HELP: Algae control

[JayD976]

My live rock has been completely consumed by what looks like green hair algae and some kinda red algae any suggestions how to combat it? My params are normal the only test i dont have is phosphate, but i just recently added phosban into one of my filters. I have some snails and dwarf hermit crabs in there. The only fish is a perc clown, I was thinking of adding a sailfin algae blennie. Perhaps adding a protein skimmer and maybe a UV sterilizer will help? Its a small 29gallon tank which doesnt help making it harder too control water params with that size of a tank (its a mature tank of about 2-3years).

[ralphie]

First off, WELCOME

Can you post what the results of your tests were? Can you get a fish store to run a phosphate test for you?

What is your makeup water? Tap? Ro/DI Water?

What is your substrate in your tank? If is crushed coral, where was the last time you vacuumed it?

What kind of filters do you have? Do they have sponges on it? If so, when was the last time you rinsed them. Sponges on filters need to be cleaned constantly to avoid becoming a nitrate factory and thus fueling algae growth. FYI, I have removed all sponges on my tank.

What kind of food do you feed? Certain types of food contain high levels of phosphates and thus fuel algae growth? If you feed frozen, do you pour the thawed water into the tank? It is generally not to pour the thawed water into the tank because it usually contains high levels of phosphates which fuel algae growth.

A protein skimmer would help, but remember most protein skimmers are over rated. So, generally you want to get one around 2x the tank size that it says it can handle.

[JayD976]

ammonia- 0ppm nitrite- 0ppm nitrate-0ppm

i use tap water unfortunately

in the tank i have "Aragramax" aragonite sand by Carib Sea. do water changers and vacuum once a week

my filtration i relied mostly on the live rock but just recently added a Marineland Penguin 200 biowheel with phosban for chemical filtration

as for feeding i usually feed once a day marine fish flakes

[ralphie]

I would say that your biggest problem is your tap water. I uses a cheap water conditioner for a while for my salt water tank. I ended up getting hair algae almost everywhere in my tank. It was waving in the breeze so to speak. After doing lots of research I ended up buying a Typhoon III from AirWaterIce due to their post customer support. I continue my water changes with RO/DI water and also siphoned out the hair algae as I did my water changes. It took a while, but eventually it all went away.

What kind of flake food are you using? What is the phosphate content? How often are you feeding?

I would get a phosphate test kit too.

[JayD976]

Yea that's pretty much what's going on in my tank growing everywhere swaying in the breeze. I pick at it and suck it up during water changes but its back full force by the next one

I'm not home right now ill look into the food later

[ralphie]

Sounds exactly what was going on with my tank. For my tank, the solution was mainly not using a cheap water filter, but using a RO/DI water. And, since you are on Long Island and you are using basically the same water I was using, I still think that is your problem.

The Phosban will help to reduce your phosphate, but you will be just adding more phosphate or other nasty stuff everytime you add tap water.

[JayD976]

i use the same water in all my tanks and this is the only one that had a massive outbreak although the others a 20gal freshwater and a 90gal oscar tank

[ralphie]

Are all the tanks the same age?

[KDodds]

Marine tank can be a bit different in their maturation process than fresh water tanks. The algae blooms are virtually guaranteed, and alarmingly profuse to the uninitiated. Rarely do you see, for instance, newly set up fresh water tank with a profuse and dense growth of beard or hair algae (planted tanks, maybe, if overfertilization is occuring). Really, IMO, you can chalk this up more to marine diversity and the toughness of resilience of some marine organisms over others. Really, in marine "reef areas", you see the same things happening that you see in our tanks. When a stretch of coral is laid waste be a storm or other catastrophic event, algae colonize rapidly. With the algae then, come algavorous fishes and invertebrates, followed by the organisms that consume them, and, of course, the ever-present repopulation by corals. So, in tank, providing the same conditions, while impossible in all details, can be accomplished. The aquarist is usually the "algavorous species", "consuming" the algae overgrowth and removing it from the system. However, if the tank is large enoough, a truly algavorous/omnivorous fish species can be very beneficial in terms of helping the aquarist to control this initial blooming. There are only two fish I would seriously recommend for this purpose, the Kole's Tang and the Onespot Foxface Rabbitfish. However, if the tank is not at least 75 gallons, I would consider neither of these and would simply remove what I could, preferably daily, until the problem is under control.

[JayD976]

the 20gal freshwater is about 4yrs old the 90gal oscar tank is about 3yrs n the saltwater is arnd 2-3yrs old. i picked up a algae blennie 4 turbo snails and some more hermits today. They are being acclimated right now