Help!

[lueleon]

So I left over the new year for 2 weeks and came back to this. What is it and what can I do to clean up? I just pulled skimmer, pump, and heater out to clean and check in working condition. Skimmer was definitely off but back to being a work horse. Tomorrow I plan on doing a 50% water change but not sure if it will address this issue. Please help folks!

 

[ice28720]

Now turn off the lights every day two hours, changing the water every day 30%, about 4-6 day

 

[Cory]

Your talking a out the algae? Its normal. But if you want to get rid of it there are many options.

 

[lueleon]

So kind of algae is it? What options do I have??

 

[Dtackett]

you can pull the rocks and coral and burn the algae off with h2o2 and it be gone in 2 days and not have to worry about cutting down on your light and stuff. but I bet whoever was feeding your tank while you were gone went overboard.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How big is this tank?

A good option may be a fish or other organisms that eats algae.

Reducing nutrients is also likely needed, and these articles describe many different ways to accomplish that:

Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/?p=3184

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

 

[Cory]

Thats hair algae. I would recommend a few small 1/2-1" in size sea urchins. Sea urchins control the algae in nature. When sea urchins are removed algae growth gets out of control. Thats why i got one.

Also i stopped trying to kill it with po4 remover, h2o2 etcetera. Instead i grow it now in my waterfall algae turf scrubber and algae barely grows in the tank now! And what does the urchin gets it.

 

[lueleon]

How big is this tank?

A good option may be a fish or other organisms that eats algae.

Reducing nutrients is also likely needed, and these articles describe many different ways to accomplish that:

Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/?p=3184

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

The tank is a small AIO 15 gallon. I have it as a temporary set up while I get my 105 gallon set up in the near future. Problem I seen with this type of tank from the beginning is how to break down my nitrates and get rid of waste. I am running a Tunze Comline 9001 Nano Skimmer and let me tell you that thing is a work horse! If I do not keep an eye on the small collector up in can get full within 4 days. I also use filter pad that I can tear apart, rinse off, and put alongside the skimmer.

Problem for me is that this type of mechanical filtration just accumulates enough waste that is clearly visible but in reality does not do much to break down from nitrates to nitrites. The small amount of live rock I have in this tiny aquarium is my only source of a denitrification. I am aware that I need to add more water movement inside my 15 gallon my adding something like a MP15 because the only water movement currently is from the water being pumped back in to display portion of this AIO by the small Cobalt pump running in the back.

Besides the inverts I have in the tank such as my crabs that should be having a blast with the algae, what type of small fish can I add to help out? Also based on article link I read from above maybe adding Macro Algae in the back or activated carbon would help in the long run. In the meantime I will mitigate the current problem by not over feeding.

Any suggestions on this current problem are greatly appreciated everyone. Please keep them coming.

 

[lueleon]

Thats hair algae. I would recommend a few small 1/2-1" in size sea urchins. Sea urchins control the algae in nature. When sea urchins are removed algae growth gets out of control. Thats why i got one.

Also i stopped trying to kill it with po4 remover, h2o2 etcetera. Instead i grow it now in my waterfall algae turf scrubber and algae barely grows in the tank now! And what does the urchin gets it.

Would a algae turf scrubber be too big for this small 15 gallon?

 

[Cory]

No mine is a 25 gallon with a sump. Some people use them on 5 gAllon nanos.

 

[lueleon]

So yesterday I did a 50% water change, cleaned algae off glass, switched the skimmer to skim from the surface,changed out floss padding, added rubble rock to middle back chamber, and more importantly got a good sized sea urchin in the tank. The sea urchin immediately got to work and as of today tank is looking good.

Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 78

I will test other water parameters later tonight.