algae

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sadielynn

New Member
Ok here is another question that has probably been beaten to death
but I have a case of green algea that has broken out bad .
I have been mag cleaning every day just for it to reappear. :puke:
:pukf: it is a green slime type all over the glass ph filter ect I also run carbon pads 24 / 7
I did change salt brands to ocenic (sp) brand , and also just upgrade lights the lights run aprox 12 hours a day would cutting them back help ? so if some one can lead me to eradicate this problem I would appreciate it
:dan:
:help:
 
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Kris

New Member
How often are you feeding? Get rid of the carbon because after it has fullfilled it's use, it will leach stuff back into the tank. Reducing the lighting period would help but I run mine at 12 hours a day and don't have the problem.

I would also recommend getting a fuge going or getting some algae in the tank (good alge) that will combat the bad and help keep it in check and eventually starve it out.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
couple of questions
1) water tests whats your nitrates look like?
2) bioload what all do you have in the tank?
3) top off and water change water RO? do you age it? phosphates?
4) how much coraline coverage on your rock
5) green slim - hair algae or cyanobacteria?
 
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sadielynn

New Member
Kris the carbon is brand new put in on Aug 2 2005 at 7:00pm feeding is light every 3 days
John
1, ammonia o ppm - nitrAte 20ppm -high ph 8.2 - nitrIte 0ppm spg 1.022 all tests run with the lights out post out 1hour and tested at 8:00 pm
2,bioload light at 1 clown ,1 peppermint shrimp 6 hermit crabs 5 snails 2 red footed conches (stir the sand) 3 turbo snails . verious corals gsp xenia frag , frogspawn , 2 feather dusters verious button polyps frag size
3, we use distilled h2o mixed in oceianic (sp) salt 24 -hours mininmum before use or bottleing at $4.00 gal for ro distilled at .50 cents --- Phosphates unable to test .
4, none of my rock had coraline on it when purchaced but have some small spots starting to appear (dont get excited they are no bigger than a dime :sad: )we just found some premixed salt water by nutri-seawater
5, had some green hair algae but it disappeared and the cyano is in the sand bed now (its pink right or pink brown )
hubby did remind me that I did break a algae ball upon aqua scapeing that is all that I can offer for now the ball was the size of a pin head
 
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incysor

New Member
A lot of people have major algae outbreaks after switching to oceanic salt from another brand. Just like lots of people seem to have bleaching issues with their SPS when switching to crystal seas bioassay. That may be it, or it may be the upgraded lights. Or most likely a combonation of both. You've changed two key elements of you tank at the same time. Anytime you upgrade your lights significantly you should reduce your normal photoperiod, or use some screen to lessen the impact, or both. I know folks that have managed to burn their corals just changing their bulbs because they went too long with old ones.

The only things I can think of that might help are:

Take a sample of your botted water to an LFS to have the phosphates tested.
Reduce your photoperiod for a couple weeks.
Increase the frequency of your water changes until the outbreak stops. (after getting the phosphates tested).

B
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Yea I agree with incysor - everything seems in order - I have had much higher nitrate levels then that without outbreaks so I doubt that is your problem. Also I use istant ocean reef crystals mostly but have used other products without noticable differences - I have heard a few bad things about that premixed water though but have no personal experience with it. It may just be your tank needs to balance out with the new conditions. One thing you could try, since your problem seems to be cyano (yes - pink,red,brown, purple, mat like) is spot syphoning it out, and increasing your flow rates. Hair algae can hold on but cyano likes calm water. It will grow in anyones tank if there are areas where water doesn't move. Follow incysors advice, add a power head, and time should clear it up.
 
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sadielynn

New Member
thanks guys I will take an h20 sampe in this week for testing , provided they can still do salt testing.
as for increasing the flow we had to back the ph's down because it was blowing the sand and corals around maybe just repositioning them ?
 
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sadielynn

New Member
we put in 2 new powerheads rated at 150 gph each that combined with the filter
at 150 gallons per hour = 450gph the cyno is not mat like that I can tell but it is in the sand bed I have been using disposible scrubbie pads to clean once dirty rinse in hot water and the next day use a clean one I have repositioned the ph and it seems to be alitte better not as much blowing I will cut the lights back by about 2 -4 hours and see then change the filter pad in a week or so . When I first started the tank I had some minor algae and found by rinsing the pads every other day that it seemed to help . I will keep ya posted also we maybe at the end of the cycle for algae because it has been going on close to 3 weeks
 
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