What are ways I can get rid of algae other than a WC

[Tofu Brady]

hello I have a 20-gallon cube with 2 clowns a firefish and royal gramma I have been dealing with algae for a while now my tank is around ten months old now I do weekly WC 15-25% I feed every other day I have a ricordia and toadstool for softys and some sort micro mussa, Favia, favity what it is and a torch all of them have been more closed up (not fully just a lot shorter etc except the mushroom its a bit closed not much though and toadstool it's in the sand so it's not bothered by the algae) I have dosed around 3.5 tablespoons of 3% Hydrogen peroxide that seems to obliterate it easily if I spot treat it with a syringe. what other ways can work, thx for the help

 

[Babayaga]

Have you tried GFO or Chemipure Blue? I’ve had great results with GFO in a small reactor on my 30L

 

[BlennyTime]

Are you using RO/DI water? If not, switching to that might help. You could also consider a blackout period on the lights for a few days, that could help as well.

 

[Tofu Brady]

Have you tried GFO or Chemipure Blue? I’ve had great results with GFO in a small reactor on my 30L

Could that start dinos or something i havent tried any gfo’s ever

 

[Tofu Brady]

Are you using RO/DI water? If not, switching to that might help. You could also consider a blackout period on the lights for a few days, that could help as well.

I use 0 tds rodi and i buy my saltwater from my shop they use the red sea mix im starting a near black out should i do a full how would the corals react

 

[Babayaga]

Never seen GFO create dinos. Usually dinos is already in the system if you get it and are running GFO.

 

[BlennyTime]

I use 0 tds rodi and i buy my saltwater from my shop they use the red sea mix im starting a near black out should i do a full how would the corals react

I’d start with 2-3 days of full blackout. The corals will be fine for that period without light.

What lights are you using?

 

[Oldreefer44]

What are your water parameters? Excess algae is normally a symptom of an imbalance in your water. Lighting issues can also contribute to the issue.

 

[sdreef]

hello I have a 20-gallon cube with 2 clowns a firefish and royal gramma I have been dealing with algae for a while now my tank is around ten months old now I do weekly WC 15-25% I feed every other day I have a ricordia and toadstool for softys and some sort micro mussa, Favia, favity what it is and a torch all of them have been more closed up (not fully just a lot shorter etc except the mushroom its a bit closed not much though and toadstool it's in the sand so it's not bothered by the algae) I have dosed around 3.5 tablespoons of 3% Hydrogen peroxide that seems to obliterate it easily if I spot treat it with a syringe. what other ways can work, thx for the help

What do you have in terms of a clean up crew? What type of filtration do you use? It sounds like you have a reasonable bioload for your size tank and are performing nutrient export via consistent water changes.

 

[FIN&BONEZ]

nitrates? To low bad to high bad.

 

[Tofu Brady]

I’d start with 2-3 days of full blackout. The corals will be fine for that period without light.

What lights are you using?

The AI prime hd should i do a full black out?

 

[Tofu Brady]

What do you have in terms of a clean up crew? What type of filtration do you use? It sounds like you have a reasonable bioload for your size tank and are performing nutrient export via consistent water changes.

I have the weekly WC, filter floss, carbon, biomedia like 6-8 large trocis snails a tiny blue leged hermit and a blue tuxedo urchin

 

[sdreef]

I have the weekly WC, filter floss, carbon, biomedia like 6-8 large trocis snails a tiny blue leged hermit and a blue tuxedo urchin

You can certainly try things like a black out, but may not be a long term solution.

If you have algae on the rocks, you can add more to your CUC if it is exceeding what they are already consuming. You can take a look at nitrates and phosphates and consider adding media to remove phosphates.

Not sure what you are feeding, but I found thawing frozen food in RO and rinsing it in a brine shrimp net to be helpful in reducing unnecessary nutrients. A lot of variables to consider, but I would focus on reducing unnecessary nutrient important with cleaner food and natural ongoing methods of export like more snails. A skimmer might be helpful for filtration export too if that's an option.

 

[Tofu Brady]

You can certainly try things like a black out, but may not be a long term solution.

If you have algae on the rocks, you can add more to your CUC if it is exceeding what they are already consuming. You can take a look at nitrates and phosphates and consider adding media to remove phosphates.

Not sure what you are feeding, but I found thawing frozen food in RO and rinsing it in a brine shrimp net to be helpful in reducing unnecessary nutrients. A lot of variables to consider, but I would focus on reducing unnecessary nutrient important with cleaner food and natural ongoing methods of export like more snails. A skimmer might be helpful for filtration export too if that's an option.

Here are some pictures of it

 

[Miami Reef]

That’s hardly any algae!

I’m surprised people are recommending a blackout…what will that do? Your “algae” will just come right once you turn the lights back on.

Here’s the deal: you can’t select none. SOMETHING has to grow on your rocks. Whether it’s algae, coralline, sponges, bacteria etc.

No old tank will have the same appearance of that white dry rock.

I’d suggest some snails and also post your nitrates and phosphates. The good thing is that your tank is small. You DON’T want to starve out your tank with GFO.

Keep it simple.

 

[Tofu Brady]

That’s hardly any algae!

I’m surprised people are recommending a blackout…what will that do? Your “algae” will just come right once you turn the lights back on.

Here’s the deal: you can’t select none. SOMETHING has to grow on your rocks. Whether it’s algae, coralline, sponges, bacteria etc.

No old tank will have the same appearance of that white dry rock.

I’d suggest some snails and also post your nitrates and phosphates. The good thing is that your tank is small. You DON’T want to starve out your tank with GFO.

Keep it simple.

I have 7 snails a hermit a urchin my phos is .1-.03 my nitrate is 1.5-.8 ive added the purple helix coralline in a bottle should i get a tiny bit of live rock or something from my lfs they have no pests no aptasia nothing so could that add diversity and coraline i know i cant just have nothing on the rocks thx for the help

 

[Miami Reef]

Yes. Buying (even just one pound) of live rock is much better than any bottled product for biodiversity. I always recommend rocks over bottles for coralline algae.

What brand of salt do you use in your tank?

 

[Miami Reef]

What percentages are you running your ai primes? I’m more concerned about the slowly dying corals at this point.

Stop the H202 dosing. There’s no reason to believe that something that kills algae won’t also harm the bacteria and microbiome in your tank.

 

[pseudorand]

I agree with @Miami Reef that you have almost no algae in those pics.

You should also try the answer to most things in the hobby: patients. I had bad hair algae at about 10 months. Now at 2 years I have none (but I still have other types).

If you do get a lot, try just sucking it out. It worked for me here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/export-all-your-nutrients-with-this-one-easy-trick.783621/

 

[Tofu Brady]

Yes. Buying (even just one pound) of live rock is much better than any bottled product for biodiversity. I always recommend rocks over bottles for coralline algae.

What brand of salt do you use in your tank?

My brand is red sea my cal is 470 and my alk is 9.3