glass algae comes back rapidly.

[MIke Wood]

I have a 60 cube tank. recently transferred from a 40 nuvo. since the transfer, roughly 2 months ago now, ive had to scrape my glass daily. I can scrape it and within hours i can see the powder starting to attach to the glass again. I thought it might be just an issue with bacteria load after the transfer and the tank was getting back on tract. I do not dose anything other than 3 part and ab+ 2-3 x/week. no3 is 5ppm, po4 is .01-.03ppm. tanks is happy and healthy other than me scraping the glass constantly. the algae is a powdery form and is brownish greenish. green when i let it grow for 2 days or more. wouldnt adding some bottled bacteria help?

 

[Dan_P]

I have a 60 cube tank. recently transferred from a 40 nuvo. since the transfer, roughly 2 months ago now, ive had to scrape my glass daily. I can scrape it and within hours i can see the powder starting to attach to the glass again. I thought it might be just an issue with bacteria load after the transfer and the tank was getting back on tract. I do not dose anything other than 3 part and ab+ 2-3 x/week. no3 is 5ppm, po4 is .01-.03ppm. tanks is happy and healthy other than me scraping the glass constantly. the algae is a powdery form and is brownish greenish. green when i let it grow for 2 days or more. wouldnt adding some bottled bacteria help?

It sounds like you have swimming phytoplankton. Scraping just puts them in the water column and then they just resettle on the glass. This is not a sign of rapid regrowth.

Bottled bacteria are probably useless but give it a try if you want to spend the money.l

 

[MIke Wood]

It sounds like you have swimming phytoplankton. Scraping just puts them in the water column and then they just resettle on the glass. This is not a sign of rapid regrowth.

Bottled bacteria are probably useless but give it a try if you want to spend the money.l

a friend of mine just suggested it being phytoplankton- how did i get rid of those?

 

[Dan_P]

a friend of mine just suggested it being phytoplankton- how did i get rid of those?

If you can, just ignore them. See what happens when you don’t clean the glass every day.

 

[MIke Wood]

If you can, just ignore them. See what happens when you don’t clean the glass every day

after a few days its just thicker. isn't particularly hard to remove. i use a plastic tunze blade. its just frustrating. tank seems unaffected. would dosing coral snow help to bind them up when in the water column?

 

[Dan_P]

after a few days its just thicker. isn't particularly hard to remove. i use a plastic tunze blade. its just frustrating. tank seems unaffected. would dosing coral snow help to bind them up when in the water column?

That’s an interesting idea!

 

[UMALUM]

I have a 60 cube tank. recently transferred from a 40 nuvo. since the transfer, roughly 2 months ago now, ive had to scrape my glass daily. I can scrape it and within hours i can see the powder starting to attach to the glass again. I thought it might be just an issue with bacteria load after the transfer and the tank was getting back on tract. I do not dose anything other than 3 part and ab+ 2-3 x/week. no3 is 5ppm, po4 is .01-.03ppm. tanks is happy and healthy other than me scraping the glass constantly. the algae is a powdery form and is brownish greenish. green when i let it grow for 2 days or more. wouldnt adding some bottled bacteria help?

As Dan said your just releasing it back into the system. I think you'll get better results manually removing it via a wool filter sock/ magic eraser. If you really want to clean your glass less and also feed your corals naturally I'd use this

 

[MIke Wood]

As Dan said your just releasing it back into the system. I think you'll get better results manually removing it via a wool filter sock/ magic eraser. If you really want to clean your glass less and also feed your corals naturally I'd use this

thanks ill look into this!

 

[kevgib67]

I would suggest a UV sterilizer. It won’t remove it from the glass but from the water column before it gets there. I noticed I had to clean the glass a lot less frequently after I installed mine.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

a friend of mine just suggested it being phytoplankton- how did i get rid of those?

Add pods!

 

[MIke Wood]

Add pods!

I've got tisbe pods all over the glass. Which kind should I add?

 

[MIke Wood]

I would suggest a UV sterilizer. It won’t remove it from the glass but from the water column before it gets there. I noticed I had to clean the glass a lot less frequently after I installed mine.

I'm running a sterilizer now.

 

[kevgib67]

I'm running a sterilizer now.

Hmmmm, sounds like you are doing everything right. Perhaps it is just your tank settling in from the transfer and will improve as things stabilize. Sorry, that’s all I have.

 

[MIke Wood]

Hmmmm, sounds like you are doing everything right. Perhaps it is just your tank settling in from the transfer and will improve as things stabilize. Sorry, that’s all I have.

I'm thinking I just have to relearn patience haha. The 40 was easy going and the transfers wasn't as smooth as I wished it was. Thanks for all the advice. I'll try and wait it out

 

[nano reef]

I have the same problem with my glass. Its always red or brownish. I think maybe cyano but dosing the cyanos stuff dosnt work si I started dosing MB7 because I read that could clear cyano but still no luck. As a matter of fact I now have dinos starting in one of my tanks!

 

[vetteguy53081]

You may have Phosphate content in your water (something to test)
How many hours of light does your tank receive?
Is tank at or near a window?

Can you post a pic or two of the tank?

 

[Miami Reef]

You may have Phosphate content in your water

That’s not the issue. We all should have some phosphorus and phosphate in our water.

I think having phytoplankton in the water is a very good sign. It sounds like a healthy tank.

The UV sterilizer should work in reducing the population of free swimming algae. Have you noticed any improvement after adding the UV?

If not, could the sterilizer be undersized, too fast, or too slow?

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s not the issue. We all should have some phosphorus and phosphate in our water.

I think having phytoplankton in the water is a very good sign. It sounds like a healthy tank.

The UV sterilizer should work in reducing the population of free swimming algae. Have you noticed any improvement after adding the UV?

If not, could the sterilizer be undersized, too fast, or too slow?

We dont know that. Over many years I have seen suspect tanks with elevated phosphate in their water source and even purchased water. Po4 is one of the possibilities. Lack of water flow is also yet another reason for build up on glass and at my own LFS, tanks near a window was a high cause.

 

[Miami Reef]

We dont know that. Over many years I have seen suspect tanks with elevated phosphate in their water source and even purchased water. Po4 is one of the possibilities. Lack of water flow is also yet another reason for build up on glass and at my own LFS, tanks near a window was a high cause.

Anything above 0.03ppm PO4 is not going to be limiting to phytoplankton. Are you implying OP should keep his phosphates below 0.03ppm?

Phosphates of 0.10ppm will grow algae just as well as phosphates at 1.00ppm. A surplus is a surplus, and having more won’t make anything grow faster if there’s something else that’s limiting (space, trace elements, herbivores etc).

I highly doubt phosphates are the issue.

 

[Tired]

Assuming reasonable nutrient levels and lighting, I'd let it alone. See if it dies down on its own eventually as things settle.