Ending the battle of algae

[Tango2]

So I'm near my wits end in battling algae in my tank. I'm doing everything I can currently do, so I'm considering bringing in some big guns. My main problems are bubble algae and a short green algae that is a mix between almost turf-like in some areas and wiry in others. Neither are the typical green hair algae. I know the foxface or some tangs can be effective, but my tank is a 45 cube, so neither are ideal solutions.

I've tried everything short of tearing the tank down and acid dipping the rock. I'm currently doing ~2 g daily water changes via an auto water change setup, running GFO/carbon reactor and skimming. RO/DI is the only water that enters the tank.

I've been reading more on urchins, and it sounds as if they could be promising. Although they eat coralline algae, I don't have much on my rocks now because it is typically covered in a thin layer of green algae all the time. If the urchins also eat bubble algae, as I've heard they often do, as it stands the all-you-can-eat buffet is open for business.

Oh, and manual removal has put big dents in it, but there is so much BA in areas that are inaccessible by me that I feel it is almost pointless.

Any recommendations on a good urchin to pick up, or other advice that I may have overlooked?

 

[RMS18]

The biggest thing you over looked is peroxide. First off do you have your nutrients under control? You need to take out a couple of rocks a few days apart, scrub them and hit the infected areas with peroxide and let it sit for 15min. I was in your same spot not to long ago with bryopsis. Nothing eats it and no anti algae product works for it. So I started taking out rocks, yes it was a pain because one rock pulled and all the rocks would collapse. But with each treatment less and less is growing back. I have done 2 treatments so far.

 

[watchguy123]

Don't know what your tank parameters are like nitrates and phosphates , and don't know if or how you check your ro/di water. Assuming no problems there, have you considered a clean up crew like snails and emerald crabs.

 

[Tango2]

My current readings are in the neighborhood of .02 - .03 Po4, and No3 is undetectable with my current test kit. I have another on order that I will be double checking this with. My RO/DI measures about 3-5 TDS pre-DI and 0 TDS coming out.

I originally added a cuc, and had quite a few die since added, but have a mix of nassarius, Astraea, nerite and lately added 3 Mexican turbos. They all stay busy, but I don't see any real progress made by them. I currently have one emerald crab after loosing a few that wouldn't touch the bubble algae.

 

[saltykid96]

Grab a squad of emerald crabs for the bubble algae, as long as your nitrates aren't too high

 

[RMS18]

My current readings are in the neighborhood of .02 - .03 Po4, and No3 is undetectable with my current test kit. I have another on order that I will be double checking this with. My RO/DI measures about 3-5 TDS pre-DI and 0 TDS coming out.

I originally added a cuc, and had quite a few die since added, but have a mix of nassarius, Astraea, nerite and lately added 3 Mexican turbos. They all stay busy, but I don't see any real progress made by them. I currently have one emerald crab after loosing a few that wouldn't touch the bubble algae.

I would bring the levels down more, the algea you have is consuming nutrients that are not showing on your tests. I would skip the cuc if this has been on going for a while now and if your at that breaking point. Your tank is not that big. Try taking out 2 rocks tonight or tomorrow, scrub them with a plastic bristle brush and hit the areas with peroxide and let it sit for 10min before rinsing off with rodi and putting back into the tank. I promise you this will work, it has been my savor with bryopsis.

 

[Tango2]

I had 3, not sure if it was the wrong variety or what, but they dabbled in the BA, but never put a hurting on it like I hoped they would have. I don't want to overstock and have anything starve so I've been trying to go slow with increases as to not overpopulate.

My current rock structure is held together by a series of rods, so it's not as easy as just taking one out and replacing it. If it was, I probably would have already done that. I did have a quick run-in with bryopsis, but that was remedied by increasing my mag levels.

I'm also running a fuge with chaeto, and it grows like a weed but doesn't seem to help too much.

 

[RMS18]

I had 3, not sure if it was the wrong variety or what, but they dabbled in the BA, but never put a hurting on it like I hoped they would have. I don't want to overstock and have anything starve so I've been trying to go slow with increases as to not overpopulate.

My current rock structure is held together by a series of rods, so it's not as easy as just taking one out and replacing it. If it was, I probably would have already done that. I did have a quick run-in with bryopsis, but that was remedied by increasing my mag levels.

I'm also running a fuge with chaeto, and it grows like a weed but doesn't seem to help too much.

Mag didn't work for me that's how bad it was, but peroxide worked over night, literally. I would figure out a way to take the rocks out, or drain the water levels so you can spot treat the rocks. Emerald crabs are not guaranteed to work with BA. Have you tried API Algeafix for the hair? That worked very well for me to get it under control once my Po4 and po3 were good. Also for the BA get a syringe fill it with peroxide and stick it into each bubble and inject a little. It is very time consuming if you have a lot of BA but will work very well. Good luck.

 

[Tango2]

I'm going to have to get pictures of the amount of bubble algae scattered around my tank. I recently saw a reef keeping article on BA types, but forget which type I have. It's the one that forms many bubbles attached around a center bubble. They are mostly small bubbles.

Has anyone introduced an urchin with success?

 

[Tango2]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php

Valonia aegagropila and Valonia macrophysa I believe are what I'm dealing with the most.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Mag didn't work for me that's how bad it was, but peroxide worked over night, literally. I would figure out a way to take the rocks out, or drain the water levels so you can spot treat the rocks. Emerald crabs are not guaranteed to work with BA. Have you tried API Algeafix for the hair? That worked very well for me to get it under control once my Po4 and po3 were good. Also for the BA get a syringe fill it with peroxide and stick it into each bubble and inject a little. It is very time consuming if you have a lot of BA but will work very well. Good luck.

+1 to bmwm235i. Peroxide is your best bet, it will eradicate the algae overnight. It's a pain but it works. If you really want to get rid of the algae, set aside a few hours on a weekend to do what bmw says and you'll be algae free almost overnight.