me crazy.

TCKK78

If you are just cycling i have done in the past just leave the lights off. Alage cannot grow with out light. So leave the light off and it should get rid of you problem. Good luck

Tinylino

I was wondering about that myself. Diatoms?

Hi guys, been gone for a while. I am having a terrible issue with red algea, and I think I have answered my own problems.

I need to increase flow in tank, take out some nitrate producing products (bio balls) since I already have a protein skimmer, and live rock, and I need to keep the lights out half a day for a while. I have no fish, all live rock.

MG

Chitown1

Adding a conch or 2 will help with the substrate, that is where the feed primarily.

Tinylino

Picture is old, you guys should see it now... I was able to attain barnacles from work and added 30 lbs of rock, I have another 40 lbs coming tomorow. Added a blenny that is cleaning the sand, snails sifting through sand, a crab that sifts throught the sand looks like a sting ray, a big snail with a tube that sifts throught the sand and some crabs that are cleaning the rock 24-7. The barnacles brought in some strange stuff with them including a nice looking red letuce that the LFS is begging me for, devil clams, and tons of feather dusters in many different colors.

I got my algea down to a minimum, found out while I was gone my wife let the air tube from the skimmer drop into the water, and it caused the algea bloom.

Ill try and get my picture updated


MG

Shock

Bubble algae!? how do i get rid of it!? ive been having this problem for about 2 month. i have green bubble algae on one rock, and some red bubble algae lightly scattered throughout the tank. I know emerald crabs eat bubble algae, but then again, i dont want him killing anyone while they sleep.

Water params are pefect. also i feeding is daily with frozen or flake, flake they usually eat every last piece, the frozen food does get past the fish often. both forumla 1 food

Chitown1

Check out htis article, lots of good info about bubble algae,


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php