Algae on glass confusion.... Suggestions?

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

Okay so I am utterly confused here and hoping someone can help me out. I recently updated my old Red Sea Max 250 to a Red Sea Max 450. (2 1/2 weeks ago) I decided to go with an Aquatic Life 48 inch T/5 Hybrid fixture. I am currently running 3 B+ with 1 P+ along with 3 hydra 26. Still not 100% happy with the visual spectrum but light and par distribution are insanely good.

So my issue here is, I am getting an insane amount of algae on the glass everyday. Like a week or two worth on my old tank (2 AI Primes).

So with NO3 PO4 being in a really good spot, what could be causing this? No visual algae on the rocks or sand, only glass. Light intensity? New Tank Syndrome?

All corals, Fish, Inverts are happy, colorful, and have good PE

Running small refugium, Rowa Phos, and Bio Pellets
Salinity - 1.026
NO3 - 2-5 (NYOS)
PO4 - .024 (Hanna)
ALK - 8.6 (Hanna)
Calcium - 440 ( Red Sea)
Magnesium - 1350 (Red Sea)

sfin52 · May 28, 2019

did you start with new rock and sand? Or switch everything over. It may be new tank issues

ca1ore · May 28, 2019

Maybe more light is hitting the glass than before.

Fiesty · May 28, 2019

Lack of UV sterilizer? Lol. It would seriously cut down on tank scubbing but not the cause. Im guessing if u used your old sand for move then stirred up nutrients and should go away soon. If not then probably better lights and a light cycling of the tank? And should settle soon as well.

Fiesty · May 28, 2019

And post some pics of the new tank so we can all see it please!

mfinn · May 28, 2019

I just re-started my tank a few weeks ago.
I only have ( cycled )rock and corals in it.
Fish are in a quarantine tank.
About 1-1/2-2 weeks into it and I noticed that the algae build up was pretty crazy and fast.
I could clean it off one day and by the next afternoon it would be covered again. Actually hard to see in the tank.
So last Thursday I get a large order of pods in and some phytoplankton.
Added the pods and did one dose of the phyto and the next day there was almost zero algae build up on the front glass.
So I've been dosing phyto and between that and the new pods, zero algae issues on the glass.

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

sfin52 said:
did you start with new rock and sand? Or switch everything over. It may be new tank issues

About 55 lb of old rock and 40 lbs of reef saver dry rock. All new sand (Carib sea reef sand)

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

ca1ore said:
Maybe more light is hitting the glass than before.

100% more light hitting the glass. Went from 2 AI primes to 4 T5s and three hydra 26

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

Fiesty said:
And post some pics of the new tank so we can all see it please!

Taken right now from my couch

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

If you are wondering why so much on the sand, par level is awesome but way higher than before. Have it set to acclimation mode but figured I would start everything low and work it’s way up

Mastiffsrule · May 28, 2019

My guess is light change. Sounds like par and spectrum changed. Maybe turn them down a bit if they seem brighter than the primes. Keep up a good cleaning and hopefully will eventually lighten the algae amount

That is just a thought.

MnFish1 · May 28, 2019

ArmyReefer said:
If you are wondering why so much on the sand, par level is awesome but way higher than before. Have it set to acclimation mode but figured I would start everything low and work it’s way up

\The light reflects from the glass inside as well. Its also possible your PAR measurements are incorrect - using the amount of blue you seem to be using. Lastly - its only normal if you are using a lot more light - you will at least for a while have a lot more algae - as the coral adjust (and perhaps use less nutrients and more light) and the algae use more nutrients and light. its always a balance. My guess is your corals are using less.

ArmyReefer · May 28, 2019

Fiesty said:
Lack of UV sterilizer? Lol. It would seriously cut down on tank scubbing but not the cause. Im guessing if u used your old sand for move then stirred up nutrients and should go away soon. If not then probably better lights and a light cycling of the tank? And should settle soon as well.

So I hard plumbed in a GFO and Bio Pellet reactor. I was so so so close to adding a third for future use, but did not. If I did I would have added the UV sterilizer already.