Daily greenish algae on tank walls

covjéfé · Jan 22, 2021

Hi all! I'm not exactly new to reefing but I'm new to the forum (been lurking for awhile. I only created the account to ask this question). For months I've been sort of battling algae on my tank walls (mixed reef; top half SPS bottom half LPS and softies). It's this greenish film that comes off very easily. I usually need to clean the glass every two or three days. If I don't, the algae becomes more obvious and turns almost dark/reddish to my eyes. They're still green if I disperse them in a separate container with RO/DI water, as in the water turns green. I've been testing my water for weeks and I'm at a consistent 0.05-0.07 ppm phosphate and 2-5 ppm nitrate depending on when I test during the day. I feed heavily and there's nori present in the feeder clip for at least 10 hours during daytime.

My question is, does the algae growth seem natural to you? I feel like you should be able to wait at least a week to HAVE to clean your tank walls but I HAVE to clean it at least every 3 days or it'd become an algae infestation. I don't think I have other problems and the corals all look alright to me. My water is almost crystal clear (after I clean the walls of course). I just don't understand why the algae grow back so quickly no matter what. Please advise!

Other info that might be relevant:
- Refugium on opposite cycle for 12 hours. I turned it down to 10 hours this week to see if it'd have an effect on the algae problem in the DT.
- Major ions are within appropriate range.
- I can smell the algae bloom coming on some days. My air purifiers also pick this up. This usually happens the day after I stir the sandbed to get it back to white. This doesn't happen often; it's happened twice in the last four months.

Josh@BVA · Jan 22, 2021

sounds normal to me. glass is usually the first thing that gets a film of algae on it. in about a week i usually need to use my algae magnet scraper for a quick pass and if i wait any longer I start to need to use more effort. every 3 days of a quick pass is kinda what I expect but If you find its getting out of control a simple solution is lower your light output. either the intensity or the time of which they turn on/off or both. you should see a noticeable difference in algae growth if you reduce your light time by 2 hours every day and reduce intensity. just be careful you dont do too big of a swing especially if you have lots of coral cause it can cause the coral to stress and release nutrients and that could be the next cause for algae bloom. but overall I find that reducing lights is the safest and fastest way to reduce algae in a tank

If this still doesnt help, then start looking more into how you can export the nutrients causing the algae. You could also just have some natural sunlight effecting the rate of growth as well. lots of factors to consider.

southerntnreefer · Jan 22, 2021

Sounds normal to me! Im a bit OCD about it, that i pass my magnet thing once a day in the morning well before lights on. For me, this gets anything from the day before off the glass before it becomes hard algae and requiring a blade. This and it keeps my hand out of the tank.

Gtinnel · Jan 22, 2021

That seems normal to me also. I run my magnet cleaner around the glass to clean it probably 3 times a week.

covjéfé · Jan 22, 2021

Thanks for the affirmation guys!

Now that Josh mentioned it, I do think maybe my lights are on for too long (though for the first and last few hours they’re dimmer). I’ll delay the time they come on by two hours (7:00 to 9:00) to see if it helps. Thanks for the advice!

southerntnreefer · Jan 22, 2021

My current light schedule is on to ramp up for 30 minutes from 12-12:30 full power from 12:30 to 9:30, and ramp down to off till 10. My cheato reactor light comes on at 10 and runs to 10 am. Working well for me.

covjéfé · Jan 22, 2021

My lights turn off at the same time as yours but turn on 5 hours earlier. This makes me very hopeful that reducing overall lighting time may help with the algae

thatmanMIKEson · Feb 26, 2021

covjéfé said:
Hi all! I'm not exactly new to reefing but I'm new to the forum (been lurking for awhile. I only created the account to ask this question). For months I've been sort of battling algae on my tank walls (mixed reef; top half SPS bottom half LPS and softies). It's this greenish film that comes off very easily. I usually need to clean the glass every two or three days. If I don't, the algae becomes more obvious and turns almost dark/reddish to my eyes. They're still green if I disperse them in a separate container with RO/DI water, as in the water turns green. I've been testing my water for weeks and I'm at a consistent 0.05-0.07 ppm phosphate and 2-5 ppm nitrate depending on when I test during the day. I feed heavily and there's nori present in the feeder clip for at least 10 hours during daytime.

My question is, does the algae growth seem natural to you? I feel like you should be able to wait at least a week to HAVE to clean your tank walls but I HAVE to clean it at least every 3 days or it'd become an algae infestation. I don't think I have other problems and the corals all look alright to me. My water is almost crystal clear (after I clean the walls of course). I just don't understand why the algae grow back so quickly no matter what. Please advise!

Other info that might be relevant:
- Refugium on opposite cycle for 12 hours. I turned it down to 10 hours this week to see if it'd have an effect on the algae problem in the DT.
- Major ions are within appropriate range.
- I can smell the algae bloom coming on some days. My air purifiers also pick this up. This usually happens the day after I stir the sandbed to get it back to white. This doesn't happen often; it's happened twice in the last four months.

eeee always suck the sand never stir~bond