tank up and running a little over 2 months

[newreefer55]

Having algae outbreak that I can't seem to get rid of. I have done at least 3 water changes with 20 to 25 gallon. This is a 75 gallon. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0. Everything measures good but nitrates holding at 20. Long tentacles plate coral and bubble coral are thriving, 4 fish are doing good, cleanup crew aren't keeping algae under control. Have brittle starfish, 10 hermits, nassarius snails, fl cerith snails, nerite snails, peppermint shrimp. I have even taken a toothbrush and cleaned the rocks really good. Week later and hair algae is returning. What can I do. Need help. Yellow tang and rusty angel both eat at the algae.

 

[salt_for_brains]

What are you feeding and how often? How long is your light cycle? Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[salt_for_brains]

Also are you running any kind of filters besides live rock?

 

[newreefer55]

Feeding once a day, some thawed shrimp, mix of pellets and flakes. Run blue lights from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning, then day lights from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm and actinic blue lights for a hour 7:30 to 8:30. Should I reduce the time. Using RO/DI water. We have a sump with live rock in the first chamber, HOB overflow box, and reef octopus protein skimmer

 

[salt_for_brains]

I would definitely get away from the flakes as they contain a lot of phosphates(algae fuel). The pellets are almost as bad. I would stick to frozen foods ( with some variety). What fish do you have in the tank? You could lower the light cycle a little but I am thinking your algae fuel is coming from feeding.

 

[newreefer55]

Thanks, I'll go out this weekend and get frozen food. Have a med yellow tang, 1 rusty angel, 2 clownfish besides the 2 corals and a feather duster. Was looking at the online recipes on making our own frozen food as well. Any other suggestions to get the nitrates down and get rid of the algae faster?

 

[Steveg229]

Several items fuel algae growth- Light, nitrates, and phosphates. I would cut down your total light cycle to 6-8 hours until the algae problem is gone. Water changes will get your nitrates and your phosphates down. I would get some quality frozen food and feed every other day . On opposite days I put some nori on a clip for my tang. I would also take a turkey baster or a powerhead and blow off the rocks before a water change to help get excess detritus (sp) off of the rocks. Do you have any chaeto in your sump, or fuge? You can also run gfo in a reactor to help get rid of excess phosphates as well.

You might have to try a 3-5 day blackout if it persists. Remove as much as possible before hand and do a water change. On day 3 if algae is gone, do a water change. If algae is still there, remove by hand, do another water change and continue blackout for 2 more days followed by another water change.

Hope this helps. We all have had a battle with some form of algae. It will get better. Just keep up with your tank maintenance and be patient. :D

 

[newreefer55]

Thanks for your help, will definitely get on it and see if it improves.