Persistent Algea Help

[stayluckyy]

Hey everyone! this tank is about 11 months old and recently there has been a massive outbreak of this brown, stringy algea that sometimes has air bubbles trapped to it. therez 2 clownfish, one tailspot blenny, a turbo snail, chocolate chip starfish, and a small frag of xenia that hasnt been growing for the time ive had it. the only major changes in this tank was the lighting upgrade in early june. it has a canister filter with charcoal
specs:
45g
ai blade coral grow light
0 ppm ammonia
0ppm phosphate
0ppm nirate
0ppm nitrite
7.8 pH
40 ppm KH
80ppm TAL
100 GH
1.026 salinity

can someome point me in the right direction to fix this problem? thia is my first marine tank so any suggestions, criticism, or questions are welcome and encouraged. ive included photos of the algea and my light settings

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Its really hard to see in these pics, but it looks like hair algae.
I read that you have 'a' turbo snail, I would suggest to get more, when algae starts growing you should add more algae grazers.
Can you advise how often you change your water and how often you clean the filter? The filter does not 'export' nutrients out of the system, so organics and toxins and bad bacteria's would continue to build up.
How often do you feed and what type of food do you feed?

 

[stayluckyy]

Its really hard to see in these pics, but it looks like hair algae.
I read that you have 'a' turbo snail, I would suggest to get more, when algae starts growing you should add more algae grazers.
Can you advise how often you change your water and how often you clean the filter? The filter does not 'export' nutrients out of the system, so organics and toxins and bad bacteria's would continue to build up.
How often do you feed and what type of food do you feed?

yeah, sorry for the bad photos! i change the water every 2 week and clean the filter at least every week. i feed them once a day with the marine flakes from omega one i occasionally feed the star a piece of silverside and the fish pick at whatever is left

 

[saltwaterfish.com Verified Sponsor]

I would cut down on the lights by at least 2 hours and increase ramp time to 2 hours, and lower the intensity of the lights to 70% royal blue, 70% blue, and 10% white. How much water do you take out when you do water changes?

 

[stayluckyy]

I would cut down on the lights by at least 2 hours and increase ramp time to 2 hours, and lower the intensity of the lights to 70% royal blue, 70% blue, and 10% white. How much water do you take out when you do water changes?

noted! ill adjust the lighting. i change about 15-20% every 2 weeks or so

 

[get-salty]

- 0ppm phosphate
- 0ppm nirate
You're bottoming out.. not good.

Which brand of test kit are you using ?

 

[stayluckyy]

- 0ppm phosphate
- 0ppm nirate
You're bottoming out.. not good.

Which brand of test kit are you using ?

I'm using the api reef master test kit and a random aquarium test strip from amazon. ive been trying to get the nirate and phosphate up but im (obviously) not getting any results

 

[get-salty]

This is what i would do asap.

- lower your lights intensity and hrs.
- Invest in test kits like Hanna or Salifert for saltwater.
- Test your water

You may need to dose po4. Brightwell Aquatics makes NeoPhos.
I think there's another post here right now on low nutrients.

Try feeding pellets and broadcast feed your tank with Reef-roids coral food - it will def boost po4 a bit.

 

[stayluckyy]

This is what i would do asap.

- lower your lights intensity and hrs.
- Invest in test kits like Hanna or Salifert for saltwater.
- Test your water

You may need to dose po4. Brightwell Aquatics makes NeoPhos.
I think there's another post here right now on low nutrients.

Try feeding pellets and broadcast feed your tank with Reef-roids coral food - it will def boost po4 a bit.

alrighty i just bought salifert nirate, phosphate tests, and i have some neophos from a friend. ill try them out once they come in

 

[W31Olds]

I wouldn't Dose anything just yet. Your Nitrate and Phosphate are likely zero because the Algae is consuming all available to grow. I would manually remove it from your Tank and wait for the water to clear or say 24 hr.'s and then retest. You should see measurable numbers. When it gets this bad manual removal is the best option.

 

[mcarroll]

There is a chocolate chip starfish, so I assume that means no corals.

If there are no corals, just turn out the lights until the algae is gone. Manually remove all that you can as well.

When the algae is gone, cosider getting a regular fish tank light – it will grow almost no algae by comparison.