How to control algae?

[Tony888]

Is it normal to have algae on the sand? What should I do before it gets out of control?

 

[Scopulum Zombie]

Hi Tony888, how long has your tank been up and running?

A few things to consider...
What does your lighting schedule look like?
How many fish in your system.
What type of food, and how much are you feeding?
What type of filtration are you using?

 

[lapin]

Algae on your sand is like weeds in your yard. The question is what do you consider a weed

 

[Tony888]

Hi Tony888, how long has your tank been up and running?

A few things to consider...
What does your lighting schedule look like?
How many fish in your system.
What type of food, and how much are you feeding?
What type of filtration are you using?

Hi Scopulum,

The tank is about 3 weeks old and the lighting I'm using is the Hydra 26 LED. The light slowly turns on in incrementals at around 9am and reaches 100% at around 1pm and starts to decrease in brightness incrementals until 9pm. I don't have any fish as of yet so I'm not feeding. The current setup I have is a sump with a Eshopp S-200 skimmer. I know high levels of lighting will cause algae. Any recommendations?

 

[Tony888]

Algae on your sand is like weeds in your yard. The question is what do you consider a weed

Hi Lapin,

Should I use any solution to control it or siphon it more during water changes?

 

[lapin]

To me it does not look like a problem. New tanks go thru stages of growth. My new tank is 3 months old and 1/4 is covered with cyano. I kinda like the red. Siphon it out if you want. I would not use any chemicals to try and control it. Over time your prefered livestock should out compete it and it will go away.

 

[Tony888]

To me it does not look like a problem. New tanks go thru stages of growth. My new tank is 3 months old and 1/4 is covered with cyano. I kinda like the red. Siphon it out if you want. I would not use any chemicals to try and control it. Over time your prefered livestock should out compete it and it will go away.

Thanks for the advice Lapin. Have you introduced any corals yet? If so, what corals?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

I think all new tanks get that. Mine did. What do you have as a cleaner crew? Are you using a UV sterilizer?

 

[Dom]

Hi Scopulum,

The tank is about 3 weeks old and the lighting I'm using is the Hydra 26 LED. The light slowly turns on in incrementals at around 9am and reaches 100% at around 1pm and starts to decrease in brightness incrementals until 9pm. I don't have any fish as of yet so I'm not feeding. The current setup I have is a sump with a Eshopp S-200 skimmer. I know high levels of lighting will cause algae. Any recommendations?

Algae in new tanks is normal. This will self correct.

In the mean time, I suggest manual labor. Roll up your sleeves, get a tooth brush and clean daily.

 

[lapin]

Have you introduced any corals yet? If so, what corals?

I got a few. Some fishes too. Bad blue light picture

 

[Dennis McGrath]

I got a few. Some fishes too. Bad blue light picture

Look like some cyano in there.

 

[kyleinpdx]

Hi Scopulum,

The tank is about 3 weeks old and the lighting I'm using is the Hydra 26 LED. The light slowly turns on in incrementals at around 9am and reaches 100% at around 1pm and starts to decrease in brightness incrementals until 9pm. I don't have any fish as of yet so I'm not feeding. The current setup I have is a sump with a Eshopp S-200 skimmer. I know high levels of lighting will cause algae. Any recommendations?

At 3 weeks old I would not perform any sort of chemical intervention, your tank has yet to reach equilibrium. Its nothing to worry about, and honestly, it will probably get worse. Most tanks will go through an "ugly" phase while things are trying to figure themselves out. Its hard to tell from the pictures but the stuff on your sand might very well be diatoms and some film algae on the glass or they could both be the same. Either way I would suggest siphoning that area when doing water changes and stir up the sand bed in the affected areas every couple days.

The rock in your picture looks seasoned, did you upgrade from a smaller setup, or buy the rock from someone else?

What are you using to test water params? Do you have a phosphate test, if so where are you at? How about nitrates?

 

[lapin]

Look like some cyano in there.

Just a bit. Its for color to offset the green coral

 

[Tony888]

At 3 weeks old I would not perform any sort of chemical intervention, your tank has yet to reach equilibrium. Its nothing to worry about, and honestly, it will probably get worse. Most tanks will go through an "ugly" phase while things are trying to figure themselves out. Its hard to tell from the pictures but the stuff on your sand might very well be diatoms and some film algae on the glass or they could both be the same. Either way I would suggest siphoning that area when doing water changes and stir up the sand bed in the affected areas every couple days.

The rock in your picture looks seasoned, did you upgrade from a smaller setup, or buy the rock from someone else?

What are you using to test water params? Do you have a phosphate test, if so where are you at? How about nitrates?

Hi Kyle,

I purchased the rock from the store. I was told it was cured and I just need to cycle my water and check my parameters. In terms of testing, I'm actually just using the basic API test kit at the moment. What test kit would you recommend? I have not tested my phosphate level yet, but Nitrates, Nitrites, and Ammonia are at 0.

Thanks for your advice. I'll make sure to siphon the sand more next week during my next water change.

 

[Jesterrace]

Sounds like the standard Diatom Bloom at the end of the initial cycle. It's a good sign. It means you should be done within the next week or so. Test the water perameters and it might be safe to add some snails/clean up crew to your tank at this point.

 

[Tony888]

Sounds like the standard Diatom Bloom at the end of the initial cycle. It's a good sign. It means you should be done within the next week or so. Test the water perameters and it might be safe to add some snails/clean up crew to your tank at this point.

Thanks for the tip Jesterrace.

 

[kyleinpdx]

Hi Kyle,

I purchased the rock from the store. I was told it was cured and I just need to cycle my water and check my parameters. In terms of testing, I'm actually just using the basic API test kit at the moment. What test kit would you recommend? I have not tested my phosphate level yet, but Nitrates, Nitrites, and Ammonia are at 0.

Thanks for your advice. I'll make sure to siphon the sand more next week during my next water change.

The basic test kits will do fine telling you when the cycle is complete, but you'll want to have a better handle on stuff once you start adding more livestock/corals. I'd suggest grabbing some of the salifert test kits for magnesium, calcium and alkalinity, and I find that the seachem phosphate test to be the easiest to read of all the phosphate kits. You'll want to pay attention to nitrate and phosphate when battling algae.

 

[Tony888]

The basic test kits will do fine telling you when the cycle is complete, but you'll want to have a better handle on stuff once you start adding more livestock/corals. I'd suggest grabbing some of the salifert test kits for magnesium, calcium and alkalinity, and I find that the seachem phosphate test to be the easiest to read of all the phosphate kits. You'll want to pay attention to nitrate and phosphate when battling algae.

Thanks for the info. I'll plan to pick up additional test kits soon.

 

[Tony888]

Hi All,

It looks like cyanobacteria on my sand (red-brown). As I was cleaning the algae off the glass, I noticed some flagellate forming. Hopefully by increasing the flow, cleaning the glass, siphoning will help.