I'm still dealing with the same thing

[Ippyroy]

I am still hoping someone can help. I have asked a couple of times and I barely get anyone to comment. I have hard green algae all over my rocks. It looks horrible. It has been there for over a month. I am about to remove the rocks and replace them. Does anyone know what I can do to get rid of it?
NO3 5
PO4 .10
Cal 440
ALK 9.0 DKH

 

[Hugh Mann]

I unfortunately do not know of any reef safe chemical treatments, though I know they exist.

Looks like your corals are all still on plugs, so you could move them, pull the rock and scrub the algae off manually.

You can also get livestock that will eat it. I had a similar problem, and I got a tiny tuxedo urchin. Eating the algae so fast I might have to feed it algae sheets.

 

[Ippyroy]

I unfortunately do not know of any reef safe chemical treatments, though I know they exist.

Looks like your corals are all still on plugs, so you could move them, pull the rock and scrub the algae off manually.

You can also get livestock that will eat it. I had a similar problem, and I got a tiny tuxedo urchin. Eating the algae so fast I might have to feed it algae sheets.

It will not scrub off. It is hard green algae. Nothing eats it. I was told it would go away naturally in a couple of weeks. 6 weeks later and it is only thicker and uglier.

 

[DHill6]

I unfortunately do not know of any reef safe chemical treatments, though I know they exist.

Looks like your corals are all still on plugs, so you could move them, pull the rock and scrub the algae off manually.

You can also get livestock that will eat it. I had a similar problem, and I got a tiny tuxedo urchin. Eating the algae so fast I might have to feed it algae sheets.

I have a lazy red tuxedo urchin, every now and then it will get busy.

 

[GeoSquid]

How long has the tank been up and running. I don't think I've had this type of algae but just beat Dino's which seems much worse than this algae. Tanks go through algae successions and quick fixes seem to make things worse. I would just use good filtration and husbandry and it will go away and be replaced by something else. What is your filtration?

 

[Oldreefer44]

My thoughts are:
Algae only thrives where there are sufficient nutrients for it to "feed" on. While your test results are ok, I would recommend that you verify that there are correct either by taking a sample to an LFS, using different test kits or even sending out a sample for a complete evaluation by one of the several companies that can do that for you.
Secondly, How old is your tank? New tanks go through several phases that tend to produce different types of algae growth. Why it may be unsightly to you, unless it is killing some of your corals, it may very well be beneficial to the system as a whole. The one thing that can't be purchased is patience. IMO, that is the most important tool that a successful reefer can own.
Replacing the rocks is treating the symptom and not the disease. Likely it would come back.

 

[Kris 2020]

I see you have posted this before and received several responses including the below answer and link to an article about coralline. Do you keep asking because this isn’t the answer you wanted?

 

[SonyaBAZ]

What’s your clean up crew like? I would try to reduce phosphates by doing water changes. Cut back on feeding. Agree with the others if the tank is new getting through the ugly stages can be frustrating but sometimes you have to wait it out through regular maintenance and husbandry. Another option maybe to cut back lighting some (not too much as you have corals in the tank) at least the red and green wavelengths if you can to see if that slows the algae growth.

 

[Ippyroy]

How long has the tank been up and running. I don't think I've had this type of algae but just beat Dino's which seems much worse than this algae. Tanks go through algae successions and quick fixes seem to make things worse. I would just use good filtration and husbandry and it will go away and be replaced by something else. What is your filtration?

The tank has been up with lights for 3 months. Rocks cycled for 7 months. I have a fuge and skimmer. I have to scrape the glass once a week. Very thin film algae on glass.

 

[Ippyroy]

I see you have posted this before and received several responses including the below answer and link to an article about coralline. Do you keep asking because this isn’t the answer you wanted?

It says to wait a couple of weeks and will turn white and go away. I have had this algae for over 6 weeks and it is getting thicker and it killed the two spots of coralline algae I had growing. I can't find anything online about getting rid of it. It just says that it will go away if parameters are kept in check with a few weeks. i do weekly water changes and my parameters have been steady for 6 weeks.

 

[Cory]

That green is imo the start of hair algae. The only way to get rid of it is to favor corraline growth.

 

[GeoSquid]

The tank has been up with lights for 3 months. Rocks cycled for 7 months. I have a fuge and skimmer. I have to scrape the glass once a week. Very thin film algae on glass.

This is a very new tank. You will probably be going through algae issues for at least the first year.....and ...I don't think it really every ends. I just had Dino's and my tank has been up for 2 years. I have to clean my glass every 2-3 days from film algae. I'm a big fan of algae scrubbers, it gives a place for the algae to grow away from your display.

 

[Mike N]

I would try some vibrant in the tank and see if it has any effect on the green stuff.

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

Coralline comes in many colors, including green.
I would do more research on it, because it sounds like you’re just not getting the color you expected.
Best of luck making it all “go away”.

 

[Kris 2020]

It says to wait a couple of weeks and will turn white and go away. I have had this algae for over 6 weeks and it is getting thicker and it killed the two spots of coralline algae I had growing. I can't find anything online about getting rid of it. It just says that it will go away if parameters are kept in check with a few weeks. i do weekly water changes and my parameters have been steady for 6 weeks.

Reducing your po4 a bit may help, and verify your tests if you have a lfs you trust. How long are your lights on (sorry if this has already been asked), maybe you can reduce your light cycle a bit. I have some green and pink coralline in my tank on the back wall, but my short spine urchin keeps it in check. Your tank is really new for an urchin though, not sure I would risk it.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Looks like hair algae is starting to form, I find it will seed on rockwork first, then boom...long flowing hair algae.
Get a tuxedo urchin, emerald crabs, and turbo snails. Cut back on quantity of feed, and it should be ok, it's a fun game most of us play here in the reefing world.. fight algae, kill algae, nice, beautiful tank, Algae comes back, and the process repeats, lol
Welcome to Reefing lol. You'll get on top of it soon. Be patient.

 

[Ippyroy]

My thoughts are:
Algae only thrives where there are sufficient nutrients for it to "feed" on. While your test results are ok, I would recommend that you verify that there are correct either by taking a sample to an LFS, using different test kits or even sending out a sample for a complete evaluation by one of the several companies that can do that for you.
Secondly, How old is your tank? New tanks go through several phases that tend to produce different types of algae growth. Why it may be unsightly to you, unless it is killing some of your corals, it may very well be beneficial to the system as a whole. The one thing that can't be purchased is patience. IMO, that is the most important tool that a successful reefer can own.
Replacing the rocks is treating the symptom and not the disease. Likely it would come back.

I have used a couple of different tests to verify as best I could. They all came up around the same except for Magnesium, I blame that one on user error. Everything I have read says it will go away in 2 - 3 weeks. I have to scrape glass once a week due to very thin film algae. I vacuum the sand once a week, green algae growing on top of it.

Looks like hair algae is starting to form, I find it will seed on rockwork first, then boom...long flowing hair algae.
Get a tuxedo urchin, emerald crabs, and turbo snails. Cut back on quantity of feed, and it should be ok, it's a fun game most of us play here in the reefing world.. fight algae, kill algae, nice, beautiful tank, Algae comes back, and the process repeats, lol
Welcome to Reefing lol. You'll get on top of it soon. Be patient.

Pretty sure its not hair algae. I took a piece out and tried to scrub it. It doesn't budge. I do have some in my fuge, a different issue that is about to cause another problem that I am trying to deal with.

Coralline comes in many colors, including green.
I would do more research on it, because it sounds like you’re just not getting the color you expected.
Best of luck making it all “go away”.

Green coraline grows really slow. These rocks were covered in green in less than a week.

 

[JR Bodyman]

It does take time and patience. I recently went through the exact same thing in one of my tanks. Reduced to lighting, the feeding, and added a tuxedo urchin and some turbo snails. It will go away in time. You can add a large crew of turbo snails and just remove and return some once it's under control. Keep the urchin though. It's kind of like tuning a carburetor, getting everything adjusted as right as possible. My problem was overfeeding and lights to intense for to long everyday.
Good luck!

 

[Ippyroy]

I guess I will turn down the lights cut down on feeding. I don't see hair algae, but I guess I don't really know what I am looking at. Thanks for the help

 

[slojim]

My tuxedo urchin is my best green algae eater on rocks - he will scour the rocks. When I was dosing vibrant, the rocks would stay white after he passed by. My fighting conch was also incredible when I had GHalgae on the sand - you don't appear to have that problem.
I used vibrant to fight off bubble algae - it took about 2 months. But it also required manual removal - the vibrant was good at breaking the cycle and at loosening the grip. Without it, I was unable to make a dent. Where algae forms, detritus gets trapped, forming more algae.
Another valuable exercise is blasting your rocks - some use a turkey baster, some use a handheld powerhead - but the crevices of rock hold an incredible amount of material waiting to fertilize your algae.
Expand your clean-up crew - pods are expensive and may not last long, but are rumored to be effective if established. Bristleworms are ugly, but are definitely effective. You might need something that will get into the cracks and crevices - so not just snails and crabs.
You can try dosing peroxide - you should squirt it directly at a spot you want to attack, and no more than about 1ml per gallon of tank volume. It breaks down fast, so it would appear that you can repeat this twice a day (not an expert - you may need to read up on this). I've used it a few times with decent results. You could try a peroxide doser - users of Dr Sochtings oxydator seem to love it. I haven't tried it.
Algae does an amazing job of pulling nutrients (phosphate) out of rocks.
I don't know what size you are dealing with. Rock removal would have been a big production for me, but on smaller tanks, I've just pulled stuff out and scrubbed it, maybe use some peroxide or bleach after checking for critters you want to keep. I prefer peroxide for stuff thats going back in soon, or bleach for stuff I'm putting up dry for a while.