Help please. Almost thinking of giving up

greg5578 · Oct 12, 2019

I got a new job which is 350 kilometres away from where I live so I come back every fortnight.

Yesterday, I came home to this. Just 2 weeks and all hell broke lose.

I'm not sure what algae is it but it has taken over my tank.
Help me please. Let me know what I should do.

Tennyson · Oct 12, 2019

Doesn't look too bad, do you have tank parameters? My guess is high nitrates/phosphates. Reducing either with GFO, chaeto, or water changes could help.
My tank recently had a spike in nuisance algae. I just doubled the frequency of water changes, siphoned the hair algae out, and it hasn't returned. Good luck!

fcmatt · Oct 12, 2019

Well first can you tell us your nitrate and phosphate levels?

What amount of clean up crew do you have?

Who is doing the fish feeding and how much is given to how many fish?

Is your skimmer working properly?

When waa your last water change using ro/di water with a tds reading of 0 I assume?

Let's start with that please.

EmdeReef · Oct 12, 2019

Looks like could be just regular hair algae.
What’s the consistency like? Algae eating fish, urchins etc would likely help.

westmichigan · Oct 12, 2019

Scrape off and siphon put what you can. Dont panic. Up your water changes and figure out where your nutrients are. Make sure whoever is feeding isnt overdoing it. Itll be alright just do the work and be patient.

scabbedwings616 · Oct 12, 2019

Siphon it out, look at you clean up crew, test your tank and it will bounce back. Patience is key and don’t jump on anything without researching it and know it’s in and outs. Doing drastic things will mess the tank up even more

BigRedReefer MT · Oct 12, 2019

Looks like gha to me. As mentioned above, increase water change schedule and add some phosphate and nitrate removal media. Maybe even decrease your photo period. The key is to try and cull it now. If you let it get too out of hand then your in for a battle ( trust me, from current experience).