I have a 75 Gallon saltwater setup. It has been set up for about 10 months and I have a bad algea problem. I have had lots of sails and even a sea hair and is still seems to get worse. I can clean it it with my hand the best but is still comes back with in a few days to a week. The algea is green and I guess is kinda stringing it floats in the current. Its all over the live sand and the sides and back of glass. Can anyone help thanks
Algea Problem
- Thread starter paulke6
- Start date
bobby
I like to do bad things.
What are your water perameters? What are you feeding? Do you use a skimmer, and is it a good one? How full is the stock list?
ReefKeeper
TalkingReef Live co-host
all of Bobby's questions are repeated by me. these are things that we NEED to know to help you out. when we say "what are your parameters" we me NOW not the last time they were tested.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
And what kind of lights do you have and how long do you keep them on for? If you help us out by answering these questions, we will be able to help you figure out what's going on.
Oh and welcome to Living Reefs!
Oh and welcome to Living Reefs!
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
It's called Hair Algae.
Are you using an RO/DI water filter for your water? (RO = Reverse Osmosis) and (DI = Deionized)
Or, are you just using straight tap water from the sink and mixing up salt with that? Or, are you using toilet water?
Have you tested the nitrates and phosphates lately? What are they?
How often are you doing water changes? How much water are you changing? 1 teaspoon of water every day? Or 10 gallons a month?
How many fish? How big are they? You got a 6 foot shark in there? 15 yellow tangs? 8267 hermit crabs? Whatcha got in there?
What are you feeding? Pellets? Frozen food? Flake food? Live food? Steak? Fried cats?
How much do you feed? Every day? Twice a week? Once a month? How much food? How often? Do you use any seasonings in the food? Lemon pepper? Soy Sauce? Ketchup?
What type of filter do you have? Canister? Undergravel? Refugium? Wet/Dry? Small airstone with dual outlet airpump? Beta tank?
How much circulation do you have in the tank? Add up the flow of all the pumps and powerheads and give us the total Gallon Per Hour (GPH) 100GPH? 10,000GPH? 6GPH?
Cleaning it off the glass isn't going to stop the growth. You need to identify WHAT is causing the algae to grow and then combat those nutrients. At the very least, clean it off the glass and then do a water change to remove any thats floating in the water.
Are you using an RO/DI water filter for your water? (RO = Reverse Osmosis) and (DI = Deionized)
Or, are you just using straight tap water from the sink and mixing up salt with that? Or, are you using toilet water?
Have you tested the nitrates and phosphates lately? What are they?
How often are you doing water changes? How much water are you changing? 1 teaspoon of water every day? Or 10 gallons a month?
How many fish? How big are they? You got a 6 foot shark in there? 15 yellow tangs? 8267 hermit crabs? Whatcha got in there?
What are you feeding? Pellets? Frozen food? Flake food? Live food? Steak? Fried cats?
How much do you feed? Every day? Twice a week? Once a month? How much food? How often? Do you use any seasonings in the food? Lemon pepper? Soy Sauce? Ketchup?
What type of filter do you have? Canister? Undergravel? Refugium? Wet/Dry? Small airstone with dual outlet airpump? Beta tank?
How much circulation do you have in the tank? Add up the flow of all the pumps and powerheads and give us the total Gallon Per Hour (GPH) 100GPH? 10,000GPH? 6GPH?
Cleaning it off the glass isn't going to stop the growth. You need to identify WHAT is causing the algae to grow and then combat those nutrients. At the very least, clean it off the glass and then do a water change to remove any thats floating in the water.
Last edited:
yote
In Memoriam
Rc gets started typing and becomes the enegizer bunny.:mrgreen:
And I agree with him and the others.We need more information to be able to help.
And I agree with him and the others.We need more information to be able to help.
Piggy
Reef enthusiast
Dang Guys. I think you scared him away with all the questions. lol
simpleman
Reefing newb
Personally I like to feed my 8267 hermit crabs fried cats! :mrgreen:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
And I like to feed my 8267 cats fried hermit crabs! Coincidence? Hmmm... :scratchch:scratchch:scratchch
simpleman
Reefing newb
Damn that's a lot of cat :pooh:!
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
Well, I was trying to be funny and I think I scared our new friend away.
yote
In Memoriam
HHAA
Dang it Rc:mrgreen:
Dang it Rc:mrgreen:
Wow, I just needed to get home and talk to the wife so I could put it on here. You know I did not stay at a holiday inn express last night so I just dont know everything. I just started doing this at the starting of the year so this is all still new to me. My wife has had few tanks before and she has never had any trouble with anything like this so bare with me. I feed frozen food (mysis shrimp) evey day (which I take a little peice off of the big chuck in the frezzer) and on some other days I throw in some different frozen foods but not often mostly mysis shrimp. I have 3 full spectrum light and 2 actinic lights. I keep my lights on from 7 am to about 9 pm I dont have a skimmer becasue I herd that they are more trouble than they are worth. I have 2 percula clowns and one tomato clown and 3 pajama card. and about 7-12 sails and 1 yellow tang. I use water out of the tap which I put the water treatment in to it to neutralize everything. I tested the nitrates and phosphates and they were fine. I have not changed the water yet. I think this is all that I can awnser because some of your saltwater talk just screws me all up. there have fun with that!!!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Aha! Get theeself a skimmer! There is no more valuable piece of equipment than a good skimmer. I don't know who told you that they are trouble, because they are just about the simplest thing you can have on your tank. They remove nutrients from the water column, which cause algae problems.
You also might want to reduce your photoperiod to 12 hours, at the most. During an algae bloom, you can even cut it down to around 6 hours.
Another BIG problem is you using tap water. Tap water is about the worst thing you can put in your tank. Even if you use a water conditioner, tap water is filled with sh!t. You should switch to RODI water (Reverse Osmosis/De-Ionized), which you can buy at a fish store, or even at Walmart. Seriously, tap water will be the death of your tank.
Are you saying you have not done a water change in 10 months?? A good rule of thumb is to do a 10 to 20% water change every week.
It's good that you only use frozen food. Flake foods and pellets will lead to algae also.
Okay, so here's the plan. You have major water quality issues due to not having a skimmer, using bad water, and not doing water changes. Of course, doing a water change with tap water is pointless -- you will be switching out bad water for more bad water.
Go buy a skimmer. Go get yourself some RODI water. Take a chill pill with the lights. And do some major water changes.
You also might want to reduce your photoperiod to 12 hours, at the most. During an algae bloom, you can even cut it down to around 6 hours.
Another BIG problem is you using tap water. Tap water is about the worst thing you can put in your tank. Even if you use a water conditioner, tap water is filled with sh!t. You should switch to RODI water (Reverse Osmosis/De-Ionized), which you can buy at a fish store, or even at Walmart. Seriously, tap water will be the death of your tank.
Are you saying you have not done a water change in 10 months?? A good rule of thumb is to do a 10 to 20% water change every week.
It's good that you only use frozen food. Flake foods and pellets will lead to algae also.
Okay, so here's the plan. You have major water quality issues due to not having a skimmer, using bad water, and not doing water changes. Of course, doing a water change with tap water is pointless -- you will be switching out bad water for more bad water.
Go buy a skimmer. Go get yourself some RODI water. Take a chill pill with the lights. And do some major water changes.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
PS -- skimmers will have problems if you use conditioned tap water. The conditioners cause the skimmers to overskim. Another good reason to switch to RODI.
yote
In Memoriam
Listen to Momma Biff.
She's all knowing and mean as snake.But she's also right.
She's all knowing and mean as snake.But she's also right.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Well...thanks Yote? I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult!!! Oh well, coming from you, I'll take it as a compliment ;)
ReefKeeper
TalkingReef Live co-host
yote
In Memoriam
You know I could never insult you Biff:D
