algae cleaning

[scooterB]

I have an algae problem and I heard through a friend that if I take all the fish out with some aquarium water, take the rest of the water out and the rocks then bleach the rocks this will kill the algae. I thought this was completely bogus, i just want proof that this is wrong. any one have any suggestions? Also how much of a water change should i do for a 55G tank?

[OrionGirl]

Not only is it bogus, it is a sure fire way to kill the biological filtration in your tank. Very bad plan, unless you want to restart every aspect of the tank. Live rock is not causing an algae bloom. This sounds like the advice of someone who has a poorly maintained FW tank.

Algae problems have a variety of causes, with many things impacting the problem. So: what kind of lighting do you have? Age of bulbs? Tank occupants? Feeding habits? Water source? And, finally, what kind of algae?

[scooterB]

I have two 48" florescent bulbs. Coralife brand, 1 is an Actinic 03 blue. 2 is 10,000K High intensity purified superdaylight lamp. They are 3 mo. old. I have about 3 small hermit crab, 1 large hermit crab, 2 shrimp, 1 scooter blenny, 1 goby, 1 yellow tang, 2 turbo snails and 4 damsels. I feed them 2 times a day, but not too much, with ultimate marine food. water is from the tap, i use a dechlorinator solution that removes metals as well. I think it may be the phosphate. Also the algae is mostly green, with little splotches of red.:(
I really appreciate your assistance.

[OrionGirl]

Tap water is likely the problem, but check your water treatment as well. Products like Cycle and Right Start contain phosphates, in addition to chlorine treatment. Get enough RO water for a few months changes and see if it makes a difference. You can buy RO by the gallon at Walmart--think it's about $.50. Grocery stores sell it as well--better prices, but you usually have to buy a container from them. Some LFS will sell RO water as well--no clue what they charge, or the packaging.

Increasing you algae controllers--snails and hermits--will help as well. The lights should be fine--many people don't know that bulbs will shift spectrum as they age. The red spectrum output encourages green growths!

[scooterB]

thanks,
when i add RO water do i need to add that solution to it, or leave it alone? Next, what percent water change should i do when i clean the tank?
thanks

[OrionGirl]

Nope, you don't want to add anything but the salt mix to RO. It is pure water, so won't have any chlorine or heavy metals to remove.

I think that a 20% change is usually appropriate for most tanks. If you have high nitrates, or suspect other dissolved organics might be high, than a bigger change will help dilute those levels. Start with 20%, and see if that makes a difference, and then increase either the percent or the frequency (ie, once a week instead of every other) after that.

[VoodooChild]

Just a word about buying R.O. water. You may want to look into a cheap system. You can get a Kent Bare Bones unit for $90 at drsfostersmith that pumps out 10 gallons a day, which should be more than you'll ever need. I went the grocery store route too, and now I'm looking to buy. After only a few months I've almost spent what would've cost me the initial price of the unit. Just something to think about. Oh, and about pet stores selling water, we just got Kent Betta Water (one liter) that is "Reverse osmosis purified with betta trace elements added" for...get this...$5! A liter of R.O. water for $5! Man...and we've sold the initial stock too...

[BrianH]

Voodoo,

In my experience you should expect to actually get half of the rating given for the RO/DI units. That would mean that the system you suggested will most likely produce 5 gallons per day. Add another $50 to $100 and you can get a 100gpd unit on ebay.

Brian

[VoodooChild]

I'll look into that. Thank you. I only need 10 gallons per week but that's just for now. After I get out of school I'll probably need alot more:) Plus my Africans will love the waste water.

[OrionGirl]

I still think it's a good idea to try buying for a month or two-because what if that doesn't fix the problem? If the unit's already purchased, you're out more money, and still have algae. If the RO resolves the propblem, then purchasing one makes sense.

[BrianH]

Just one question, how long has this tank been set up and have you tried reducing the feedings to once a day. New tanks (under 1yr old) will go through many types of algae blooms. Somtimes you just need to wait for your tank to mature.

Brian

[Corax]

Originally posted by scooterB
1 scooter blenny, 1 goby, 1 yellow tang, 2 turbo snails and 4 damsels. I feed them 2 times a day, but not too much, with ultimate marine food.

When I first set my 55 up, I was given a yellow tang by a friend that was breaking his tank down. I have since learned that a 55 is simply not big enough for a tang and that they are poop factories. The amount of waste generated by a tang is staggering! While I had the tang, I would empty my skimmer cup every 3 days. Now, after the tang is gone, I empty it maybe every 2 weeks and my algae is on the decline finally. Consider finding the tang a new home.

I do concur that your tap water is a likely problem, but just changing your water in hopes of starving the algae out is going to take 2 weeks short of FOREVER to happen. Your best bet is to attack it 3 ways:

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Mechanical - STOP SCRAPING! The more you scrape it, the more it spreads. Find out exactly what kind of algae you have and get some target feeders for that specific type. Post a pic, someone here will identify it, then we can suggest livestock.

Lighting - I've fought bryopsis for about 6 months now and I've found it takes right at 30 days of absolute light deprivation to "melt" this junk. The rocks come out clean as a whistle.. Set up a 10g tank and put a couple rocks in there. Cover it, check it weekly and see if this is helping it. If it does the job, then turn your lights off and cover the tank for that long. This is assuming you have no corals or other light dependant critters in your tank.

Nutrition - 2 feedings per day is excessive. I feed OSI marine flakes SPARINGLY 2-3 times perweek and I give a meal of silversides and prime reef on Saturday, mostly for my anemone. Algae needs 2 things to thrive, food and light. On the reef, fish pick the rocks constantly, thue depriving the algae of the food it needs to take hold because the food never has a chance to break down into a usable format (nitrate). Thus, the dissolved organic compounds are kept in balance.
[/list=1]

Another possible solution is to add a refugium to your tank. With that tang on the prowl, adding macro algae for nutrient exportation isn't going to happen. But if you can add a fuge, then the macro alage will soak up all the available nutrients faster than the micro algae (slime, cyano, whater ya got) can and will thus starve the micro algae out of existance. This is a costly addition, but one that a lot of people have great success with.

Also, make sure you keep track of and maintain your alkalinity and calcium levels. Many types of algae can thrive in environments that have low calc or alk levels. This can be achieved by dosing calc, and using alk buffer in your top-off water, but mostly just a good water change schedule will take care of it.

You can beat this, but it takes time and you gotta stay on top of it. Taking a week off cuz it is "lookin so much better" will bring you back down real quickly. Trust me, I know that for a fact ;)

[scooterB]

WOW thanks for all the great advice, i'll start with the RO water and the feeding. Then move onto the others, my mom and grandmother that live a half hour away have RO filter things. i can just collect from them then buy one for myself if this resolves the issue or if i am tired of driving. I will post and let you know how it goes. THanks again for all the great help!:D

[BHRay]

I get my RO at the grocery store - .39/gal.

I had algae problem in a 10g skimmerless nanoreef. Tried all kinds of critters. THen a bought something called a polyfilter from a lfs. A white pad. I cut a piece of it, hung a small aquaclear on the back of the tank and stuck the pad under the sponge in the hob. In a couple days the green web-like algae was gone! I left it on for about a week and the red slime algae that had taken over the young (2 month old) tank died and turned grey. But be warned, I left it on a little too long. I USED to have little feather dusters and sponges living on my LR. I'm guessing that I left it on a little too long and it took too much out of the system (i.e. the water). If I were to do it again, I would have done it in steps, and let the tank recover. I'm sure that the LR will recover. I think the algae died because I stripped out phosphates.

Also, unlike a fw tank, sometimes higher lighting of the right spectrum can actually kill the algae. Also, if you direct your waterflow at certain types of algae (slime), that will eliminate the algae. I agree that cutting back on the feedings can only help.

[scooterB]

thanks, i haven't been able to get RO water yet, but I should shortly. i have cut back on the feedings and brought in more bottom feeders and this has helped. thanks