Algae Only Growing on Back Glass

melanotaenia · Oct 7, 2020

You don't mention the lighting on your aquarium; do you have LED/MH/T5? Is it possible to lower intensity on lighting to see if that makes a difference?

High input and high output of nutrients is best, so that the corals can get what they need, but can be removed quick enough that algae does not take over. It does not sound like feeding is an issue given the amount you are giving.

Jmunk · Oct 7, 2020

Super Fly said:
can u confirm the PO4 level (1.00) is correct and not a typo (0.10)? Is the sunlight hitting the rear glass? Also, r u cleaning the rear glass when cleaning the other sides?

Yep, it's around 1, NOT .1. It can vary between .50-1, but either way it's high. Like I said earlier in the post (this is from a while ago so I don't blame you for reading) light does hit the tank. There's a window next to it. It certainly doesn't hit it all day and most of the time, the shades are down so I'm not sure how much it's contributing.

Jmunk · Oct 7, 2020

melanotaenia said:
You don't mention the lighting on your aquarium; do you have LED/MH/T5? Is it possible to lower intensity on lighting to see if that makes a difference?

High input and high output of nutrients is best, so that the corals can get what they need, but can be removed quick enough that algae does not take over. It does not sound like feeding is an issue given the amount you are giving.

I have the aquatic life T5/LED hybrid with two kessils. 4 T5 bulbs and the highest the two kessils goes to at mid-day for about 5 hours is 50%.

melanotaenia · Oct 7, 2020

I assume you cannot dim the T5 bulbs, so would suggest perhaps reducing intensity on LED and see if that makes any difference (but do slowly so as to not cause issues with corals, and of course stop if you see anything untoward in the tank with respect to how the corals respond to reduced lighting).

Jmunk · Oct 7, 2020

I can try dimming the lights.

I might make a new post for this, but I also wonder if it has to do with my nitrates and phosphate ratio. I have exactly 0 nitrates now, and I wonder if that could be a problem.

TriggerFinger · Oct 7, 2020

Do you use rodi water @Jmunk?

JumboShrimp · Oct 7, 2020

If you want to try a $17 experiment, I bought a roll of black-out window film that clings to your window with a little spray of water. You cut it to size. It’s on Amazon. Sunlight will definitely cause algae; try the blockout film for a month and if you don’t like it, just pull it off. Best wishes.

Jmunk · Oct 7, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
Do you use rodi water @Jmunk?

Sure do. Never goes above 1 PPM, usually 0.

Super Fly · Oct 8, 2020

Jmunk said:
Yep, it's around 1, NOT .1. It can vary between .50-1, but either way it's high. Like I said earlier in the post (this is from a while ago so I don't blame you for reading) light does hit the tank. There's a window next to it. It certainly doesn't hit it all day and most of the time, the shades are down so I'm not sure how much it's contributing.

First, I would definitely try @JumboShrimp 's suggestion and try to block/filter out the sunlight while reducing feeding. Second, I know u mentioned not fond of GFO reactor but IMO adding one would be the fastest & easiest way to control PO4. Was it the GFO itself or the reactor that u don't like? In my tank I use Rowaphos instead of GFO on a needed basis to maintain PO4 at 0.10 which turns out to be just several times a year.

Jmunk · Oct 8, 2020

Super Fly said:
First, I would definitely try @JumboShrimp 's suggestion and try to block/filter out the sunlight while reducing feeding. Second, I know u mentioned not fond of GFO reactor but IMO adding one would be the fastest & easiest way to control PO4. Was it the GFO itself or the reactor that u don't like? In my tank I use Rowaphos instead of GFO on a needed basis to maintain PO4 at 0.10 which turns out to be just several times a year.

Thing is - the window is towards the front right of the tank. So unless I'm being dumb, I'm not sure how a blacked out film would do much of anything, right?

JumboShrimp · Oct 8, 2020

Take a photo of the tank for us when the sun is hitting it at its strongest part of the day.

Jmunk · Oct 9, 2020

JumboShrimp said:
Take a photo of the tank for us when the sun is hitting it at its strongest part of the day.

I can do that, but I actually l looked today, there really is not much light getting to the tank at all. I have blackout shades that cover pretty much the entire window. Some light seeps through of course, but not much.

JumboShrimp · Oct 10, 2020

Each circumstance is different, but I have found that when it comes to actual sunlight, you would be surprised how little it takes to cause algae if it's constant for and hour or two each day. Just a thought.

Jmunk · Oct 10, 2020

JumboShrimp said:
Each circumstance is different, but I have found that when it comes to actual sunlight, you would be surprised how little it takes to cause algae if it's constant for and hour or two each day. Just a thought.

Think so? But do you think with my situation, with a window at the front of the tank, that a blacked out film would even have any effect on the sunlight coming in at all?

JumboShrimp · Oct 10, 2020

Can you take a photo or two... the window relative to the tank?

rapid · Nov 23, 2020

Jmunk said:
Anyone have anymore thoughts on this? I did add some snails and while they helped for a couple weeks, I think they're a bit more content now and the algae is growing again.

What's just fascinating to me is that my left side glass is completely covered in coralline algae and almost no green film algae at all. It's all concentrated on the back glass and a bit on the right side. What could possibly be causing such a focused effect?

i got something for you to try out !

go get your self a bottle of vibrant it does wonders for keeping my glass clean from film algae and other stuff.

I had to clean my glass at least 3 times a week !! now i barley touch my glass maybe i now clean glass 1 time every two weeks ! i haven't seen it have much effect yet on the algae on the rocks but I've only been dosing it for about a month

start dosing this vibrant and clean your glass after two weeks of dosing and i bet youll notice a huge difference bet it dont come back ! i was skeptical about this product but i have seen no ill effects and only seen positive out come so far ! https://www.uwcmn.com/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner