algae in the tank

[mallorieGgator]

Hey everyone,
I run GFO and matrix carbon and also have a fuge with macro. I pluck out about a nickle size ball of filamented algae every week. I also have some cyano on my rocks that grows back daily (I blow it off with a turkey baster). Is this normal until my corals fully encrust the rocks? I am scraping my glass about every 3 days. My phosphates read 0 with a salifert test as well as my nitrates. I noticed I do get some detritus build up in the rocks and that is where the algae is growing. I have good flow for my SPS (3 powerheads in a 55- one hydor 1050, 1 550, and a sicce that does 1000 something gallons per hour but it is turned down) Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Netta Fish]

blowing the cyano off the rock will only spread it around the tank. increase the flow in the area where the cyano is growing and always do a water change when scraping algae otherwise you are just releasing spores into the tank which my grow on other rocks.

 

[mallorieGgator]

ahh, good advice. I thought I might be spreading the cyano since it only started in one little place. It's difficult to have really good flow down low in my tank since the fine sand gets blown around easily. There are a few places in my tank with good flow that still have cyano.

 

[Saltgator]

Fine sand was the reason I couldn't blow my cyano around either. My cyano was bothering me so bad I siphoned the sand, but it always returned. I finally gave up and it has all disappeared. I even tried he 3 days of no light with no success. It's all gone now after I gave up and let it be. I believe most clean the glass around 1 to 2 times per week. More algae on your glass can be a product of old bulbs. If your having a hair algae issue, try manual removal and possibly some Turbo snails and red leg hermits. PO4 will show 0 with all the phosphate being taken up by the algae. My spelling might be off, trying a new keyboard on my Evo.

 

[mallorieGgator]

Thanks!

 

[mallorieGgator]

Can older lights cause Cyano? I believe I do need to change my bulbs. It's been over 7 mos and I run them about 8.5 hours a day.

 

[Saltgator]

Older lights can cause algae to increase and/or "break out". What lights do you have?

 

[mallorieGgator]

I have 2 ATI Blue +, 1 KZ New Gen, and 1 KZ Fiji Purple. I have noticed a huge increase in glass algae. I'm eating my words now bc I scraped the glass yesterday and had to do it again today. However, I think I have another theory as to what is causing this...my windows. I leave the blinds opened across the room for the cats to look out and one of the blinds open for an orchid terrarium I have. I think that could be contributing to my cyanobacteria. However, I don't doubt I need to change my bulbs too because I just cleaned the overflow (which only gets light from the bulbs) and I got a baseball size wad of HA.

 

[Hyprviperx]

probably my problem as well, ive had almost the identical situation as mallorie. ive rum my bulbs about 5 months but they were stock lights out of the box... ill be moving up to the ATI's as soon as i can afford them.

 

[Saltgator]

I agree with the direct sunlight from your windows. I have a 29 bio cube in my wet room just growing feather calupera and xenia, yet the window next to it allows a thin line of sunlight in. This area breeds glass algae like you wouldn't believe. Cyano is a bateria that some believe is natures way of putting things back in place in the ocean glass boxes we have. HA is usually cause by high nutrient levels either by over feeding or by uneaten food collecting in no-flow areas. Pods will assist with the uneaten food. I would spend each day pulling HA out in my system until it was almost gone. I tried several methods with no sucess (foxface, tangs, gobies, turbos). Only pulling it out by hand worked. I even ended up pulling each rock by hand out and scrubing it with a tooth brush. After a scrub, I rinsed the rock in a seperate container of saltwater. I found that HA was like bubble algae. If not completely removed, the HA would either spawn or seperate strands that I allowed to drift away would produce a new problem area.Now my 125 is HA free.