Algae on glass

reeferguy3303 · Dec 1, 2020

Hello. Recently my tank has a ton of algae just on the glass. I’ll clean the glass and then do a water change right after picking up all the algae that a scrapped off and about an hour later my glass is back to being green. Any suggestions ?
Light are on for 10 hours a day
SG: 1.026
PH: 8.0
Nitrate: 1.0
Phosphate: 0.3

Turnage · Dec 1, 2020

How old is the tank? Are you getting your saltwater from a LFS or are you making it at home? Some things you can do to reduce algae are Lower phosphates, reduce light schedule, get a uv sterilizer, ect

reeferguy3303 · Dec 1, 2020

Tank is 6 months old and I make my own water with RODI water.

Turnage · Dec 1, 2020

Ok so 6 month old tank, you are going through the "ugly" phase. Algae break out is not uncommon so I would continue with normal water changes and try to keep your phosphates low. Another option is a refuge. Stay strong as it will get better. It normally takes about 1 year before a tank matures and algae becomes more manageable.

HB AL · Dec 1, 2020

Maybe diatoms?

reeferguy3303 · Dec 1, 2020

HB AL said:
Maybe diatoms?

I was thinking that but I don’t have algae anywhere else but on the glass

reeferguy3303 · Dec 1, 2020

Turnage said:
Ok so 6 month old tank, you are going through the "ugly" phase. Algae break out is not uncommon so I would continue with normal water changes and try to keep your phosphates low. Another option is a refuge. Stay strong as it will get better. It normally takes about 1 year before a tank matures and algae becomes more manageable.

Tank has been pass the ugly stage about 3 months ago and a tank at 6 months has matured according to my research on anemones. I ordered a UV Sterilizer to see if that helps since I don’t have room for a fuge

Subsea · Dec 1, 2020

Depending on if green algae is film or strands determines group. See link below.

Your tank may be mature enough to maintain anemones but it is not biologically mature with competitors & consumers of nuisance algae.

PS. While phosphate may be high, nitratevery low and would be best 5-10ppm

Nuisance Algae ID Guide- Reef Cleaners

Nuisance Algae ID Guide. Red Slime, Cyano, Cyanobacteria. Green Film Algae, Film Algae. Green Hair Algae. Green Turf Algae. Bryopsis pennata and B. plumosa. Bubble Algae, Valonia. Lobophora. Blue Green Cyano.

www.reefcleaners.org

Green Film Algae, Film Algae
filmalgae 300x400

This green powdery film, or cloudiness is caused by a variety of species of microalgae. It is fairly common in tanks of all ages, and tends to be present in some degree at all times. It is only when a bloom occurs that the microalgae becomes so dense as to become noticeable.

Clean Up Crew: Ceriths, Nerites, Astraea spp., most limpets and chitons. Many different species of copepods, amphipods and isopods will feed on film algae as well. Hermit crabs pick at it but are rarely effective against film algae.

Starving it out -Starving it out: Use a phosban reactor, or granulated ferric oxide to remove excess phosphates in the system. Check to make sure you are not feeding any foods that are particularly phosphate rich, or are feeding too much.

Manual Removal: This algae is pretty much the reason they invented the Mag-Float. Time to break it out. A toothbrush will work on the rocks. Change the water, after blasting the rocks with a turkey baster to stir up sediment that may be decaying and adding to nutrients.

Green Hair Algae
hair algae 300x225 hairalgae2 300x181

Green Hair Algae or "GHA" is really a broad term that covers hundreds of species of green simple filamentous algae. These species tend to be simple, fine in texture, and have few distinguishable features. True species level identification requires a microscope.

Distinguishing it from look-a-likes: GHA is not coarse or wiry, it should break apart easily when pulled, and should lose form quickly when removed from water. If you can make out a root structure, or a stiff branching structure it is probably not GHA.

Manual Removal: Green hair algae can be pulled out easily, and tooth brushed or scrubbed off the rock work. This is easier to do if the rock is outside of the tank. If it is growing from the sand sift it out with a net.

Clean Up Crew: Assorted Hermits, Blue Legs, Florida Ceriths, Chitons, Turbograzers, Sea Hares, Conchs, Emerald Crabs, Urchins and a few others. It is readily accepted by many herbivores, but because it grows quickly it may persist even in a tank with a fair amount of cleaners.

Cell · Dec 1, 2020

I had this same problem for awhile and my very first dose of Vibrant cleared it up. It was crazy effective.

reeferguy3303 · Dec 15, 2020

Cell said:
I had this same problem for awhile and my very first dose of Vibrant cleared it up. It was crazy effective.

Did it ever come back after you stopped dosing ? I bought a uv sterilizer and there still algae just on the glass

reeferguy3303 · Dec 21, 2020

Bump. I’ve tried siphoning out all the algae on the glass took my ages to do it and to no surprise it was back to normal

Cell · Dec 21, 2020

Yeah it came back for a bit after I stopped using it. Never as bad as it was before I first tried it though. I switched to homemade nopox for awhile, got some white slime so dialed back and eventually stopped dosing that as well. Now I dont use either and only have to clean my glass once every 2-3 weeks., mostly just to clean off coralline spots.

reeferguy3303 · Dec 21, 2020

Cell said:
Yeah it came back for a bit after I stopped using it. Never as bad as it was before I first tried it though. I switched to homemade nopox for awhile, got some white slime so dialed back and eventually stopped dosing that as well. Now I dont use either and only have to clean my glass once every 2-3 weeks., mostly just to clean off coralline spots.

Should I try the nopox or vibrant first ?

vetteguy53081 · Dec 21, 2020

Try reducing white light intensity before using vibrant. Generally elevated Phosphate and nitrate will trigger algae growth.
I should ask: IS YOUR TANK AT OR NEAR A WINDOW?

Cell · Dec 21, 2020

Not really sure I can recommend one over the other both are effective, both have some potential negative side effects. I decided to try Nopox because it felt like the Vibrant was starting to lose effectiveness and homemade Nopox is cheap.

reeferguy3303 · Dec 21, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Try reducing white light intensity before using vibrant. Generally elevated Phosphate and nitrate will trigger algae growth.
I should ask: IS YOUR TANK AT OR NEAR A WINDOW?

I can’t lower white as I’m running T5s and my tank isn’t near a window. No algae growth other than the glass