26g Nano Tank - Large Algae Issue

[King George]

Hi everyone - thanks for taking the time to help me out with this! I will try to provide as much info as possible:

Red Sea Nano MAX Peninsula - 26 gallons

1 Snowflake Clownfish
1 Azure Damsel
1 Fire Shrimp
1 Cleaner Shrimp
5 Mexican Turbo Snails
5 Emerald Crabs

Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 400 ppm
Alkalinity: 8.2 dKH
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
pH: 8

This tank has been up and running for a couple months now, and admittedly I have only done a few water changes. Obviously my water paramaters aren't perfect, working on getting there - but they are steady. Can someone please provide some insight on this algae issue? From the research I have done, I know algae isn't always a bad thing. It started out a lot more minor, but it is slowly carpeting the bottom and covers the majority of rock structure.

I was planning on doing a 5g water change tonight - but not sure how I should proceed. Obviously my priority is to get some of that algae off of the bottom, but should I scrub the rocks too? I can provide more info, but just wanted to get this thread out first to see if anyone could give me some advice. Thank you!

(Turned light up for picture purposes lol)

 

[King George]

@Jay Hemdal sorry to bother you, but you have helped me greatly in the past… any insight?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal sorry to bother you, but you have helped me greatly in the past… any insight?

That looks a lot like typical algae that you see in a newer aquarium. Your nutrients are good, I suspect it is a lighting issue - too bright or on too long. You don't seem to have any corals in the tank? If not, you can drop the lighting back and the algae will recede. You can also add different CUC until you find some that will eat this particular algae.

I'm mostly a fish guy though, so I'll defer to others on this.....

Jay

 

[Dipi]

I had similar algae and added some hermits to take care of it. It worked really well and I don't have this problem anymore

 

[lil sumpin]

Diversify your CUC with Cerith, Astraea and Turbo snails. Maybe a scarlet hermit crab or two. Parameters seem fine, having some phosphate is important and you can probably remedy this by feeding slightly more. Otherwise note that your tank is still maturing so you’ll see different kinds of algae come and go.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

it looks like diatoms, normal in a new tank.
Maybe add a powerhead in the tank to get more flow, lots more algae will be coming, and flow helps against it.

 

[King George]

I had similar algae and added some hermits to take care of it. It worked really well and I don't have this problem anymore

Will hermits be okay with my current CUC? Just want to make sure none of my current residents will pick on them lol

 

[King George]

That looks a lot like typical algae that you see in a newer aquarium. Your nutrients are good, I suspect it is a lighting issue - too bright or on too long. You don't seem to have any corals in the tank? If not, you can drop the lighting back and the algae will recede. You can also add different CUC until you find some that will eat this particular algae.

I'm mostly a fish guy though, so I'll defer to others on this.....

Jay

Thank you!

 

[King George]

Diversify your CUC with Cerith, Astraea and Turbo snails. Maybe a scarlet hermit crab or two. Parameters seem fine, having some phosphate is important and you can probably remedy this by feeding slightly more. Otherwise note that your tank is still maturing so you’ll see different kinds of algae come and go.

Thank you!

 

[stalkem]

I'll add that a conch is an underrated (or under discussed) CUC member. I just got 2 (after having red/blue/scarlet hermits and a variety of snails from reefcleaners.org... These conchs are super active going all over cleaning! Looks like you have deep enough sand bed for them to enjoy. I thought they'd be all up in my sand, but they also get up onto the wall and rock work.

 

[Dipi]

Will hermits be okay with my current CUC? Just want to make sure none of my current residents will pick on them lol

I don't know for sure. The only cuc i bought were the hermits. I do have some stomatella that hitchiked. One of my hermits did bother one in one ocasion, but never saw it twice. Regarding other snails, I have no experience but I have read they go after them for the shells.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Just to add as everyone had something good to add, so im just quadrupling down on cuc. Conch or small sand sifter of sorts will be good. Really doesnt look bade. Clean everything good and do as a large water change as you need in order to cleanup. Wont hurt anything use same salt mix though. As someone else stated, turn whites down and over all down as well. I didnt see coral so its not needed.

 

[King George]

Just to add as everyone had something good to add, so im just quadrupling down on cuc. Conch or small sand sifter of sorts will be good. Really doesnt look bade. Clean everything good and do as a large water change as you need in order to cleanup. Wont hurt anything use same salt mix though. As someone else stated, turn whites down and over all down as well. I didnt see coral so its not needed.

No corals is correct. Just did a 25% water change but it's impossible to clean up all that algae at once. Turned my lights way down as well.

What's weird is that the algae wouldn't get sucked up by the vacuum right away, it kind of bunched together and sticks to the sand.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

No corals is correct. Just did a 25% water change but it's impossible to clean up all that algae at once. Turned my lights way down as well.

What's weird is that the algae wouldn't get sucked up by the vacuum right away, it kind of bunched together and sticks to the sand.

Algae will grab hold and bunch up sand similar to plant roots. It gets embedded. Makes it stay in place with currents. Stay on water changes, keep lights down and watch feedings as to not add to many nutrients. Just be patient. Dont be afraid of large water changes.

 

[shanetech77]

My tank is around the same age oct2023 and is doing the same. I would get a diamond goby to clean up that sand. I had a big bloom (thought/think it was cyano) I got some Chemiclean, but could never dose it because of a snow storm and the air pump we bought was cancelled. Ended up going away and we introduced CUC of diamond goby, emerald crab, and 6 astraea snails.

 

[King George]

Algae will grab hold and bunch up sand similar to plant roots. It gets embedded. Makes it stay in place with currents. Stay on water changes, keep lights down and watch feedings as to not add to many nutrients. Just be patient. Dont be afraid of large water changes.

Thanks so much for your help. Apologies for my late replies, busy day for me

I'm not sure if this matters - but when I did the water change this morning, I was worried that some of the algae may have gotten 'buried' under the sand when I was using the vac. I use the pinch trick as most people do (to only suck up the detritus and algae and avoid vacuuming any sand out). Since it was clumpy, some of the sand just got poured back on top possibly covering some of the algae, but I couldn't see for sure.

I appreciate your help big time. I will do another larger water change in a few days. Would you recommend that I scrub the rock with a toothbrush to try and remove algae - or just leave it?

Just want to make sure I handle this as "smoothly" as possible lol

 

[King George]

My tank is around the same age oct2023 and is doing the same. I would get a diamond goby to clean up that sand. I had a big bloom (thought/think it was cyano) I got some Chemiclean, but could never dose it because of a snow storm and the air pump we bought was cancelled. Ended up going away and we introduced CUC of diamond goby, emerald crab, and 6 astraea snails.

Thanks for the tip - I will keep an eye out for one! I am just trying to be cautious as to not overstock my tank. Was planning on getting another Clown to try and have them pair up, because only my current Clown made it when first introducing the 2 (the other got injured badly and we had to put him down).

As for snails, I will definitely get some Astrea and I heard Ceriths were good too. Will also look into a conch!

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Nothing wrong with a toothbrush scrub on the rock. Just dont scrub to hard. You can also get a thin tube to suck up as you scrub ig there is large chunks. Dont worry about getting the fine stuff. Just watch nutrients and lighting. Lots of people on here have way more knowledge or different methods as well.

 

[King George]

Nothing wrong with a toothbrush scrub on the rock. Just dont scrub to hard. You can also get a thin tube to suck up as you scrub ig there is large chunks. Dont worry about getting the fine stuff. Just watch nutrients and lighting. Lots of people on here have way more knowledge or different methods as well.

Great tips - thank you my friend! Huge help

 

[lelolai15]

Nice tank, as everyone said above this is the typical “ugly” stage we are all have to go through. It’s a good thing, means you’re growing organisms in your tank. It is possible it will get worse before it gets better. My best recommendation is to be patient, as some said above reduce light exposure, continue your routine maintenance. Do not go off cleaning everything since you will cause another algae bloom to restart since you scrubbed the water clean. I believe your tank is an AIO, if you do, try not to run the protein skimmer. You don’t have much live stock, and you’re doing water changes.

I do recommend staying away from chemicals. Learn what is causing any nutrient spikes, there are some good YouTube videos on BRS channel. This will help you be a better reefer. Be mindful of the food you give your fish. Frozen foods are preferred during this time.

Towards the end of this process you may see cyno blooms occur (brown/reddish on sand bed), again maintain your regular routine, be patient, and keep an eye on parameters. Don’t let them bottom out. Once you’re out of this stage, you should be a solid ecosystem and mature tank. Best of luck!