What is a sure fire way of irradiating algae from your tank?

[James_O]

Hey guys! Just wondering if you have tips or tricks for completely getting rid of algae in a system. I’ve already done a strip clean, but it keeps coming back on my sand bed. Could overfeeding cause it? Too much light? Wrong spectrum?

Please comment below if you have advice!

 

[vetteguy53081]

For me-
Lights out and proper clean up crew. Best algae snails for me have been:
Turbo grazer
astrea
cerith
nerite
trochus

for hair algae:

Turbo grazers
astrea
pin cushion urchin
dollabella sea hare
Emerald crab (which I dont trust)
tiny carribean blue leg hermits

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Hey guys! Just wondering if you have tips or tricks for completely getting rid of algae in a system. I’ve already done a strip clean, but it keeps coming back on my sand bed. Could overfeeding cause it? Too much light? Wrong spectrum?

Please comment below if you have advice!

Reef tanks are very forgiving, but you can definitely over feed and allow too much light.
over feeding can be taken care of by water change. You may need to feed your tank multiple times a day because you house fish that demand that. A good protein skimmer. And not just a good p. s. But one that is producing a lot of crap!
Lights: knock them down until you get the algae under control. Your corals need maybe 6 hour of good light. Like of the reef 9:00am. to 3:00 pm. Good light hours. Before 9:00 am. and after 3:00 pm. not so much. The sun is ramping up and down if you will. Vetteguy mentioned cuc. They are busy working while you’re at work or asleep. The same goes for gfo, phosgard etc. Have things working for you when you’re not around. Turkey baster your rocks until they’re clean. Gravel vac (deep) your sand or gravel. Nuisance algae’s need light and nutrients. Also don’t over feed. Good luck.

 

[James_O]

I unfortunately don’t have a PS because the tank is only 29 gallons.

I do think over feeding might be one of my main problems, and I should keep that in check.

Could occasional exposure to sunlight cause a quick flair up in algae on the sand bed?

 

[legionofdoon]

Urchins are without a doubt the number one algae eliminator, all algae including coraline. The collector variety are a PITA because they will pull whatever frag you like the most and wear it as a hat. I've never been successful with emeralds. Sunlight will cause algae to bloom but in my experience it's usually on the glass. Try using turf scrubber if you don't have room for a fuge or skimmer. There are DIY ones that you can put on the back wall behind the rockwork. It's basically an opaque box with a airstone for water movement and and external led light source and a piece of knitting mesh.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I unfortunately don’t have a PS because the tank is only 29 gallons.

I do think over feeding might be one of my main problems, and I should keep that in check.

Could occasional exposure to sunlight cause a quick flair up in algae on the sand bed?

Even diffuse sunlight can cause problems. I’ve maintained a 300 gallon tank in an office and all throughout the year there was no algae issues but as the seasons progressed the position of the sun changed and by winter algae in that tank became a problem. This particular tank was only getting about 2-3 hours of morning sunlight hitting it. Needless to say we shut the blinds for 3+ months.

 

[kittenbritches]

Emerald crab (which I dont trust)

One of my urchins is now wearing my emerald's claw as a hat. I wondered why I hadn't seen him lately.

I unfortunately don’t have a PS because the tank is only 29 gallons.

What's up top looking like for you? Do you have a hood, or could you do a HOB? I picked up a little one on Amazon and it did a great job.

 

[Udest]

Yup a good cleanup crew also flow is a big one too at least for me I had cyano bad because I didn't have enough flow.

 

[Spieg]

Unfortunately algae is just part of the game in a reef tank. No real way to eradicate it. Best you can do is minimize it and find ways to remove what does show up. Most common types are not a big deal but some can be a real PITA, so be careful with what you add to the tank (frags, snails, rocks, etc... can have pest algae attached to them).

 

[GHOSTLY]

You said it in the title. Fire

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I unfortunately don’t have a PS because the tank is only 29 gallons.

I do think over feeding might be one of my main problems, and I should keep that in check.

Could occasional exposure to sunlight cause a quick flair up in algae on the sand bed?

Well James you have a bit of an advantage over say someone like myself. You have a 29 gallon tank I have a 180 gallon tank. Even though you don’t have a skimmer and I do, you can easily perform large water changes ….. like 10 gallons or 30% and replace trace elements that are being sucked out by my skimmer. My 30 % water change is 70 gallons because I have sump as well to consider. Protein skimmers are believed to strip out trace elements. I dose two part. So I’m putting them back in but you’re not in a bad place because you don’t have a skimmer. My gut is telling me that your tank is just not established yet. And don’t think that is nothing. It’s really a coming of age key to success in this hobby. Hang in there bro!

 

[Spare time]

Could you list your numbers, tank filter style, how often you clean the filters, what is in the filter, what you feed and how often?

 

[Scorpius]

You want some algae in a reef tank. I would look at improving the quality of good bacteria to outcompete the bad guys.

 

[Just John]

One of my urchins is now wearing my emerald's claw as a hat. I wondered why I hadn't seen him lately.

Picture please!

 

[r20crazy]

only way i know to make algae go away is to remove all water from the system and leave it dry, forever

 

[kittenbritches]

Picture please!

 

[ZoWhat]

Become a MASTER of input/export. The only #s I watch 3times a week is no3/po4.

* My feeding regiment is stable with Phosphate free food that I RESEARCHED and verified....

* I vodka dose to maintain no3 at <5ppm

* I dose LaCl ONLY ONLY ONLY when po4 rises above 0.1

* I make sure my skimmer is CLEANED once a week and it's skimming very wet.

Research read research read on how to become a msster of input/export of everything in your water column

Algae will starve with no3 below 2ppm and po4 less than 0.1

 

[MaxTremors]

I think what might be causing it is that your CuC is inadequate. I would definitely get a fighting conch, it will keep your sand stirred and clean. And then for your rocks/glass you need a variety of snails, I recommend 0.5-0.75 per gallon (tank size not actual water volume), so you need 15-22 snails and then on top of that 8-15 hermits. I’ve got some cladophora (though it’s going away finally), but I’ve got zero GHA or other algaes, and it’s mostly because I’ve got a good CuC.

Aside from that running really white or red light, having high and/or unbalanced nutrients, and also just having an immature tank. I think a lot of what you’re seeing is part of the maturing process.

If after correcting or ruling out everything mentioned, and the issue is GHA or bryopsis, you could try running some fluconazole, I ran some (still running low dose) and it was pretty effective, with no negative effects on coral (the dying algae will cause a nutrient spike, so be prepared for that).

One other thing, and it’s not going to directly affect the algae, but will help prevent it in the future by removing organics which break down in nitrates/phosphates, is a skimmer. It’s not something that I think is necessary on tanks as small as ours (30g is right on edge of where I think you can get away without one), but it will definitely help I’m running a skimmer, and definitely helps keep nutrients down. There are several quality HOB skimmers that would work well on your tank.

I think the starting point would be beefing up your CuC (including the conch, they’re like $6), keeping nutrients in check, cutting down on white lighting, and giving it a couple months,

 

[ahiggins]

hermits all day every day. Little algae eating machines lol
Keep nutrients low ish and get a ton or hermits for maintenance plus manual removal. Turbo snails for heavy outbreaks

 

[Just John]

Thanks! Both hilarious and amazing! Of course it wasn't my crab