algae problem

[jadakiss]

hi guys i have started a reef tank i have some soft corals , but right now my tank has alot of hair algea on the rocks. its crazy. they are takin over my tank. i have a 55gallon . what can i do. my corals are not openin up.my friend said i should use a tooth brush and scrub my rocks while siphoning at the same time. i dont have a algea invert. what can i buy the would help a whole lot. pls help guys

 

[roncgizmo]

did you use tap water?

 

[jadakiss]

nah i have rodi. just i havnt done a water change for a while and my f**** protien skimmer is just to big for my sump

 

[Adamc1303]

Is the tank new undergoing a cycle? What type of lights do you use? How many hours a day? Wattage? Are the bubls old? Are you overfeeding? Are the filters in your RODI unit too old? Did you consider a phosphate reactor?

 

[Will]

Sell your 2 big skimmer and buy 1 that fits in your sump. In the meantime (assuming your tank has been up and running for awhile and has cycled)start doing some water changes ..start with a 10 or 15 gal changeout and use the water that you've taken out and put it to use by taking some of the rock out and clean off the algae in a 5 gal bucket of the water. Use a toothbrush to scrub the algae off....Keep doing this until you've got the algae under control and keep the nitrtes/phosphates down near 0 with more water changes.Test your R/O water with a TDS meter to make sure it is zero so you don't put stuff back in the tank your trying to remove.It will take time but you can regain control of your tank if you keep at it...

 

[kimoyo]

How long has the tank been running, is it cycled? Why does it have corals in it already?? If you didn't have corals in it I would say turn off the lights and get your filtration down.

 

[reefman]

like kim says put a halt to it. cut off the lights n move your corals else where. if u have no skimming n haven't even done any water changes, then i would suspect the following is out of whack:
sg
po4
no3
dkh
ph