Algae won’t stop growing

[KaidenGilbert20g]

I currently have about 20 (3 Nassarius snails, 1 turbo, 9 astrea, 2 cerith, and 6 nerites) , a emerald crab, 3 hermit crabs, and two sand sifting gobys but the algae is still outrageous and I also have a protein skimmer on it and its a 20 gallon tank running a kessil a150w ocean blue light . So what should I do??

 

[WIReefer]

As much manual removal as possible with weekly water changes and get your nutrient levels in line.

 

[t5Nitro]

You're toast bud. I'm in the same boat. Gotta keep the nutrients up for the corals to grow but it also grows algae. My hair algae is outta this world.

 

[Michael Gray]

Are the tanks new???

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Evening,

You have a stout Cuc. Can you list all your water parameters to start. Also what fish are in there and what is the lighting and feeding schedule? We can look for ways to get that under control so the CuC can do the rest.

 

[KaidenGilbert20g]

Are the tanks new???

It’s about 9 months old

 

[KaidenGilbert20g]

Evening,

You have a stout Cuc. Can you list all your water parameters to start. Also what fish are in there and what is the lighting and feeding schedule? We can look for ways to get that under control so the CuC can do the rest.

I’ll test again to get recent parameters and I turn my light on at 7:30am and off about 7:30pm and feed at 6:30pm

 

[t5Nitro]

Sounds like mine. 9 months, 12 hour photoperiod. FWIW my last nutrients were NO3 12 and PO4 at 0.05. You can compare yours. Mine grows GHA like it's mad.

 

[Michael Gray]

I'm going on 14 months and I has the worst battle with GHA. I literally almost took a hammer to it. I also had dinos at the same time. It was rough. I'm not sure what happened but it was 6 long months. I removed my sand. And now turkey bast my my rocks every waterchange and suck up all the crap and I mean I didn't know that much would come out of the rocks. Sometimes in between my wc. I'll do it and siphon in a 10micron sock and recycle the water in sump. And my tank is pretty clean. A hair here and there. Zoas have hair that will not die even in peroxide lol

My no3 and po4 was low. But GHA flourished

 

[t5Nitro]

@Paul B gave me some advice to leave it alone. It's growing for a reason. I think our tanks aren't quite there yet as far as maturity.

 

[Michael Gray]

Just an example. I don't have a solution. Meaning I can't say it was sand. Or turkey basting or adding bacteria and just waiting it out of months.

 

[Jonify]

People say 'deal with it until the tank matures.' But there are newer bacteria-based products that can help get you to a spotless, algae-free tank quicker. Like Vibrant. Dose it and follow the instructions carefully. Algae will be gone in about a month if you're also only feeding as much as your fish can consume in a couple of minutes.

 

[Michael Gray]

Just let it ride. It's ugly for months. Add bacteria. And let it just eventually go away. I will say snails won't eat it long. U gotta knock it down. U know whatever your doing is working when it comes off easy. With a tooth brush

 

[Texas Rick]

My honest opinion. Your lighting schedule is way too long. I had the same problem. I reduced it to 6 to 7 hours a day. Only blues, Added T5 hybrid lights to my kessil and reduced the hybrid lights to about 5 hours a day. I’ve also added GFO with the carbon and I have seen a huge difference in the algae growth. It has minimized and I’m running the bare minimum on CUC. I left 2 patches of GHA to see progress. It has not grown beyond what they already at. It has kept my algae at bay. I’ve also had to do a manual removal of the GHA and it hasn’t come back since reducing my lights
Are you directly feeding any reef roids or just pellets or frozen food?

 

[t5Nitro]

Just an example. I don't have a solution. Meaning I can't say it was sand. Or turkey basting or adding bacteria and just waiting it out of months.

Nice transformation! I think you've got way more flow than I do too!! Not sure how OPs flow is, but I've definitely got it building up in the back bottom glass of my tank behind all the rocks that I think there needs to be a powerhead blowing across the BB glass from the side. I've currently got a tunze 6095 on the back right and a maxspect xf330 on the top left end. I think flow is good but it doesn't hit everywhere in the tank. These are what my rocks look like by the way.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

Get a tuxedo urchin. It will help. But it will prohibit coraline growth. Manual removal is key. Small tanks are tough if you start with dry rock. No tangs.

 

[t5Nitro]

I would agree go for a tuxedo, OP. I added one to my tank a few days ago. Many are captive bred and they come golf ball sized. I'm thinking of adding another to my tank, but I think one should definitely be part of your crew.

 

[KaidenGilbert20g]

My honest opinion. Your lighting schedule is way too long. I had the same problem. I reduced it to 6 to 7 hours a day. Only blues, Added T5 hybrid lights to my kessil and reduced the hybrid lights to about 5 hours a day. I’ve also added GFO with the carbon and I have seen a huge difference in the algae growth. It has minimized and I’m running the bare minimum on CUC. I left 2 patches of GHA to see progress. It has not grown beyond what they already at. It has kept my algae at bay. I’ve also had to do a manual removal of the GHA and it hasn’t come back since reducing my lights
Are you directly feeding any reef roids or just pellets or frozen food?

I will reduce my light to about 6 hours

 

[KaidenGilbert20g]

Get a tuxedo urchin. It will help. But it will prohibit coraline growth. Manual removal is key. Small tanks are tough if you start with dry rock. No tangs.

Is that ok for corals and fish

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

I run my peak for 6 hours (T5s). Then my primes work the ramp up and ramp down.