Tank Algae

[Huey_Gnr]

I hesitated to post this until I exhausted all I thought would work, so now I’m seeking assistance. I will post as much data as I can in an effort to alleviate the questions.

Up front, I will tell you I do not have a microscope. The algae appears to me to be redish/brown in color, no bubbles, and prefers my hardware and glass before moving to rock. It has a wavy texture to it and doesn’t grow very long. I religiously clean the glass and scrape but it’s back in 24 hours. Last week I removed all live rock because it had begun to grow on there as well, scrubbed and dipped in RO/DI water, and placed back in the tank.

75 gal tank ~ 83 gal water volume. Tank is 1 year old.

I am a reef breeders guy. I use the Photon V2 + with the following channels during the light cycle. These are the peak output percentages.

Red - 20
Green - 20
Royal Blue - 60
White - 20
Cool Blue - 60
Violet - 60

I use the reef breeders dosing system and dose Tri-sodium phosphate, BRS 2 part Alk, and Sodium Nitrate daily to maintain the following parameters.

Sal - 1.025.4 (TM hydrometer)
Temp - 78 - Ink Bird
Alk - 8.5 - Hanna
pH - 8.0 - Hanna
PO4 - .10 - Hanna +\- .3
NO3 - 6.8 - Hanna +\- 2
Ca - 430 - AF
Mag - 1450 - Red Sea

Each day I also add 25 ml of live phyto (from a member of this site) and 1 ml of manganese. I feed my fish with brine shrimp, pellets and seaweed on occasion.

I use a 200 micron filter sock, Bubble Magnus Curve 5 w/ CO2 scrubber for filtration in the sump before return with a few bio blocks.

I do not want to starve my tank of nutrients to fix this issue so I’m all ears.

 

[Saltyreef]

How old is the tank?

Seems to be a normal algae bloom in a newer tank.
I would guess diatoms but odd place for them.

Likely just the normal glass film algae you need to clean daily.

 

[Huey_Gnr]

How old is the tank?

Seems to be a normal algae bloom in a newer tank.
I would guess diatoms but odd place for them.

Likely just the normal glass film algae you need to clean daily.

Tank is a year old. I’ve had tanks on and off for 25 years. Believe me, this is far more than the daily clean algae on the glass. MUCH thicker. The pictures above of my overflow are from 24 hours.

 

[Saltyreef]

Tank is a year old. I’ve had tanks on and off for 25 years. Believe me, this is far more than the daily clean algae on the glass. MUCH thicker.

Does it blow off easy? Or do you need to scrub it?

Whats your cuc look like?

 

[Huey_Gnr]

Does it blow off easy? Or do you need to scrub it?

Whats your cuc look like?

Can’t be blown off, must be scrubbed.

I keep a few snails and hermits, but I just ordered another crew.

 

[Saltyreef]

Can’t be blown off, must be scrubbed.

I keep a few snails and hermits, but I just ordered another crew.

I would keep persistant in removal with a mr clean magic eraser. I like the thin sheets since they get thrown away after a good pass or else the algae ends up in the water column and settles other places to grow.