problem with red/purple algae

[Romulan]

Hi I have a 55 gallon reef tank, wet/dry filter 3-36w light canopy.
I only have two clowns, one wrasse, and one mandarin goby as well as one long tentacle anemone. Everything is going great in this tank (3 years) except now im suffering from some red algae growth caused by the tap water i used to use before i made this into a reef tank (used to be fish only/live rock) what can I do to get rid of red algae? i have tried taking the pieced out and scrubbing the algae off, also i have scrubbed the algae off while still in the tank...

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

Is it a red slimy algae that comes off easily or a hard algae that comes off in flakes?
The first is probaley a cyno bacteria that is easily controlled through nutrient export (ie less food going into the system, or better nutrient export via a skimmer, or water change).
The latter is coraline algae and is a good thing. Both topics are covered in detail through the search function.
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Religion discussion

 

[cyberpanther]

First thing here before you get flamed make sure when asking a question such as this you put your water parameters in ex: salinity 1.025 temp 80 ammonia 0ppm nitrate etc. Also what type of filtration do you have? Skimmer if so what kind? Filter? Anywhooz, try reducing the nutrient level in your tank. One way of many is to reduce frequency of feedings and the amount being fed each time. Another way is to reduce the amount of fish you have. Another is get something like a charcoal filter which will take some out and so on

 

[Romulan]

its not a flaky algae, its more slimey, is on the side of the glass also.
My water quality is great right now, i checked it yesterday and the only thing that was a little higher then normal was the ammonia... my nitrates are 10 salinity is 1.024 ph normal. ill try reducing the food intake of my fish, maybe I should only feed them twice a day, i been feeding them small portions numerous times a day, they are always hungry it seems.

 

[cyberpanther]

my personal opinion is unless a fish has a certain dietary need that requires constant feeding, and some do, then don't feed the fish more than 3 times a day. Personally I feed my fish only twice a day, and they are plump and healthy. By lowering the amount of excess nutrients you will in fact be lowering the amount of algae in your tank. If this doesn't work by itself try combining it so on.

 

[Terry McGee]

This is what we have done quite a few times, and it worked for us. If you will shut the lights off for 2 days (a storm on the reef) and at the same time put a little activated carbon in your filter and change it every 3 or 4 days about 4 or 5 times it should take care of the problem. Also a good skimmer is a big plus during and afterwards for keeping it down. Take care Terry

 

[Romulan]

thank you Terry, but would that not be harmful to the anemone? to keep the lights out for two days?