Relentless Algae!

EdansClownHouse

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Hey everyone, I have a relentless algae problem...mostly hair algae, along with red slime algae that keeps coming back. I have done absolutley everything I can think of and the problem persists.

My tank is 70 gallons with an Orphek LED lighting system
Weekly water changes 15 gallons / RODI Water Only
Once a month I add beneficial bacteria (Microblift Marine)
Change Filter sock twice a week
Feed small amounts so there is not much excess
Clean out protein skimmer once a week
Bio Pellet reactor in full swing
Emporer UV Lighting 25 watt on 24/7
Sea Hair

Does anyone have real HELP?! :squigglemouth:
 

fsu1dolfan

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Hey everyone, I have a relentless algae problem...mostly hair algae, along with red slime algae that keeps coming back. I have done absolutley everything I can think of and the problem persists.

My tank is 70 gallons with an Orphek LED lighting system
Weekly water changes 15 gallons / RODI Water Only
Once a month I add beneficial bacteria (Microblift Marine)
Change Filter sock twice a week
Feed small amounts so there is not much excess
Clean out protein skimmer once a week
Bio Pellet reactor in full swing
Emporer UV Lighting 25 watt on 24/7
Sea Hair

Does anyone have real HELP?! :squigglemouth:

I dealt with the same kind of issue but i technically caused a small crash with my tank last year. As i was trying to rebound, the RODI water i was using was not good which held me back from fully recovering. Once all of that was corrected over the past 6 months, i have recently been using Dr. Tim's Waste Away (3rd dose this last Saturday). I'm not calling it a miracle product but i have seen a dramatic difference in the short time i have been using it. I am still keeping up with frequent water changes and manually removing gunk everytime i do. Over the last 3 weeks though it has stopped coming back and i can actually see my rock again.

FYI - I also tried the MICROBE-LIFT/Special Blend before switching to Dr. Tim's but saw little results. Then again maybe it has helped just delayed. no clue...just happy with the end result.
 

fraggingfish

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Different algaes are tell tale signs of growth.

Coraline is more established
Green is excess nutrients
Brown is just a cycle phase

All others such as Bubble, Bryopsis, Green Hair, Waffers etc, are usually imported.
 
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EdansClownHouse

EdansClownHouse

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Thanks everyone. I'm glad to hear about the Dr. Tim's waste away. I went to Microblift products because their products have been amazing in my freshwater pond and no one can touch their results...So I thought the same would true be with their Reef products...so far, I have not had that great of results with any of their reef products. I forgot to mention my tank it 8 months old...I have Lots of Coraline algae...I have to work every week on the glass to keep it at bay. I also hand remove the hair algae every week....I never get all of it...but I get most of it. I just purchased an RODI unit and I will be having it installed in the next couple of weeks...when I find someone to install it for me. I purchased the Microblift Reef Salt...hopefully it is a good one...it sounds like it is. Also, I have tried killing the lights to just 5 hrs a day and there was no difference that I could tell at all in 2 weeks time. I see other people who have there lights 12on 12 off and they do not have a spec of algae....so I know there has to be something I am missing.
 

cdness

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I have never herd of the Microblift salt. I'd stick to a mainstream brand of salt myself. At 8 months old and just now getting an RODI unit can I assume you've been using treated tap water? If so your algae issues will go away with time. Let it get established and stop throwing stuff at it so it can stabilize. Remember nothing good comes fast in this hobby...

Regarding the lights, it only tanks a very short amount of light to keep the algae growing. Even ambient light from the room or a window can do it. Turn off the lights and stop feeding for 2 days. Cover the tank glass with a blanket to stop all light. Leave it like this to kill off the algae. This will not get rid of it 100% but it will stunt the growth and maybe even get it to recede.
 
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EdansClownHouse

EdansClownHouse

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I have 10 hermit crabs, 70 cerith snails, 25 of the bumble bee snails, 10 turbo snails, and another 20 snails that I cannot remeber the name of right now. I have been using RODI water from my local aquarium store not tap water. Good question though ;)
 

Pkunk35

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I have 10 hermit crabs, 70 cerith snails, 25 of the bumble bee snails, 10 turbo snails, and another 20 snails that I cannot remeber the name of right now. I have been using RODI water from my local aquarium store not tap water. Good question though ;)

So your husbandry and habits sound good, your source water sounds like it has always be RO/DI, must be something else then...

If your bio pellet reactor is working well, how could you have algae growth like that in your tank? Shouldn't the bacteria in the reactor be consuming the nutrients that the algae need? Perhaps the pellets are providing too much of a carbon source for the current bacteria populations to consume? Maybe try Microbacter7 to boost the populations?

Just a guess. Hope it helps.
 
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EdansClownHouse

EdansClownHouse

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Thanks for the advice. Yes...it is weird that my bio pellet reactor is spinning very well with Dr. Tim's pellets in it. I did not know about Microbacter7....I will definately give this a try, along with the Dr. Tim's waste away product. I will do a huge water change next Monday use the Dr. Tim's One and Only to restablish the environment and let you guys know if things improve.
 

Mufasa31

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Although some do not like hermit crabs, I've had good success with hermits from ReefCleaners.org.
 
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