Green algae. .. Eww

[Dana Jackson]

Im curious as to what I should be doing with my light..Lol. I have the Current USA Orbit on my 10g nano. I plan on upgrading to AI Hydra in the next week or so. But until then or even after, how should I schedule my lighting where my corals get enough, but Im not growing algae. If I leave them on for 8-10 hours, my rock and substrate turns green, but if I cut back my candy cane corals look terrible. They are all shriveled up. Darned if I do, darned if I don't. .. Any tips, ideas?

 

[Anirban]

Welcome....
How old is your tank and where are the major parameters?

 

[368]

8 hours of light is plenty. Try and keep the tank away from natural light or schedule the lighting to when the natural light is at its brightest. Turbo snails do wonders on algae.

 

[Dana Jackson]

Thanks! My tank is only 4 months old.
Ammo-0
Trites -0
Trates around 2.5ppm
Salinity 0.026
Temp 78F
I don't test alkalinity, phosphates, magnesium, calcium, etc. Not yet, waiting for my test kits to come in.

 

[Dana Jackson]

The astrea snails are the only ones I ever see on my glass, I have a stomella snail and turbo snail that will clean the rocks. Along with blue leg hermits. Maybe ill go get more...Hmmm.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

You're tank is still pretty young, I agree with the 8 hours of light a day, I know people that run way less and people that run way more. if you can dim the fixture I would put it down a few notches, dont worry everything will adjust accordingly. However you're tank being so young will probably go through a mini cycle every now and again and you'll get a diatom/algae bloom, this is pretty normal. Just keep up with water changes and be patient, clean up crew will help in the mean time.

 

[Dana Jackson]

After one day of intense light, followed by only blues yesterday.

 

[MaiReef]

An AI prime should be enough for a 10 gallon, but that will not fix your issue.

Phosphates is probably your issue, but a bunch of light will produce algae unless the nutrients are used elsewhere.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

imo that just looks like growing coraline algae and not really a nuisance algae

if it is a nuisance algae that is far from an outbreak, that all looks extremely manageable

 

[Dana Jackson]

Its not unmanageable, yet, I scrape the glass daily to get it off. Its just unsightly, to me. So if it is phosphates, how do I fix that?

 

[Dana Jackson]

Do you think the hydra would be too much? I may just use it over my 110g in addition to the 2 ocean revive that come with the setup. Im getting a heck of a deal on the hydra that i can't pass up. I plan on going with hydras on the big tank eventually. As finances allow. But I do want to upgrade to something better on my 10g. So go with the Prime?

 

[MaiReef]

Test first!
What filtration do you have?
If HOB filter then a simple
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-67101850-PhosGuard-100-bagged/dp/B00029PO6O
could fix. Order at least 2. Because one is initial and one is for 6 weeks.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

yet, I scrape the glass daily to get it off

Thats pretty normal, lots of tanks do that.

Step 1 is get a reliable Phosphate test to see if you do have high phospates (again IME if you did you would have other invasive algae) if you do have high phosphates I would do the following in this order.

1) water changes, step it up to small water changes weekly and be patient, something like this isn't just going to disappear overnight. give it a few weeks
2) Get some macro algae like cheato or caluerpa and run a light on it 24/7 for a little while
3) in a few MONTHS if the problem persists and you've tried steps 1 and 2 then get a gfo reactor

again, what you're going through is normal for all immature tanks, you just have to be patient

 

[MaiReef]

Turning down the Hydra to very low settings should work, but it is very different to the current lights.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

Hydra will work but its overkill big time, the coverage area is way larger than the tank itself, it'll work but I would steer away from that

 

[mcarroll]

Get an AI if you want, but your existing light is fine for that tank. Stop messing with the lights, IMO.

If you're having mediocre results with your corals, there are many other factors at work than light. Tell us about tank parameters, etc! Can you share a tank pic?

 

[Dana Jackson]

I shared the parameters and a few pics earlier in thread. If the orbit is fine by itself, then I may very well keep them. Lots more I could do with the money ID spend on new lights! The LFS guy said they were crap. Things have come a long way since I was in the hobby 10 years ago!!! Lol

 

[MaiReef]

I shared the parameters and a few pics earlier in thread. If the orbit is fine by itself, then I may very well keep them. Lots more I could do with the money ID spend on new lights! The LFS guy said they were crap. Things have come a long way since I was in the hobby 10 years ago!!! Lol

The LFS guy is trying to make money. Are they the best lights? No, but again that is not your primary issue.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

Are they the best lights? No

They are exceedingly GED (Good enough dude)

 

[Dana Jackson]

Note that I am using the bulky, overpriced powerheads from Walmart... I hate these! Ordering different ones ASAP. I was in a pinch... No LFS within 50 miles of my house...Lol. They serve their propose, but are ugly as all get out. Too big for my tank...