Help with algae

[Blizzard07]

Hi all

I have 3 type of algae in my tank and I'd like to know if they are good or bad. And if bad, how to counter them? I am new to start a marine tank so your advice will be very helpful.

Thanks in advance,

Sponge like algae on rocks and snails and on the carpet corals.

Valvet like algae, grow on LR

On glass.

All the algae are soft and they came off easily when rub with just a finger.

[Mike Stone]

I am sure all 3 algae are bad.
1st one not sure, 2nd one looks like slime algae, 3rd one looks like Cyano.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blizzard07]

I am sure all 3 algae are bad.
1st one not sure, 2nd one looks like slime algae, 3rd one looks like Cyano.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply. Anyway to get around? First is the most problematic and it is causing porous corals not to come out

[Mike Stone]

Increase water movement,
reduce lighting period a bit,
if you can control light spectrum, reduce red and green light may help,
Move the rock away from the glass wall, don't restrict water movement,
Feed less for the moment to reduce nutrient, reduce Nitrate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Stone]

1st one maybe diatom on hair algae. May I know how long you have kept this marine tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blizzard07]

The tank is less than 6 month old. I'm doing 15% water change. The algae are all over place where i aim my wave at. It is clean underneath the wave makers. And they do generate bubbles a lot that stuck on the surface itself.

[Blizzard07]

[Mike Stone]

Get sea hare and urchin, it works very well on algae.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blizzard07]

May i know where i can get a seahare? Urchin is not favourable to me..kind of scare of it. Thanks

[Harlequinmania]

Ah beng often have it, you can keep a look out there

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Blizzard07]

Address please. I only know a few marine shops and they don't sell it. Thank you

[Mike Stone]

Urchin got small and short spike one, not scary at all and won't poke anything in tank.
Address you can get easily from Internet , look at the sponsor column for list of good LFS.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zoaslover]

This usually happen to new tank if too much nutrients is added too quickly into the water which good bacteria has no time to populate. We usually have algaes for new tank but it cannot take over the whole tank. Is it taking over the tank?
I will suggest reduce lighting n nutrients.
Any livestock in it?
And do water change more frequently. Hard work but effiective in reducing no3 to give time for the tank to get stable.
Buying algae eaters temporary solve the problem but if the problem is that the tank is still not stable then algae eaters will not help in the long run.
You can dose bateria whenever water change too to increase the rate for good bacterias populate.



Sent from my SM-N915G using Tapatalk

[Blizzard07]

Thank you zoaslover, I cut the lighting to 6hrs now and test no3 and it is 40ppm using api kit. Did a 10% water change and most algae has withdrawn. Sand diatoms cleaned by goby. Now only problem is to tackle the white spots from my blue tang and powder blue tang
Added some bacteria as well. Hope they help

[Mike Stone]

For the tang with white spot, you need to remove them from the main tank and put in nursing tank and dose with copper. Otherwise it may affect your entire tank and all your fishes will be impacted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blizzard07]

Here is a quick update,
I have WC 10% and doze a capsule of bacteria and overnight all the algae are wiped off and coral line algae are spawning.

[sherman]

What you have in yr tank now?

What is your PO4 and NO3 reading?

[Blizzard07]

PO4 I didn't test. NO3 was high at that moment at 40ppm. I do 10% wc and add bacteria. Now algae was out and coraline algae are slowly blooming

[Junwei]

I have tried starting a tank with and without phosphate reactor. World of difference. My experience is that non reactor type phosphate removers just can't drop phosphate to zero. Only gfo in reactor seems to do the trick. With phosphates controlled right from the start, diatoms and algae is significantly reduced. Just my experience.

[sherman]

40 is still high. Need to keep it below 5 

[Blizzard07]

Yes. It was a problem 2 weeks ago. I got ick and algae blooming all over. Then I do weekly wc and start working on NO3 PO4 . And I turn on white light for 12 hrs a day. Now I cut off white to 3~5hrs. 8hrs artic blue. Now coral line algae are taking over

[Blizzard07]

For now, I have some red algae like to grow and cover my zoas polyps and small dots of green algae on tank glass(hard to scrap off with magnet scrubber)

[sherman]

You need to eliminate the root cause or soon the algae will be back

[Zoaslover]

For the tang with white spot, you need to remove them from the main tank and put in nursing tank and dose with copper. Otherwise it may affect your entire tank and all your fishes will be impacted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the same experience with ich. From my understanding from other reefers just opinions that removing fishes with ich is dangerous. They got ich partly because of stress bringing them out will increase stress. The internet always say to bring it out and use copper to cure but maybe i just put in qurantine tank for too short only about 2 weeks. After i put back to main tank, it just died the next day happen to 3 fishes of mine.
They suggested me to buy food n drip garlic into food to build up the fish immune against the ich. If there is ich in main tank this probably means there is already ich in the tank very hard to remove all. My latest blue tang has ich the next day i intro to my main tank and i just use the above method to build its immune. Now the fish with me for few weeks with ich subsidies after one week n now no more ich.
Hope it helps.

Sent from my SM-N915G using Tapatalk

[Zoaslover]

Yes. It was a problem 2 weeks ago. I got ick and algae blooming all over. Then I do weekly wc and start working on NO3 PO4 . And I turn on white light for 12 hrs a day. Now I cut off white to 3~5hrs. 8hrs artic blue. Now coral line algae are taking over

Bro this might mean the tank has not reach maturity there is not enough bacteria buildup to consume the no3 fast enough before the algae consume. Might be you introduce too much nutrients too fast into the tank.
You can either wait it out but also depends case to case basis on your tank.
Do you have a place to house bacteria? Is your skimmer working well now?


Sent from my SM-N915G using Tapatalk