Algae problem need help!!

B

b18sol6

AC Members
Feb 6, 2006
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Asheville, NC
Im having a algae problem on my 55 gal that I cant seem to get any answers on solving. Its a very thick bright green algae that is all over the glass, and I mean it covers it. I also have some purple spots here and the on the glass, but the green is the worst.

My nitrates are around 10 and my phosphates are at 0. All the water I use is from the lfs and is ro water. Im using the coralife compact flouresent lights and I have cut them back to about 5 hrs a day. Ive been doing water changes and scrubbing down the glass about every two weeks. There is no natural light on the tank either.

My lfs has no idea what I should do, so can someone please help me with this
 
Is it a FOWLR or a reef??
 
are we talking on all the glass on the tank, or just the back for example?.

Personally, i clean mine every two days with a good mag glass cleaner...

The purple spots you are refering to are coraline algae and are a good algae in the system. However, they can be removed easily with a glass scraper..

Niko
 
It is a FOWLR. The algae is on all the glass. Front back and sides.
I scrub and scrub and cant seem to get it all off. And what I do get off is back within a few days. I just cant seem to pinpoint the cause of the problem here. The tank has been up an running for about 8 months. This problem has been for the last 3 months or so. Any ideas???
 
What's your water flow like. Do you have many powerheads. My friend had a similar problem and all her params were fine. We added a few more snails to her tank, scrubbed some of the rock in R/O water and added a Hydor Koralia pump for circulation and she's had no further problems.
 
I have 5 turbos in the tank now that have been there for about 2 months. I have one seio850 powerhead in the tank now. Is that not enough flow for the tank??
what is a Hydor Koralia pump??
 
What kind of lights and how long they on per day??
 
5 turbos will assist in getting rid of the algae, but it is really going to be up to you get rid of it. The Hydor Koralia pump is just good powerhead that has a little bit different design than most powerheads. Its circular its lets you direct where you want your flow to go easily.

If you don't have corals or other light demanding organisms, you can try to keep the lights offto reduce the amount. Also, run a carbon filter, or just your basic filter with just carbon. And what is your tank temperature at?

I had an algae problem too. I increased my water flow, kept lights off, scrubbed, did water changes, added a few clean-up crew guys, and ran a carbon filter. It worked well for me.
 
I have been keeping the lighting down to about 5 hrs a day. My temp is at 82.

So do you think I should add another powerhead at the other end of the tank and just keep doing what Im doing??
 
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