New tank algae....what to expect
 

Hey all, me again :smile:

I'm at the end of week 6, seen the brown algae come and go, now onto the hair algae. Any idea how long this should last and what to expect next if anything?? My clean up crew seems to be keeping up but its UGLY......

Is there a place that I can see pics of different algae so I can identify as it comes and keep on top.

Thanks once again

Marnie, it will cycle thru the available nutrients as they come and go. No way to tell a time frame. Shouldn't be too long though. Make sure you stick to a decent water change schedule using RO water, feed sparingly, and let the crew do their thing. Do you have any turbo snails? They eat lots.
Also, keep your skimmer clean.

Try adding a bag of <phosphate resin to your sump & an urchin to your clean-up crew.

I am going to recomend against the urchin, unless you have a place for him to go when you get mad at him knocking rocks, corals, ect over in his wandering.

Steve

I was told the same thing when I got one for the first time but honestly It really hasn't been that much of an issue, & the quality of clean up has been worth any mischief made.

Hey Brad, what is your definition of a decent water change schedule. I am a little anal on the water changes and because I am so used to having overstocked freshwater tanks (Angelfish hatchery) and having to do so many water changes I'd be interested to hear what you and others regularly do.

I'm keeping my WC pretty frequent in hopes of keeping the algae at bay. I'm hoping Santa is bringing me a RO/DI unit for Xmas for now I am using my drinking water filter (better than nothing I suppose)

Look forward to hearing all your WC schedules. :smile:

On average, I change 20-25 gallons every 2 weeks in 155g tank. Although, I think if you did half that frequency, that would still be sufficient. Keep in mind that the initial algae blooms are normal and will pass. Too many water changes with non RO water might even fuel it further.
I guess a good rule of thumb might be 10-15% every 3 or 4 weeks. The range of opinions you'll get though, will confuse you even further!! :razz: