Help ?! Can’t figure out how to get algae under control .

Tdunn8691

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DC Reefer

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Welcome to R2R!!!

On the algae, can you provide the following:
1 Age of tank and if started with dry rock or live rock
2 Parameter
Nitrate
Phosphate
Salinity
Alkalinty
Calcium
Magnesium
 
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Thales

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Get some kind of external filter and scrape all the algae off the glass and rocks. Net out as much as you can, or remove it by hand before you scrape, and then let the filter take care of the rest (you may have to clean the filter several times over the course of the next 2 days or so). Then look at getting some snails and urchins to keep it mowed down. I did this recently to a full blown sps tank and there was no problem with floating algae damaging the coral.

The general wisdom is that you can control algae by controlling nutrient parameters, but since we see many tanks with high nutrients and no algae and many tanks with low nutrients and algae, I think that wisdom is easy to understand but isn't really useful. Herbivores can do their job if you set them up for success by you being the first 'herbivore' and mowing the algae down so the other herbivores can go to work.
 
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ScootScoot

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I hate algae ... with a passion . Experienced this same issue possibly a bit worse on the bright side can easily be combatted ! I made a dumb mistake by having bubbles from my HOB filter blowing around from power head, definitely make sure there’s no oxygen bubbles floating around the tank cause that’ll feed it like wildfire .. just keep scrubbing like they said up there ! Get some nice big snails that got an appetite and hope it’ll be gone soon ! When I had it bad I literally netted my the whole top layer of my substrate out , not sure if I’d recommend but it helps to get your CUC to focus on areas that are difficult to get at by hand I.E rocks and such . Hope it helps ..... I hate algae .... a lot
 
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ramullins86

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You can try going dark for a couple of days. I use Red Sea algae management an it works great at keeping leaves good which helps keep the algae down
 
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rob taft

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I have had worse. It all comes from in my case overfeeding. In my case, I dosed Vibrant and Red Sea NoPox and scrubbed the rock as well as manually removed if from the walls of the aquarium using a test tube brush or my fingers. When I do a water change, I tape a tooth brush to the end of the siphon hose so I could scrub the rock and remove the algae at the same time. Vibrant while in my case did not kill the GHA , it did make it whispy and easier to remove. I still use NoPox and Vibrant on a regular schedule. I have also used Phosguard in a canister filer.

There is no easy way to remove it. In my opinion, you need to be proactive and remove it manually where you can and as soon as you see it. Also get some Mexican Turbo snails. While I haven't found anything that will eat the long algae that is growing in your picture i.e. you have to manually remove it. The snails do a good job of cleaning the rock.
 
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Pistondog

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Vibrant works. It is an algae eating bacteria.
Takes a month.
Will damage chaeto in refugium, if thats part of the system.
Emerald crabs help.
Have to fix the root cause.
Any windows nearby?
 
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Greg P

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Looks like you're going through new tank syndrome and will need to perform some maintenance. Scrubbing surfaces and siphoning out the crud is your best bet for now until you can balance your water parameters/get past the pains of a new tank.
 
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ScootScoot

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Yea it was terrible I’m still fighting random algae spots it’s taking over some of my coral , not sure if it’s the LFS rodi water now I am getting a new rodi system hopefully it clears up but it went from nice clean love rock everything happy and thriving to a nightmare in a few days . Not sure what to do
 
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Thales

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Yea it was terrible I’m still fighting random algae spots it’s taking over some of my coral , not sure if it’s the LFS rodi water now I am getting a new rodi system hopefully it clears up but it went from nice clean love rock everything happy and thriving to a nightmare in a few days . Not sure what to do

I think this is a case of correlation equalling (or not equalling) causation. Unless you are injecting O2, there can't be 'oxygen bubbles', just air bubbles, and air or oxygen bubbles don't cause algae. Can you give us a little more info of where that idea came from? Thanks
 
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ScootScoot

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I think this is a case of correlation equalling (or not equalling) causation. Unless you are injecting O2, there can't be 'oxygen bubbles', just air bubbles, and air or oxygen bubbles don't cause algae. Can you give us a little more info of where that idea came from? Thanks
Not quite sure , honestly After a bit more research , your statement seems to be true . Must have been phosphate levels or high nitrates then ?? All I remember is seeing the algae grabbing all the bubbles from splashing of HOB and power head moving it around . My algae has not grown crazy in my tank but as soon as that happened it took off . I’m sure it wasn’t the cause but I’m also 100% sure it did not help the issue lol
 
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tnewell

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Manually pluck the long pieces of gha out, then net the pieces floating around. Next bug mexican turbo snails, let me tell you, an absolute unit of a snail. Can clear your tank if you pluck in under 2-3 weeks.
 
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Uncle99

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LFS water is not always best.
If you have an algae problem, likely a light/phosphate/age issue, deprive algae of light and food, it dies.
Lower light, measure phosphate. Maintain 0.03-.1ppm.
For phosphate, I trust Hanna ULR only.
Use a GFO to mop up that phosphate, and remove when in range.
You can consider using vibrant, but it takes a month or two of weekly dosing, but worked well for me.
 
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HB AL

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Dosing nopox and bags of phosgaurd will help your situation. Remove as much as possible manually by hand and scrubbing rock to eliminate as much of the really thick stuff.
 
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Thales

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Not quite sure , honestly After a bit more research , your statement seems to be true . Must have been phosphate levels or high nitrates then ?? All I remember is seeing the algae grabbing all the bubbles from splashing of HOB and power head moving it around . My algae has not grown crazy in my tank but as soon as that happened it took off . I’m sure it wasn’t the cause but I’m also 100% sure it did not help the issue lol
Algae can release bubbles.
Algae grows in reef environments. Setting up a reef is also sets up a perfect environment to grow algae. It is always around in our tanks, people just find an equilibrium where algae isn't dominant.
Nutrients can impact algal growth, but I think a lot of reefers chase numbers when direct action will address the problem.
 
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aggrofish

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In my case GHA was caused more high from TDS in my RODI water than nutrients. Once I added new resin to the RODI unit I did a few bigger than normal water changes, after about a week the algae started to come off the rocks. I cleaned what I could and adde two turbo snails. A week and a half later there was no algae. Increasing flow with an extra power head on the back glass keeps anything from settling on rock or sand.

I went through a lot of snails that literally do nothing. I have a few that I don’t know the name of. They have some weird claw that they use to flip themselves over. About once a week I flip them over to make sure they’re still alive. Turbo snails though...those things eat and eat and eat. Then they knock over every frag not glued down. They literally will run right over Zoas. They eat constantly, get full sit in the same spot for half a day and start eating again.
 
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ScootScoot

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Algae can release bubbles.
Algae grows in reef environments. Setting up a reef is also sets up a perfect environment to grow algae. It is always around in our tanks, people just find an equilibrium where algae isn't dominant.
Nutrients can impact algal growth, but I think a lot of reefers chase numbers when direct action will address the problem.
I appreciate your responses and insight , new to the hobby for around 5/6 months now , forever learning new tricks . I have realized that maybe the LFS rodi is my crutch . Getting myself a rodi system so I can make sure now it’s not the problem. Scrubbed rocks yesterday manually and changed floss after rinse and repeat I think the situation is a lot better now . My biggest issue was that when the algae grew on the sand it would overtake my favias and lps and just kill them :/ hopefully now that I have a better understanding things will get under control . Sorry to the OP for coming into your post like this just was having similar issues lol
 
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