Coral vs Algae

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

Anyone have any tips on getting coral to outcompete algae for nutrients. My corals are hungry, but nutrients available for algae growth??

1979fishgeek · Jul 13, 2018

Do you mean coralline algae or nuisance algae?

My systems running with undetectable Nitrates and Phosphates and without algae grazing fish I’m having the same issue. When I dose or add extra food to increase nutrients the algae is faster at utilising it.

I’ve got Tangs in QT once in the main tank they should resolve the issue by grazing the nuisance algae....well that’s the plan! Lol

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

Yes yellow and blue tang both and don’t really mess with it

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

1979fishgeek said:
Do you mean coralline algae or nuisance algae?

My systems running with undetectable Nitrates and Phosphates and without algae grazing fish I’m having the same issue. When I dose or add extra food to increase nutrients the algae is faster at utilising it.

I’ve got Tangs in QT once in the main tank they should resolve the issue by grazing the nuisance algae....well that’s the plan! Lol

Nuisance

ZachH455 · Jul 13, 2018

My tank has been up for 3 years and really all that works is frequent manual removal mixed with nutrient control. For hair algae I just pull it up, turf algae I scrub the rocks in tank with a toothbrush, bubble algae I scrape it off without popping it and suck it up with a turkey baster. Anything else just use a turkey baster to blast it off. The more you remove, the easier it will be down the road to maintain.

Side note since you have tangs:
Do you feed nori? I find that if I'm feeding Nori every day I have a bunch of cyano that pops up. Easy to get rid of, but blasting it off the rocks once a week can be annoying.

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

ZachH455 said:
My tank has been up for 3 years and really all that works is frequent manual removal mixed with nutrient control. For hair algae I just pull it up, turf algae I scrub the rocks in tank with a toothbrush, bubble algae I scrape it off without popping it and suck it up with a turkey baster. Anything else just use a turkey baster to blast it off. The more you remove, the easier it will be down the road to maintain.

Side note since you have tangs:
Do you feed nori? I find that if I'm feeding Nori every day I have a bunch of cyano that pops up. Easy to get rid of, but blasting it off the rocks once a week can be annoying.

I only am feeding nori twice a week and feed frozen on other days. I’m trying to lay off the feeding a little to see if these tangs will do some work. I feel like they are content as far as food goes so they don’t help me! I have just small spots of hair algae but very happy corals. I have been keeping up with manual removal but hate putting hands in tank.

ZachH455 · Jul 13, 2018

I have the same problem, but to be honest it happens in even the healthiest of tanks. Algal growth isn't anything to be concerned about as long as it is not completely taking over your tank. As long as it isn't an outbreak I wouldn't worry too much. Completely agree with keeping hands out of the tank as much as possible. I only remove when I do a w/c (weekly).

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

ZachH455 said:
I have the same problem, but to be honest it happens in even the healthiest of tanks. Algal growth isn't anything to be concerned about as long as it is not completely taking over your tank. As long as it isn't an outbreak I wouldn't worry too much. Completely agree with keeping hands out of the tank as much as possible. I only remove when I do a w/c (weekly).

Same exact methodology I use. Failed to mention tank is 3 months new and started with dry everything so ugly stage is also front of mind.

lapin · Jul 13, 2018

Travis Stewart said:
Anyone have any tips on getting coral to outcompete algae for nutrients. My corals are hungry, but nutrients available for algae growth??

Your corals are not going to out compete fast growing algae in the DT for nutrients, unless you have a lot of them, and I mean a lot.

Travis Stewart said:
Same exact methodology I use. Failed to mention tank is 3 months new and started with dry everything so ugly stage is also front of mind.

You have a new tank. Stuff is going to grow. You might like it or might not. Stop feeding the tank is not a good answer. If you dont like the algae in the DT you have some options to get rid of it faster than if you just let it be, since it will prob go away with time. First "manual removal". Second-macro algae in a fuge or in the DT. Third- algae turf scrubber. Fourth - critters like as what goes on in the ocean. As a last resort you can add some chemical junk and kill off some stuff and hope something worse dose not start growing. These are my opinions and your results may vary.

Travis Stewart · Jul 13, 2018

lapin said:
Your corals are not going to out compete fast growing algae in the DT for nutrients, unless you have a lot of them, and I mean a lot.

You have a new tank. Stuff is going to grow. You might like it or might not. Stop feeding the tank is not a good answer. If you dont like the algae in the DT you have some options to get rid of it faster than if you just let it be, since it will prob go away with time. First "manual removal". Second-macro algae in a fuge or in the DT. Third- algae turf scrubber. Fourth - critters like as what goes on in the ocean. As a last resort you can add some chemical junk and kill off some stuff and hope something worse dose not start growing. These are my opinions and your results may vary.

Have a very nice size fuge with very good continued growth. I have added a hair more to my CUC to try and help maintain. Not much of a chemical adder. Manual removing and water changes will eventually take its course.