Help! Black algea

[vince0]

I have 2 clown fish, 2 firefish, 1 shrimp goby, 1 pistol shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, a few blue legged hermit crabs.

I've been using RO water the whole entire time I've had this tank for top ups as well as mixing replacement salt water. I don't feed a lot of frozen, but I do feed freshly hatched BBS.

[vince0]

I've been thinking about growing macro algea, but I haven't really looked to hard for it TBH. Is it better to grow in a refugium rather than in the tank itself? Do in-tank refugium work? I've seen hang on tank and as well as in-tank refugiums, would you recomend one over the other?

The last question was in regards to flow. Should I keep the circulation pumps aimed upwards for air exchange or is there a better way of doing it?

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by vince0

I have 2 clown fish, 2 firefish, 1 shrimp goby, 1 pistol shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, a few blue legged hermit crabs.

I've been using RO water the whole entire time I've had this tank for top ups as well as mixing replacement salt water. I don't feed a lot of frozen, but I do feed freshly hatched BBS.

are you testing for phosphates if so what test kit brand??
any other algae in the tank? film algae much?
like naesco was getting at how old is the tank?



basically there could be one cause there could be several best thing to do to get an idea of where it comes from is to post your complete water parameters and everything you test for.feeding schedules and what food.tank size,age,inhabitants and equipmentetc.

its hard for another reef to give you a solid answer on whats the cause of algae unless you post the smallest little details, sometimes you may miss or overlook something that someone else will pick up on

cheers


****edit****

not saying you never posted any info like size and equipment just need more info

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Test for phosphates, and aim your powerheads downward.

Cyano is usually lack of water mvement.

[vince0]

I have only been testing for the basic three; ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. I will bring some water to the LFS today and get them to test it. Maybe they can come up with something. I also readjusted my skimmer and it seems to be working better...

I will also leave the lights off for the next couple of days, as I know cyano needs light to thrive and depriving it of light will dispose of it.

[vince0]

Red Coral Calgary tested my water today and found phosphates at 0.25 and my nitrates at 7 - 10. I ended up getting some macro algea to put in there just in case. Will update later.