Algae Outbreak control assistance required

[nightmarepl]

hello fellow reefers, ive been battling small green fuzzy algae for weeks now couldnt find out what the source of this was, i tried lowing phosphates from 1.0 to .5 was basically impossible did 60% water changes weekly water was tested and all finally reduced my light by 50% ofcourse in a few day cycle to avoid shock,
and its finally dying off and the brown growing on the glass has lowered from daily cleaning to 3-4 day cleaning thank baby jesus.

i currently have some a good amount of it in between my rocks, corals, plugs basically all over ive brushed out all i really could with my scrubber, noticed my hermits cleaning it decently whats the best way to clean it out completely

10gallon tank cleaning crew = 4 hermits 5 snails 1 emerald crab

 

[TheEngineer]

0.5ppm phosphates is quite high, 1.0 is extremely high. That's probably the issue. What are your nitrates?

 

[nightmarepl]

0.5ppm phosphates is quite high, 1.0 is extremely high. That's probably the issue. What are your nitrates?

nitrates are literally zero ive tried killing the phosphates out nothing seems to work i just ordered an RODI maker to hopefully help this i was currently buying my water from the Local fish store ive tested teh water multiply times with salt and read around .3 to .5 ppm was told that is safe?

 

[TheEngineer]

Safe, for sure. There is zero risk to your tank inhabitants from the phosphates. Excess nutrients are what fuel cyano and algae outbreaks. Typically when you see zero nitrates and high phosphates you get cyanobacteria. The cyano is able to fix nitrogen directly from the air unlike algae. Water changes and reduced feeding are the easiest control methods for phosphates. If that doesn't work, you can try GFO.

How many and what kind of fish are in the tank?

 

[khushtram]

How many gallons is your display ? I would recommend a slightly bigger clean up crew and a small tang until it outgrows your system. This is what worked for me. Algae outbreaks are inevitable, it’s just nature taking its own course. All of these awesome systems you see online battle with algae blooms often. Dont kill yourself trying to chase numbers. You’ll end up chasing your own tail for a while trying to get a “balanced” system. Observe your fish and corals when they look happy you are doing something right, when they seem upset it’s because you started something new or forgot to do something that you have already been doing ( feeding ,water change etc.)

 

[nightmarepl]

Safe, for sure. There is zero risk to your tank inhabitants from the phosphates. Excess nutrients are what fuel cyano and algae outbreaks. Typically when you see zero nitrates and high phosphates you get cyanobacteria. The cyano is able to fix nitrogen directly from the air unlike algae. Water changes and reduced feeding are the easiest control methods for phosphates. If that doesn't work, you can try GFO.

How many and what kind of fish are in the tank?

tank is currently 10 gallons 2 clowns, scooter benny , watchman goby had these guys in here for 7 months all together with no algae issues till about a month ago

 

[khushtram]

tank is currently 10 gallons 2 clowns, scooter benny , watchman goby had these guys in here for 7 months all together with no algae issues till about a month ago

What’s your water source ?

 

[TheEngineer]

a small tang until it outgrows your system

Please don't do that. You need to solve the issue, not bandaid it.

tank is currently 10 gallons 2 clowns, scooter benny , watchman goby had these guys in here for 7 months all together with no algae issues till about a month ago

OK, you're well stocked but not overstocked. This seems like an export issue. Do you have a sump? Are you running a skimmer? How often do you do water changes and how much?

What’s your water source ?

Would like to know this too.

 

[khushtram]

Omg I skimmed right through the “10gallon” part I’m sorry.tang is way out of the picture lol. Go with a lawnmower blenny

 

[nightmarepl]

Omg I skimmed right through the “10gallon” part I’m sorry.tang is way out of the picture lol. Go with a lawnmower blenny

you guys think if i had an lawnmower benny to the system itll be too many fish? 2 clowns 1 watchman goby and 1 scooter benny its 10gallons i was considering adding a 2 gallon refugium and thinking of a lawmower benny but i dunno if thats safe

 

[TheEngineer]

I would shy away from adding fish at this point. The reason you are seeing algae is that you are not exporting nutrients as fast as you are importing them. Adding another fish will only add to the problem.

Export is achieved through bacteria, water changes, protein skimming, and algae. Do you have a protein skimmer? Since you don't have a fuge, I'm guessing no. A well lit fuge with chaeto or ulva will go a long way in reducing your nutrients.

 

[nightmarepl]

I would shy away from adding fish at this point. The reason you are seeing algae is that you are not exporting nutrients as fast as you are importing them. Adding another fish will only add to the problem.

Export is achieved through bacteria, water changes, protein skimming, and algae. Do you have a protein skimmer? Since you don't have a fuge, I'm guessing no. A well lit fuge with chaeto or ulva will go a long way in reducing your nutrients.

have a protein skimmer just isnt in use was told by fellow reefers that a protein skimmer on a 10 gallon is useless not sure if its true but havent tried it yet was going to install my fugium and install the skimmer inside the fuge only problem is the fuge will take up alot of space in the fuge cant find a tiny grow like thatll work well on the fuge

 

[TheEngineer]

have a protein skimmer just isnt in use was told by fellow reefers that a protein skimmer on a 10 gallon is useless not sure if its true but havent tried it yet was going to install my fugium and install the skimmer inside the fuge only problem is the fuge will take up alot of space in the fuge cant find a tiny grow like thatll work well on the fuge

There are hang on skimmers, but since you already have one you probably would rather not spend the money for another. You can certainly be successful growing macro algae to reduce nutrients. It will be a slower process though. Just make sure you get a nice grow light so it can outcompete the stuff in your DT

 

[nightmarepl]

There are hang on skimmers, but since you already have one you probably would rather not spend the money for another. You can certainly be successful growing macro algae to reduce nutrients. It will be a slower process though. Just make sure you get a nice grow light so it can outcompete the stuff in your DT

hmm its a good idea going to look for a small compact grow light