Algae is driving me nuts!!!
 

My tank is 6 months old and i have been battling this algae for at least 3 maybe 4 months. i have a 35 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump. aqua c remora skimmer skimming wet and filling up container at least 2 times per day. I also threw in a phosban reactor a couple months ago and that didnt make a difference either. My only livestock is 2 clown fish and my CUC. my lighting is a diy 120watts L.E.D. system and is on for 10hours per day. I also get algae on my glass too. if i leave it on the glass for a few days i have to scrape it off because the mag float will get stuck.

water tests are done with api kit

Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0
Phosphates-closer to zero (hard to tell)
calcium-460
kh-9
ph-8.2
temp-79

water is reverse osmosis and tested with tds meter reading 0. I do weekly water changes and vacuum the substrate every 2-3 weeks. I feed very little too.


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Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it on the rocks as well? Check out my post "what else can I do" to see if it looks similar.

Is it a snotty looking brown algae with bubbles?

these is a little on the rock but not much. its mostly on the sand and there are a few bubbles in some spots but not many at all and they sit on top of the algae as opposed to coming out of the algae like dinos. Its not snotty but fuzzy. I vacuum it out and a couple days later its back

Looks like diatom algae, that's pretty common in new tanks...and yes 6 months is still considered new...:biggrin:

you're tank's still new. give it time to settle in.
all the nutrients and such have to balance out.

Adjust the skimmer to skim dry. no way it should be skimming 2 cups a day.
What do you have for a CUC? I find small hermits to be great for cleaning algae.
I know everyone says to be cautious but I have a few electric blues. (not the regular blue legged variety) and theyre pretty good about sticking to fish food or algae.

Ring cowries I find are excellent for softer algae species. 5 cleaned out my 30 gallon sump in a few days.

Turbo snails as well are good but knock things over.
I have a few Cerith snails and some Tonga Nassarius snails to help with stirring the sand bed and keeping it clean. Maybe consider a few of those as well instead of vacuuming.



Do you grow chaeto in the sump? Might want to really consider it.
When I first got my chaeto it grew like weed. Lately it's slowed down, but at the same time the algae in the tank is also extremely slow in glowing and not spreading at all.

i initially had the skimmer dialed in for dry skimming but i thought maybe i had too many nutrients so i adjusted it to pull out more. for a clean up crew i have about 10 crabs 1 being blue legged and 4-5 snails not sure what kind, i brought them home from my trip to Jamaica :mrgreen: I do plan on getting some chaeto going soon to help.

thanks

cut your lights down to 8 hours a day, i had this problem when my tank was "new" cut the lights down and the algae went away in a week or 2 is your tank near a window? i find that natural sunlight likes to cause algae problems aswell

Read up and including my thread on algaefix. I'm experimenting with it as we speak with positive results

i would also go to a dry skim , clean your skimmer cup once a week or if your skimmers a champ like mine maybe every few days lol

if your cup has to be emptied twice a day then its not doing its job and your losing that much saltwater as well.

whats in your reactor and how much??

ps ....get yourself aa sand sifting fish or snail etc .

Im using phoslock in the reactor. I put in 3 table spoons which is what it recommends for my size tank

I adjusted it to dry skim again. I just put it to wet skim just in case my test kit was giving me the wrong readings and i had too many nutrients in my system.

never heard of it really....what is it some sort of gfo or something else??

ps.....sand sifffffffterrrr lol :P

haha ya its gfo. It was actually given to me by someone leaving the hobby although i have seen it at lfs.

ill get a sifter this weekend lol

I just got a conch a few weeks ago and he is doing a great job at cleaning my sand up.
I also have Remora skimmer and i had a terrible time with it skimming at first. It was skimming so much I was having to dump it very few hours no matter what I did so the manufacturer had to send me a valve to slow the pump down enough so I could adjust it properly. Now it works great. If you are having trouble with it over skimming and can't get it to skim properly I would suggest giving them a call.

Leanne

[quote=reefwars;756172]ps ....get yourself aa sand sifting fish or snail etc .[/QUOTE

Sorry but I have to disagree on the sand sifting starfish. This tank is 6 months old and will slowly statve to death in this 35G tank.

no not starfish but a sand sifting fish....alot of them eat prepared foods.

I was thinking a diamong goby or some snails

oops. my bad. must have been speed reading. sorry dude

haha no worries i do it all the time :)

cheers

Trying a new product to me. Lfs just got it in. Product is from Red Sea it's no3 po4 reducer supposedly prevents algae and enables control of zooanthellae for coral growth and color.... We will see lol


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

Fixed it!! I lowered light photoperiod to 8 hours and also dimmed my white LED to about 80%

I noticed a huge difference within the first couple days and now its all gone :biggrin:

Thanks everyone for your help

Yay, another success story!

Enjoy the tank.

Told you 8 hours a day will fix it :)