Bad algae on macro

[Perthegallon]

Hello guys I have the bad algae growing on my macro how do I stop this from happening?

 

[Mikedawg]

Snails like cerith and margarita, then adjust water parameters to minimize growth of algae

 

[SMSREEF]

What kind of bad algae? Do you have pics?

If it’s the kind snails like, they will eat it.
Also you need the right elements for macro algae. I use chaetogrow (less than label says because I don’t test for these elements) and do large water changes.
Also I target nitrate and phosphate at 5-10 and 0.05-0.1.

 

[Perthegallon]

Snails like cerith and margarita, then adjust water parameters to minimize growth of algae

wont the snails eat the macro alage

 

[Perthegallon]

What kind of bad algae? Do you have pics?

If it’s the kind snails like, they will eat it.
Also you need the right elements for macro algae. I use chaetogrow (less than label says because I don’t test for these elements) and do large water changes.
Also I target nitrate and phosphate at 5-10 and 0.05-0.1.

no sorry it got so bad it was making my fuge really gross so I'm restarting it today for the 3 times it was very slimy and grew on the macroalgae no matter how many times I tried to turn it a day

 

[justarex]

I stopped worrying about this a long time ago. I have a lot of Chaeto and trim it monthly. I get algae that'll grow in my fuge but honestly that's what its for. I'd rather had algae in my fuge than my tank. When I trim it back monthly I remove the algae as well.

 

[SMSREEF]

no sorry it got so bad it was making my fuge really gross so I'm restarting it today for the 3 times it was very slimy and grew on the macroalgae no matter how many times I tried to turn it a day

So, this is all guessing on my part, but you may have a nutrient issue.
Could you post your nitrate and phosphate level? Only a guess that one or both may be too low, causing another kind of algae to thrive.

I have a lot of snails (trochus, cerith, astrea, margarita) and they all clean my macros rather than eat them.

 

[Perthegallon]

I stopped worrying about this a long time ago. I have a lot of Chaeto and trim it monthly. I get algae that'll grow in my fuge but honestly that's what its for. I'd rather had algae in my fuge than my tank. When I trim it back monthly I remove the algae as well.

The problem was it covered the algae and killed it

 

[Perthegallon]

So, this is all guessing on my part, but you may have a nutrient issue.
Could you post your nitrate and phosphate level? Only a guess that one or both may be too low, causing another kind of algae to thrive.

I have a lot of snails (trochus, cerith, astrea, margarita) and they all clean my macros rather than eat them.

I’ll test right now I’m thinking it may be to high

 

[AKReef]

The problem was it covered the algae and killed it

I had this problem recently too. I just pulled out all of it and cleaned the fuge. Going to see what happens without anything in there for a couple of months. I suspect that my fuge was just one big detritus trap and was doing more harm than good.

 

[Perthegallon]

I had this problem recently too. I just pulled out all of it and cleaned the fuge. Going to see what happens without anything in there for a couple of months. I suspect that my fuge was just one big detritus trap and was doing more harm than good.

Yeah I don’t know what I’m doing wrong I’m turning it daily giving it good light and everything

 

[justarex]

The problem was it covered the algae and killed it

Wow, I've never had that issue. I've only ever lost my chaeto once due to it dying and I found out it was from my wife spraying that room with febreeze. She's no longer allowed around the tank

 

[Perthegallon]

Wow, I've never had that issue. I've only ever lost my chaeto once due to it dying and I found out it was from my wife spraying that room with febreeze. She's no longer allowed around the tank

Yeah I’ve had it happen twice so I assume it’s me doing something wrong

 

[justarex]

Yeah I’ve had it happen twice so I assume it’s me doing something wrong

Can be a few things. I feed heavy so I never starve the chaeto. I wouldn't lean on it being the algae as I've seen many tanks that have it and it doesn't starve out the chaeto, mine included. Could just be you don't have the sufficient nutrients for the chaeto. What type of light are you using? I've had the most success with a simple plant grow bulb from amazon, $12 blue and red led bulb. Works like a charm.

 

[Perthegallon]

Can be a few things. I feed heavy so I never starve the chaeto. I wouldn't lean on it being the algae as I've seen many tanks that have it and it doesn't starve out the chaeto, mine included. Could just be you don't have the sufficient nutrients for the chaeto. What type of light are you using? I've had the most success with a simple plant grow bulb from amazon, $12 blue and red led bulb. Works like a charm.

The kessil 360 fuge light I run it at 50 par for the Chaeto. I keep it about 12 inches above give or take. I feed my tank heavy and my corals so I don’t think phosphate or nitrate is a issue as never are below 0.02 on my Hanna. I even make sure to turn it multiple times a day.

I’m getting new pice today so I’m going to watch it closely and do some test when I get home

 

[Perthegallon]

I run it about 8 hours at night also

 

[justarex]

I run it about 8 hours at night also

Gotcha. I run my fuge 20 hours a day. Works great for me.