Losing a battle... looking for my algae experts!

[MDeVito]

Hey guys,
So my drop off tank has been facing a very bad outbreak of what looks like hair algae and red slime algae. I do weekly water changes, I keep my feedings to 2-3 times a week in small amounts, my RO/DI water is within good limits, my water chemistry is good, I added phosphate and nitrate removing media, added a clean up crew of about 12 blue legged hermit crabs and 12 margarita snailsand I cut my lights down.

To my disbelief the algae continues to grow. At this point I'm looking to use chemical warfare to reclaim some tank to where my CUC can take most of the remainder of it out.

Any suggestions for chemicals or tips to rid this algae??

Also, any questions feel free to ask.
Attached are images of the algae, have i properly identified them?

 

[Broadfield]

Ok, here are some questions for you:

• How long has the tank been running?
• What are your exact parameters?
• When you say your RO/DI is "within good limits"... there really isn't a "limit". It's either 0 TDS or it's not good enough. Anything other than 0 is not acceptable.
• What is your exact lighting setup? If LED, what % of each color channel are you running? How long is your photo period? Does the tank get natural sunlight?
• FWIW, I have had zero luck with getting anything to eat algae... whether it be crabs, snails, fish etc. I know of others that have great results though.

If you are looking for a chemical, Vibrant is the new hotness. I personally haven't used it, but there's been a ton of crazy success stories on this very site. Check link below:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-discussion-thread.271428/

 

[MDeVito]

• tanks been running for 5 months (I'm guessing my marco rocks are leaching)
• I don't have exact numbers for levels now, last I checked everything was in check. My apologies I live away from the tank... college
• 0.01 on the TDS
• Lighting is an PRIME HD, running UV-60, blues-60, whites-40,red-0,green-0. (sorry if I'm missing any colors) Lights on for 8 hours, no natural sunlight

 

[Broadfield]

Thanks for the info. I'm glad you noted what rocks you used. As Marco rocks are actually the same rocks I have used on my last two tanks... with absolutely zero issues. But with your tank being 5 months old, at the very least, this is just part of the natural cycle of a reef tank. Reefers like to call it the uglies. First you typically get diatoms... a light brown dust on the sand, rocks and glass... especially if you are using new sand. Then sometimes you will get a bright green algae in places. Next comes hair algae... which looks to be what you have. After that, some will get cyano. If you can endure all of that, then there's light at the end of the tunnel. Most reef tanks seem to find a decent balance around a year or so. We still would like to see those parameters once you get them though.

 

[MDeVito]

Yeah I'll get those to you as soon as I can. Thanks for the feedback, been losing hope lol. I ordered Vibrant just to see how it works. I'll update once I've used it with results