Algae Problem

11f150 · Mar 22, 2012

The past week I have been getting a lot of algae growing on my sand and live rock. The algae on the rocks actually has air bubbles trapped in it (not bubble algae). Its really starting to look bad and I plan on getting some sort of small brush to clean my rocks with and get it out. I cut back my lighting from 12 hrs to 9 hrs starting today to see if that will help. I also am cutting back to feeding my fish 1 time a day to cut back on nutrients for algae. I read somewhere corals only need a little over 6 hrs a day so possibly I could cut back more, someone correct me if Im wrong on that. Can anyone give me some tips on what else I can do to clear up my tank.

Thanks Matt

poolkeeper1 · Mar 22, 2012

11f150 said:
The past week I have been getting a lot of algae growing on my sand and live rock. The algae on the rocks actually has air bubbles trapped in it (not bubble algae). Its really starting to look bad and I plan on getting some sort of small brush to clean my rocks with and get it out. I cut back my lighting from 12 hrs to 9 hrs starting today to see if that will help. I also am cutting back to feeding my fish 1 time a day to cut back on nutrients for algae. I read somewhere corals only need a little over 6 hrs a day so possibly I could cut back more, someone correct me if Im wrong on that. Can anyone give me some tips on what else I can do to clear up my tank.

Thanks Matt

That's a good start Matt, 12hrs IME is possibly the reason along with over feeding for your outbreak, Also blowing off the Rocks can help in washing away uneaten food too.
Bill

Dowtish · Mar 22, 2012

I agree with Bill, all those things will help for sure. If you dont have one already, go out and buy a turkey baster for your tank. It's an amazing tool for keeping things from building up in those hard to reach spaces, and your corals will like it too. Being that your tank is small, you might want to really consider those weekly water changes we were talking about. That will help keep your nutrients down as well.

11f150 · Mar 22, 2012

Dowtish said:
I agree with Bill, all those things will help for sure. If you dont have one already, go out and buy a turkey baster for your tank. It's an amazing tool for keeping things from building up in those hard to reach spaces, and your corals will like it too. Being that your tank is small, you might want to really consider those weekly water changes we were talking about. That will help keep your nutrients down as well.

Yeah you are probably right, Ill start doing 5 gallons a week. Thanks

islander84 · Mar 22, 2012

If the "algae" on your rocks and sand with the bubbles is easily blown off with a little force of water ( turkey baster, powerhead, flicking fingers) its probably more than likely cyano.....its pretty common to have a cyano outbreak in a reef tank as it is "cycling".

Cyano is the oldest or one of the oldest bacterias in the world and exist in almost every reef tank. It is just kept in check by keeping a low nutrient system, good flow, and good lighting......If your getting low readings on test kits PO4 and NO3 its probably because the cyano is absorbing those nutrients.....HTH

islander84 · Mar 22, 2012

I had a cyano bloom during the early stages of my tank and what i did to rid the stuff was dosed MB7, It is a bacteria that feeds on the same nutrients as the nuisance algae/bacteria.

gmoney243 · Mar 22, 2012

If its a slime like algae substance with bubbles underneath it could be dinos as I recall that's what they look like. As I recall at least.

Almost forgot if it is cyano or other algae types an algae turf scrubber is another option to rid of algae and keep it away

bknapp · Mar 25, 2012

They seem to me like they're dinos. And with dinos water changes help feed them, some people have had success with dosing hydrogen peroxide (at a ratio of 1ml of H2O2 per 10 gallons) here is a link to the thread I have read through... hope this helps.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...gellates-my-experience-h2o2-reefing-tool.html