At my Wits End with Algae Problems...

[Stuart McCowan]

I am suffering through an outbreak of nasty algae. I pull the rocks out...scruba-dub-dub them off with a tooth brush. I have a TON of macros in my sump and they are growing wonderfully...but they must not be taking enough out.
Water Info:
Temp 80 degrees
pH 8.4 evening, 8.1 Morning.
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Phosphate 0
I don't know what else to do...I have 25 or so mini hermits but they seem to leave this particular algae alone...
It is driving me nuts...it is overgrowing my green polyps and star polyps... so far it has left my colt and leather alone...
At my wits end...

 

[Anonymous]

Drip kalk. And prune, prune, prune.

Algae growth does indicate too many nutrients though. Are you over feeding?

 

[Stuart McCowan]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by tangirl:
<strong>Drip kalk. And prune, prune, prune.

Algae growth does indicate too many nutrients though. Are you over feeding?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Actually I am feeing VERY lightly...just a pinch of flake every 3 or 4 days....and live brinies every 2 weeks or so...

 

[kevreh]

Are you using an RO filter? How about DeIonization?

 

[slojmn1]

Gotta figure there are to many nutrients being imported than being exported. I have a major macro algae problem and found that wiht the addition of the Marc Weiss Phosphate and Silicate magnate the stuff definately dies back for a while. It then comes back. I show no phosphates either. All the phosphates are being absorbed by the macro algaes thus showing up with 0 readings on test kit. The test kits are hard to read as well. I use RO/DI water and yet I have algae growth in both my reef tanks. I am prepared to try a new trick. I plan to use bottled water for 2 months, no RO/DI water from my house. If this continues to help get rid of the algae problem along with the phosphate magnet I will know my water is filled with phosphates despite the RO/DI kit and changing cartridges every 6 months. What a PITA, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The nutrients in your tank are feeding all of your macros even the undesireable ones. Look at your water source if you are feeding as lightly as you are.

 

[PCB]

Is it possible to not get good water even if you use a RO/DI system at home? I have a SpectraPure RO/DI system with new filters and cartridges (SP?), but have also been experiencing some problems with dark green carpet algae!

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

Are you using a phospahte test that can reliably measure near zero? So, it would be calibrated to read 0.01 ppm (and not 0.1ppm) at the lowest setting. The Salifert test being a good example.

Is it cyano bacteria and not algae at all? A picture or description of the "algae" would help.

If it grows feriously, covers everything, and comes off really easily then it's probably cyano.

It's not, errr, pink is it?

Snails are good for eating algae...

 

[SPC]

I'm with Golden, what kind of algae is it?
Steve

 

[PCB]

You might be on to something Golden. It is dark green in color, grows feriously, covers everything, and comes off really easily. So if it is cyano what can I do? Does it have anything to do with the RO/DI system? Will additional water changes help?

 

[Cinbutterfly]

Went through some algae problems, one year ago - if its cyno it's usually red - I had it in my refugium along with a bad outbreak of hair algae -used a reef safe chemical called red slime remover, now all is well. Also had the dinoflaggates which is stringing brown crap that traps bubbles in it - that's a form of the red tide and lost 4 fish with it. Try limiting your light if all else fails to get rid of your green algae. .

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

Well assuming you have a cyano outbreak then do a search on cyano threads - there's loads of them - it's such a common problem.

The red version is common - but it can be green too.

There's basically two schools of thought:
1. Do nothing (or little) and hope for the best.
2. Treat with an antibiotic.

Read up on people who have had success with each approach and then decide for yourself what approach to use.

There is common ground between these two diverse points of view. That is, if you don't fix the cause of the problem in the first place then you'll never be rid of the stuff long-term.

The antibiotic used is erythromycin. A single dose of 1 gram per 50 gallons will have it dead and washed away within about two days.

This stuff makes your skimmer go banannas. Best to turn it off to start of with.

It is reef safe IMO. However, one person on this board thinks they lost a candy-cane to it. I've seen no ill effrects with corals myself - in fact - no reaction at all.

It's available in several "fish" products, like the red-slime remover mentioned by Cinbutterfly. An alternative is to get a prescription from a Vet and then buy the human-grade version - that's far cheaper where I live.

Hell - do you get the feeling I fall into School 2?

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

What color is this stuff BTW? Best not to treat for a problem you don't have....

If it's brown then it could diatoms. They love silicate and grow - well - rather fast.

If you're not using DI water then you're never going to be rid of undesirable algae IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

If you can easily swish it away with water current or siphon it off, and it grows back quickly, and forms a dark green slime, then it is cyano.

I highly recommend the single dose of erythromycin. I had this on two separate occasions, and both times it cured the problem. One tank is my trigger tank and the water is full of nitrates and other nutrients. I have loads of algae, but no cyano for about a year now. I left my skimmer going. It didn't seem to hurt it but it foamed a lot.

 

[Stuart McCowan]

I went through my cyano bloom earlier...nasty stuff...but I didn't have anything in my tank but the rock and sand...it eventually went away after I added the macro's to my sump. This stuff looks and sounds like some variety of hair algae. I took ALL the rock out of my tank last night and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed until there was bare rock and no sign of that nasty algae left. Put everything back together, the only nice thing about it that it enabled me to verify all my critters, somehow I have 3 missing camel back shrimps. I also found a very interesting hermit that I did NOT purchase to put in my tank, it has one VERY large (well large for it's size it is only as big as my bigger red legs)white main claw and is kind of a golden color.
One More thing: I have a few spots of red/purple coraline but more of a GREEN variety, I pretty sure it is a green coraline since it has a very hard feel and is almost impossible to scrape off, and if I put the scraping in vinegar it bubbles (indicating the presence of calcium) Ok enough posting for now...

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

Sounds like you need some snails.

I use a snail known locally as a "cat's eye" - they eat everything except coraline.