• Why not take a moment to introduce yourself to our members?

maverick8182

Paintballing for life!!!
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Hello everyone, I have a 29g reef setup for like 6 months now, and I started seeing this green algae growing on my sand. What can take this away? I have a blenny in there but he is not doing anything about it. Thanks...
 

maverick8182

Paintballing for life!!!
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
hey

this is what i have running #1) eheim filter, #2) coralife lunar aqualights compact fluorescent strip lights, #3) Fission Nano Skimmer, #4) 2 nano pumps and one heater. I'm not running RO/DI water I'm using poland spring lol...
 
Last edited:

NYreefNoob

Skimmer Freak
Location
poughquag, ny
Rating - 99.4%
168   1   0
certain tap water's are still no good, the ehiem is probably the problem as well as that skimmer isnt going to really do the job on your tank and how old is the light ?
 

tosiek

Senior Member
Rating - 100%
48   0   0
list of params help too :)

Po4 mainly. And im 100% sure its because of the poland spring.

Now you have to stop using that and get a RO/DI or DI tap filter and do some water changes. Then pray the Po4 and exess minerals and crap thats in the poland spring isn't leached into your rocks.

The eheim canister isn't helping either unless your cleaning it every 2 days.
 

boardryder

Advanced Reefer
Location
CT
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
Probably have high PO4, maybe high NO3 and you should clean out all the detrius from the eheim at least every other week.
 

johnmaloney

Advanced Reefer
Vendor
Location
South Florida
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
get a clean up crew and have them get rid of it for you. ceriths are a good all around bet, hermits are good at hair algae, but some people don' tlike them because the walk all over coral.
 

johnmaloney

Advanced Reefer
Vendor
Location
South Florida
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
yeah but if you get all those things it will cost you a small fortune, and then you will eventually have to get a crew anyway. Why not just get macro and mangroves to take care of the water nutrients and a crew to clean up whatever else? I guess the chemical treatment way works too to some extent, but my tanks are all natural. I guess it just depends on which way you want to go.
 

Wes

Advanced Reefer
Location
Raleigh, NC
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
yeah but if you get all those things it will cost you a small fortune, and then you will eventually have to get a crew anyway. Why not just get macro and mangroves to take care of the water nutrients and a crew to clean up whatever else? I guess the chemical treatment way works too to some extent, but my tanks are all natural. I guess it just depends on which way you want to go.

In my opinion this is bad advice, and a bit biased considering you are in the Clean-Up-Crew and Macro biz.

One can argue that GFO is not a necessity with a large Macro Refugium. But not using RO/DI water is foolish.
 
Last edited:

johnmaloney

Advanced Reefer
Vendor
Location
South Florida
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
maybe... I got into the biz, because i liked them so much though. I think I am biased without all that. maybe you should get ro/di water. I always have used treated tap, or natural seawater, never had any mircroalgae in my tank after my first one. but to each his own. I like the all natural way, but there is something to getting it done with technology.

Here is what I consider the best way to get out the algae:

1. Make sure you are taking care of nitrates. Just because you can't read nitrates doesn't mean it is not there, the algae can be soaking it up.
2. Remove phosphates
3. Increase flow to problem areas in the tank. This helps keep waste in suspension.
4. Get a good water change routine.
5. Remove algae.
6. Keep tank away from sunlight.


#2 can be done can be done the natural way with macro, or with tech. like RO/DI
#1 is usually done the natural way, with lots of liverock with deep pores, (not all liverock is created equally), or by using macro
#3 go in there and check all areas of the tank for flow problems, especially where you see problems.
#4 1-2% a day is good, 15% a week is good, maybe even 25% a week is good if you have predatory fish.
#5 Get out the gloves and get to work, or get a clean up crew
#6 If this is a problem I bet you wish you had moved the tank before it got so heavy.
 
Last edited:

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top