Losing the year long battle with algae

[brandon429]

Having six examples of file for completed tank restorations should help the choice for best approach

 

[rtparty]

It’s never about the lights…my tiny system is lite with 2 plant grow lights totaling 165W @ 5500k and 2 reef lights totaling 110W @ 14k for ~12 hours per day. Algae control is maintenance and nutrient driven.

It’s never about the nutrients. I can show you dozens of tanks running ultra high nutrients and no algae issues

Algae is always a lack of predation. Finding the right predator is often the hardest battle

To the OP, you need to seriously beef up your CUC and I would start with Mexican turbo snails. They seem to be one of the most reliable for hair algae

 

[CHSUB]

It’s never about the nutrients

So why purposely run nutrients high? I can find examples of “zero”, low, and high nutrient tanks, some with algae problems and some without. What I can, for certain is follow science.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html

 

[brandon429]

What fixes other people's tanks is often opposite of what fixes ours. That's why having fix examples for other people's tanks matters. And that's why earning those examples is so tough.

Lighting power will be first thing we alter here, if he wants the results listed.

We do changes from the clean condition not the invaded one. We show how to get the clean condition the right way, not the partial way. Most invaded tank owners will not choose to work, they want an additive or an animal to do it for them. Getting the tank owner to be willing is the hard part, not the results.

 

[CHSUB]

Lighting power will be first thing we alter here, if he wants the results listed

Of course lowering lights will limit, kill nuisance algae….but is that learning how to maintain a reef tank that requires powerful lighting?

 

[rtparty]

So why purposely run nutrients high? I can find examples of “zero”, low, and high nutrient tanks, some with algae problems and some without. What I can, for certain is follow science.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html

Ah yes the old excess algae from man made highly polluted areas.

The areas where excessive algae takes off from polluted runoff always comes from nature was at balance and something (usually humans) completely skewed it and nature couldn’t catch up. The algae explodes in growth because the predators were not in place to handle the explosive growth. Yes, algae needed a fuel source (light and nutrients) to start growing at an exponential rate but that only happens because the balance was shifted and shifted too fast.

The same thing happens in our systems. The balance isn’t there AKA not enough herbivores or not the right herbivores.

I am not advocating for zero nutrient control. We should aim for quality water. However, keeping nutrients as close to 0 as possible has shown to be far more detrimental than helpful in the vast majority of systems. This story is decades old at this point.

Should the OP try to keep “clean” water? Absolutely. Will stripping all nitrogen and phosphate from the water solve this issue? Yep, and will it will kill a ton of good micro fauna in the process as well. To starve algae means starving everything. Something else will fill the void. Usually dinos.

A much simpler approach is to do a large water change, take all rocks out and scrub them in the old water and add a large clean up crew with the proper herbivores. This will accomplish many things at once. It gets a lot of the long algae out so the CUC will eat the shorter and newer growth. It also helps with any excessive nutrients that may be present. It will help remove toxins, organic and inorganic compounds, and give the system a nice “reset” for the good guys to win

 

[CHSUB]

In my experience, 10 ppm nitrates and .1 phosphate are not harmful.

I agree. I’m suggesting and advising vigorous cleaning and maintenance, which may lower nutrients as a result.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

OP, it's time to bring in the big guns.

The mighty Pitho crabs:
https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/pitho-crab

Pincushion urchin aka the lawnmower of the sea:

https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/invertebrates/the-pincushion-sea-urchin-a-beginners-best/

I would order 5-6 pithos, and 1 urchin, and give them 3-4 weeks.

 

[reefpanda]

I would stop with the phyto dosing

 

[CHSUB]

A much simpler approach is to do a large water change, take all rocks out and scrub them in the old water and add a large clean up crew with the proper herbivores. This will accomplish many things at once. It gets a lot of the long algae out so the CUC will eat the shorter and newer growth. It also helps with any excessive nutrients that may be present. It will help remove toxins, organic and inorganic compounds, and give the system a nice “reset” for the good guys to win

Exactly what I’m suggesting…op also has to learn proper management, imo, otherwise in a month or two he will be back again with overgrowth of algae.

 

[ryshark]

Look into lyngbya, make sure it’s not that. That stuff is the worst. @AJ_Daubz

 

[pooootiqe]

The NO3 / PO4 numbers we measure are always the "flux" - input minus output. Right now GHA is doing the majority of the output. If very effective CUCs are introduced, I bet the nutrient numbers will skyrocket if the current feeding regime is kept the same.

Just a speculation: successful high nutrient tanks likely have much higher density of corals as the "output", and plenty of grazers that algae is quickly consumed and the nutrients recycled for coral use...

 

[Darstar301]

I wanted to share my experience with my 150-gallon tank and my battle with hair algae over the past year. I spent hundreds of dollars on clean-up crews, changed all the light settings, scrubbed the rocks daily, and did 10%-20% water changes weekly. The only thing that worked was adding an algae scrubber to grow the hair algae in a different place.

 

[CHSUB]

Just a speculation: successful high nutrient tanks likely have much higher density of corals as the "output", and plenty of grazers that algae is quickly consumed and the nutrients recycled for coral use...

Imo, not speculation but accurate. I would only add that corals limit real estate for algae and an experienced reefer is required that is employing good management.

 

[CHSUB]

clean-up crews

scrubbed the rocks daily, and did 10%-20% water changes weekly

algae scrubber

Except changing the lights, maybe it was a combination of all this? Also some other things you didn’t list like time and lack of “real estate” for algae?

 

[bubbgee]

I wonder if you have byropsis. Not many of the cuc will eat it if it is, and there are remedies that will take care of it in a few days such as Reef Flux or Flux rx.

I agree.. that looks like my nightmare for a year as well. Reef Flux and Aquaforest Life Source helped me solved that.

 

[Entity77]

Fundamentals:
Light+nutrients = coral or algae
Light + no nutrients = nothing grows
No lights + nutrients = no photosynthetic coral or algae will grow (NPS and sponges will grow)

So, easiest way to prevent algae is to cover any areas exposed to light with coral. So load up your tank with corals. This is the exact same tactic utilized in freshwater planted aquariums, load up on plants to outcompete algae. Otherwise you need algae control. If you have FOWLR, do extreme nutrient export, so that you can light the tank without significant algae issues.

 

[bubbgee]

OP, it's time to bring in the big guns.

The mighty Pitho crabs:
https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/pitho-crab

Pincushion urchin aka the lawnmower of the sea:

https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/invertebrates/the-pincushion-sea-urchin-a-beginners-best/

I would order 5-6 pithos, and 1 urchin, and give them 3-4 weeks.

Yup. Heavy artillery team will mow down those. But, also a caveat, if the algae isn't to their liking, they won't work. Need to ID the algae as well.

 

[ryshark]

Yup. Heavy artillery team will mow down those. But, also a caveat, if the algae isn't to their liking, they won't work. Need to ID the algae as well.

Yeah, I don’t think it’s hair algae.

 

[pooootiqe]

Anecdotally live rock and live sand (TBS or Gulf) seem much harder for hair algae to root on compared to mined aragonite. Not sure why exactly, might be some “Microbiome” magic going on…