Algae in tank

PinkstonC · Apr 2, 2015

I'm new to this and wasn't sure where to post so if I'm going about this the wrong way I apologize. I have a green algae growing in my tank now and I'm not sure how to get rid of it or if it's god or bad or what. I just recently started using lights and have a strong feeling that is why this is occurring. I started with a light a friend of mine gave me from his freshwater tank and when I realized that was not what I needed I upgraded to 2 EcoRay lights. I have a 55 gallon long with mostly sand sifters and a few coral wanting to do more. Any tips on lights? Mostly wanting to eliminate this algae and keep it from ever coming back again! Thanks in advance.
-Conrad Pinkston

dustinw · Apr 2, 2015

What % are you running your lights. When I got new lights I was running them on about 75% with the whites and had a alge bloom I turned them down to about 50% whites and my alge bloom went down.

glb · Apr 2, 2015

dustinw said:
What % are you running your lights. When I got new lights I was running them on about 75% with the whites and had a alge bloom I turned them down to about 50% whites and my alge bloom went down.

Agreed. When I got my leds I had to dim them quite a bit because of an algae outbreak. Now I run them at 40% blue and 15% white. Also, check the tank's nitrates and phosphates. They can cause algae too.

Ole Man · Apr 2, 2015

True high phosphates and high lights especially LED lights will cause this and don't forget the time of high light(length of time your peak whites are on)will contribute to this try cutting back about 5% on the whites and go up on your Blues,I run 40% white and 100% Blues for about 3 hrs. for my peak time and keep my phosphates at .03 max. works for me on my 120 gal. mixed reef but remember everyones tank is different,jmo...

PinkstonC · Apr 2, 2015

Im running my white on 25% and blue 100% . blues for 12 hours and whites around 10 right now

glb · Apr 2, 2015

PinkstonC said:
Im running my white on 25% and blue 100% . blues for 12 hours and whites around 10 right now

I'd cut down the number of hours you have them on. I keep my blues on for 8 hours and my whites at only 4. I don't have SPS so I could do this to cut down on the algae.