out of controll algae

[coralman]

hey there can any one give me an idea of how to control my algae problem

it is growing very fast i did find out the type of algae and it is called

nitzchia green filamentous algae that does produce oxygen bubbles

 

[Off The Deep End]

What do you currently have for nutrient export? Sump, skimmer, cheato? Please tell us more about your system.

 

[coralman]

this is all going on in my 55g frag tank the protien skimmer is a coral life 65g my fugm is for a 210g tank with chato and copula in it
i have seen some algae floating on the top of the water that has alot of air bubbles in it i have a pair of maroon clowns and a lawnmore
blennie,damsel i am wearied that this algae is going to harm my frags

 

[Octopus Sun]

to much food, light, nitrates way high, cycle not completed, added fish etc.

 

[ChrisB]

reduce feeding, reduce light, get our water prams in line. Turn off the pumps and rip out the big hunks then do a water change. rinse repeat.

 

[Mini T]

2-3 days lights out black out should knock it way back. I did 2 days only on my frag tank and was amazed how much algae was gone.

 

[KhensuRa]

reduce feeding, reduce light, get our water prams in line. Turn off the pumps and rip out the big hunks then do a water change. rinse repeat.

x2

 

[mdrumm]

Is it dinoflagelletes? If so, that is tough....high PH and manual removal.

 

[coralman]

sad sad day i had to take apart my 55g frag tank the algae bloom died off and caused an ammonia spike and i lost a lot of corals and fish
it will be a few months before i try this again i need to get more knowledge on frag tanks and what all i need for it
can any one tell me if i need to cure the rock again or just rinse it off with clean salt mix and put in my 90g display or not a good idea
any help would be appreciated if you have time

 

[Cake_Boss]

Sorry brah. You should be able to just rinse, but considering the issue you just encountered, you might want to rinse it really good. Might even let it dry out.

Algae is your tank trying to correct itself, something was decaying in your tank (overfeeding, dead animals, die off from rock (if it was a new tank)). By killing the algae, the main nutrient export system was taken out. The nitrogen cycle wasn't able to sustain itself. How old was tank? What type of filtration was in it?

We might as well make this a learning experience (for all of us). Together, I'm sure we can design a new frag tank for you. What do you say, ready to move forward?

 

[coralman]

yes i am and thank you my filtration consisted of a sump protein skimmer 4 power heads and a fugum every thing is over sized
my sump is for a 125g tank the protein skimmer is a coral life 65g 2 aquaclear 50 that do 270g each and 2 aquaclear 70 that do 400g each
a 900g an hr return pump and the fugum is for a 125g tank with a rio 8 pump on it the tank is about 14 months old was doing fine until
this dang algae bloom i quit feeding the fish a week ago there is a lot of pods in therefor them to eat
last night the tank appeared to be fine when i got home from work today i seen four dead fish and several dead corals so if you can help please do so
i really do enjoy my frag tank the only thing i can think of was the algae dieing off is what caused this i have cleaned the sump and dong a seventy%
water change tomorrow my power heads are still running scrubbing the frag rack tomorrow also lots of dead algae on it if this is a good idea let me
know

 

[Cake_Boss]

Def scrub/vacuum off the dead algae. Have you tested your water levels? When you say refugium and sump for a 125, what do you mean by that? A pic would help.

 

[coralman]

thanks for your help up to this point i am going to try to fix what is wrong instead of tearing down my tank at this time
i am going to try to clear out all the algae or as much as i can leaving the rock in tank at this time to the filtration going
i test my water salinity 1.024 ph 8.3 dkh 10 temp 78.4 cal 460 do not have a mag test kit ammonia is 0 at this time
i will post pics of my sump and tank in a few hrs. can't get one of refugium on back of tank i am cleaning all power heads
and glass first i still have corals in tank lost most of my SPS in this crash i still have a few in there

 

[coralman]

here are the pics of my 55g that has the problem with the algae dieing off

 

[coralman]

more pics so you can see what is going on with my tank and my sump hope you can see the algae this is after cleaning for two hrs.

 

[Bajamike]

do you have live rock?

ok looks like you do. I was told today by a LFS (Elite) that bio-balls and live rock dont mix, and can cause a nitrite problem which may have cuased the algae problem. I dont know if this is the case but since it came up today thought I would pass that along. Im sure some one else will chime in

 

[Cake_Boss]

Oh, a wet/dry. Do you have a separate HOB refugium? Do you have any macros?

Take out the dead sps, it'll just grow algae.

Looks like your duncan survived!

Been thinking about this more, is this something you'd like to try, sulphur denitrator? Maybe a turf algae scrubber?

 

[Aku]

That's a bummer man. With the amount I neglect my tank I'm surprised I don't have problems. A decent skimmer and a refugium with chaeto on a 24/7 light cycle is what works for me. Cheato is the money though.

Looks like you've got some cyano from the pictures. Maybe need more/better flow in the tank?

 

[coralman]

yes i do have a HOB refugium and i am getting 2 more power heads i am going with the maxi jets 1200 for more water movement and adding more live rock
to the tank for more filtration so i am hoping this will help

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Maybe someone already covered this but... To address the nutrient issues, what is your water supply? Ro?? Rodi? Just a thought. Also, IMHO, those coralife skimmers are not as effective as advertised.