HELP with algae on Sandbed

[Martin Foo]

Hi just wondering if any kind brothers can give me advise on ways clearing up green algae that have covered up almost the entire sandbed of my tank.

I am having a iOS 2.5ft X 1.5ft X 1.5ft FOWLR tank.

Thank you

Edited July 21, 2015 by Martin Foo

[DottyClown]

There are several ways to help clear algae on sandbed,

For example, you could aim your wavemaker/powerhead lower, to increase water movement at bottom level, while not creating a sandstorm. And/or get some livestocks that helps shifts the sand, like Hermit Crabs and Diamond Goby.

But before that, establish what type of algae you are dealing with and find out the likely cause(s) for your algae bloom.

[Martin Foo]

Hi thank you for the reply I will upload some photos later and I believe the algae bloom is due to long hours of lighting as I have been switching on white LED lighting for around 15 hours during day time & blue LED for the rest of the 9 hours during the night.Initially I thought a little bit of algae on the sandbed looks cool and natural but it's getting from bad to worst almost covering the whole sandbed,is it ok if I leave it alone or just switch off the lighting like for one week?Will this help?

[DottyClown]

You mean 15 hours full blast white light? And 9 hours Blue? To me I really feel is way too long.

If this is the case, you should also be getting a lot of algae growth on your LR, not just sandbed.

Have you also checked your phosphate and nitrate level?

[Martin Foo]

Hi

Yes it's 15 hours white light.Asfor the nitrate I checked it's 0 but phosphate I have not check.But the funny part is that I only got the algale bloom on my sandbed and none on my LR.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Martin Foo

[RayL]

Few fishes and inverts can help u greatly. Since fowlr. Highly recommend foxface for hair algae. Peaceful yet hardy fish.

However if we are looking at turf algae, sea hare is the way to go. But u need 1.025 salinity to be safe. Get the california black sea hare from Henry. They dont release toxic.

Tuxedo urchin is also great at striping algae. So great it stripes any lr to become pure white. So if u intend to keep coraline algae, then not good choice.

The above 3 are the best algae fighters. Tangs, algae blenny, snails, sea lettuce and what not are lazy in my experience lol

[Martin Foo]

Hi thanks for your help will go try out the few methods one at a time.

[Martin Foo]

Can any kind brothers guide me on posting photos on this forum.

[FaLong]

Hi, if you are interested, I have a sea urchin available. He is the fastest age cleaner I have ever seen!

[Martin Foo]

Hi thank you for the offer will contact u if interested.

[Martin Foo]

Hi Falong do u happen to have any diamond gobies for sale,heard that they are good at clearing up algae too.

[Martin Foo]

Hi this is the algae bloom problem I encounter on the sandbed.Any kind advise will be greatly appreciated.

[Martin Foo]

The algae initially started with green colour but as it spread out more the brown algae started to grow.

[chercm]

Martin : have you been dosing any bacteria like mb7? Have you tried to syphon the sand bed ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Martin Foo]

Hi chercm I have been dosing PRODIBIO Biodigest & Bioptim quite regularly like 1 vial each with 15 days interval.I did not syphon as I thought if I can get rid of it naturally will be good as my sandbed is only around 1 inch in height.

[DottyClown]

Looks like you have cyano too.

Siphon them out. You can always add in more sand. And do watch your light hours.

[Martin Foo]

Hi Dottyclown thanks for the advise as I have used timer to control my lighting as of now.So I think the only way out is to siphon it.

[Martin Foo]

Hi DottyClown may I know the link between dosing beneficial bacteria & the algae bloom.

[DottyClown]

I've never dosed bacteria nor considered dosing, so I hope my reply below is correct.

To avoid explaining the whole nitrogen cycle process, let's just say that the dosed bacteria helps to convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. Therefore there is insufficient nitrate left in the tank for algae to grow upon, and thus no algae bloom.

However with that said, if your tank condition is producing too much nitrate for the dosed bacteria to convert fast enough, then the algae would still have a chance to bloom.

Hope that's right. Senior reefers please do correct if I'm wrong.

[xiggie]

15hrs white and 9 hrs blue? 24hrs light on?

[Martin Foo]

Dottyclown: So basically is overdosing of bacteria that caused the algae bloom?

[Martin Foo]

Xiggie: Yes.but now i have used a timer to control 8hrs of white & 3hrs of blue

[DottyClown]

Dottyclown: So basically is overdosing of bacteria that caused the algae bloom?

No, I do not think over dosing bacteria will cause algae bloom.

Your algae bloom could be due to several reasons. One very likely reason is too long lighting hours. What is your timer setting now for the light?

[DottyClown]

Martin, try the below measures.

1) siphon the sandbed free of algae.

2) aim your wave make lower to increase flow at sandbed. But don't creat sandstorm.

3) reduce lighting hours, say maybe to 8 hrs total (white+blue). If you have no corals, maybe even less hours.

4) continue dosing bacteria.

5) 10-20% water change twice a week.

Do this for 2 weeks and see how.

Above is just my opinion.

[Martin Foo]

Ok will try out the method to see if it works.Hopefully after that they don,t reoccurs.