Algae Problem 05/10/2008 Hi there <<Hello, Andrew this evening>> I have recently had an algae bloom - see pics. <<Seen>> The algae is brown and stringy, but disintegrates when it is disturbed. It has engulfed all the live rock in my tank and it also seems to have tiny bubbles attached to it. Before the brown algae started taking over I had problems controlling the green seaweed-type algae, but the brown algae seems to be hindering the green algae growth. <<Yes, the algae is a type of algae called dinoflagellate. The common causes of this algae is lack of flow and excess nutrient levels.>> I've recently lost a clownfish, a dottyback, 3 hermits and 5 snails over a period of a few months (the tank is 9 months old). <<Esssh...not so good>> However, the snails started dying before the algae became a problem. I never found the bodies of the fish, but assume my brittle star ate them. My corals are still alive, but I'm not sure that they look as healthy as they have in the past. <<More than likely the case, yes, struggling in a tank infested with this algae>> My remaining livestock are: 2 bangai cardinals, 1 damsel, 1 blenny, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 brittle star and 3 hermits. <<Ok>> I have a 24g D-D Nanocube with live rock and all of the filter media that came with the tank. From reading your site, I think the filter media may be the issue, so I have gradually started removing the sponges. I plan to either replace them with new sponges and new activated carbon or remove the sponges and activated carbon and replace them with live rock in the back chamber - what do you suggest? <<My suggestion would be to slowly continue to remove the filter sponge's and replace with live rock rubble. This is of course, thinking along the lines that you have about 1 - 1.5lbs of live rock per gallon of tank water. How often are the filters cleaned / media replaced?>> I perform 10% water changes once a week with RO water mixed with Red Sea salt and Ph buffer and siphon off the algae, but it re-appears within a day.  My water levels are as follows: salinity-1.024; NO2-0.1; NO3-5; Kh-105; Ph8.2; and PO4-0. My lights are on for 8hrs a day and the tank is only exposed to a minimal amount of sunlight. I feed the livestock half a cube of brine shrimp every two days. Am I overfeeding them? <<Not over feeding no. Just ensure you thaw out and wash the frozen food in RO water to remove the juice that holds the frozen cube together as these are commonly high in phosphates.>> They do eat it all within a few mins, although I have noticed the tank is beginning to smell a bit seaweedy. What is the best approach to controlling this sort of algae problem? <<Do please start to read here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm and linked articles and FAQ's. The main thing with this type of algae is to lower your nutrient levels above. Start by doing 20% water change per week, continue to siphon the algae out, ensure lighting is only on for 8 hours max. More info and suggestions in the above linked article. Thanks. <<Thanks for the question, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

Red algae plague 05/10/2008
Hello,
<<Hello, Andrew today>>
I have been going over your faq regarding red algae and could find nothing regarding the use of Redox to control red algae. I read about this on another website as a possible way to help eliminate this problem.
<<One of many bottled so called "wonder" products>>
My nitrates are 0,my phosphates are 0.
<<When suffering from a bad plague algae situation, its very common for your test results to show up as zero because the algae has already absorbed the nutrients from the water, hence the zero reading>>
I have 1 protein skimmer running and intend to add another today. My lighting is a T-5 6 bulb, with 3 10k daylight and three actinic.
<<How old are the bulbs? Old bulbs are another known cause for this issue>>
I have reduced my light cycle twice from 12 hours to 10 and than from 10 hours to 8.
<<This is good, 8 hours is plenty>>
I also cut back on feeding my fish to once a day. My fish load is light, only 1 Clown and 1 Lawnmower Blenny.
<<DO you use frozen foods? If you do, do you wash the food in RO water before adding to the tank? Frozen foods are notorious for adding phosphates into a tank. Its always best to defrost the food, put in a fine mesh sieve / coffee filter and wash well with RO water before use to remove the fluid which is used to hold the cube together. You could actually feed once every other day.>>
I do have a wide verity of Soft and Lps corals. The corals are only fed lightly once a week. If this is of help, my sg is 1.023 and ph 8.4 and I do 10% water changes bi-weekly and I run Chemi-pure, activated charcoal and Phos-ban in my refugium.
<<Switch to 10% per week, this will help, and check your source water for nitrates and phosphates>>
The Red algae is becoming a bigger problem on a daily basis. Please let me know your thoughts on Redox and what else I may be able to do to help eliminate this pest.
<<You don't mention your amount of flow. Low flow can also contribute to this issue, maybe add another powerhead to raise the amount of flow and see how you go. I would go with the natural methods of plague algae removal before entertaining the bottled solutions.>>
Thanks in advance, Shawn
<<Thanks for the questions, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

Slime in a new tank! 4/29/08
New Aquarium-Old Problem (Nuisance Algae Bloom in Newly Established System)
Hi there!
<Good evening! Scott F. in tonight!>
Hope you can settle my frustrations a little.
<The doctor is in...LOL>
I have just set-up a new 70G marine set-up. Have had 2 other marine tanks before. The new tank matured nicely and I have started to stock, with just a couple of fish and some shrimp (all from my previous tank). They have all settled in well and seem their usual happy selves.
<Good to hear!>
I have, however, got a Cyanobacteria bloom. I do a 10% water change every week and the tank has been going for 6 weeks (3 and a half weeks cycling and 2 and a half weeks with stock). In my other tanks, I have had this bloom when the tanks were not long set-up and so am not overly surprised it has happened. However as it is a bigger tank the bloom is on a bigger scale. I would like to know how long these blooms usually last and what I can do to get the edge over it. I have tried sucking it out, but it comes back within the next couple of days. Thanks a lot, Jamie!
<Well, Jamie- I'm glad that you are aware of these blooms as a normal part of the aquarium maturation process. They are caused by excesses of nutrients in a system with immature (or even non-existent) nutrient export processes. Once the population of beneficial microorganisms reaches a sufficient size, you'll realize a decrease in the algae. In the mean time, your best bet is to contribute to the nutrient export processes any way you can. Nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary here. Start with continued regular water changes (your 10% is fine, or you can be obsessively geeky like me and utilize two 5% water changes per week). Make sure that your protein skimmer is functioning well, and regularly producing skimmate. Next, be sure to utilize some sort of chemical filtration media, such as activated carbon, Poly Filter, etc. somewhere in your system, and replace it regularly. Maintain brisk circulation within the system, which helps to drive off excess C02 and keep detritus in suspension for utilization by animals, or for removal by mechanical filtration media. Perhaps you might want to try to grow some "purposeful" macroalgae, such as Chaetomorpha, in you sump or a refugium (illuminated on a "reverse" day/night schedule with the display, which will help stabilize pH as a side benefit) to compete with the nuisance algae. Harvest the macroalgae on a regular basis, which will which will truly remove nutrient from the system. Finally, don't forget about the most important ingredient- a healthy dose of patience. Given time, good husbandry, and patience, the natural nutrient export systems in your aquarium will develop and your nuisance algae problem will be a thing of the past. You can do it- hang in there! Regards, Scott F.>

Algae Bloom, Marine 4/24/08
Hi folks,
<Hello>
I am experiencing an explosion of green hair algae in my 38-gal reef tank. When this started a couple of months ago, I threw a bag of Chemi-Pure into my HOB filter, to no effect. I am also running a Remora skimmer -- rated for up to 75 gallons. However, I just now discovered that my well water has about 10ppm nitrate and -- you guessed it -- there's no nitrate in the tank.
<Is bound up in the algae.>
I've tested my well a few times in the year that the tank has been running, and never found nitrate before.
<Probably seasonal, perhaps tied to local farming?>
I've also got a Coral Beauty who may be showing signs of HLLE -- due to water quality, I'm guessing, because I feed a pretty good variety and supplement with Vita-Chem.
<Good guess.>
Are the skimmer and filter media not enough to take care of the nitrate? Am I going to have to break down and start using RO water?
<Filters and skimmers have no effect on nitrates, in fact filters generally generate nitrate as an end product to the nitrogen cycle. I would try stepping up water changes using RO/DI water, manually removing as much algae as possible during these. With time and a little work you will eventually work through this bloom. Also test for phosphates which may also be in your water supply and is also a fertilizer for algae.>
Thanks,
Scott
<Welcome>
<Chris>

Bubble algae problem. Using WWM    4/22/08
Hello.
<Shawn>
I hope everyone is doing well.
My question is if you have a way of dealing with bubble algae. When I clean it of the rocks I scrape it with a knife and vacuum what comes off so as not to let any float around the tank. But the next time it appears it is worse than the last time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the help,
Shawn
<Posted on WWM... learn to use the search tool... as requested before writing us: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
"dealing with bubble algae"... the cached views... RMF>

Algae Outbreak   4/20/08
Greetings,
<Salud>
I have been fortunate to have a 29 gallon? algae free reef tank for several months now (except growing coralline).? However, I recently tried feeding some mushroom corals and zooanthids with Marine Snow (Two Little Fishes)
<Garbage... take it back to your dealer and demand your money back... Is this just cellulose? As in wallpaper paste?>
?and Reef Plus (Seachem).? The Marine Snow seemed to do little more than just cloud the water temporarily.? The Reef Plus did not cloud the water.? I added 1/2 the recommended dose of each.? I now have an outbreak of brown algae again (probably diatoms).? It appears most during midday and usually subsides by late evening.? It's not bad, but clearly is attempting to gain a stronghold.? My tank parameters are Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate all zero, Ph 8.3, alk 8 dKH, Ca 360 ppm, Salinity 1.024.? Phosphate shows 0 but I do not trust the AP test kit at low levels.? Recently did 25% water change using RO/DI water.? I use Kent Nano Reef two part calcium/alkalinity supplement and test for Ca and alk regularly.? Is? the algae outbreak? probably due to the invert feeding supplements??
<Likely spurred by the one TLF product>
If so, what's the best way to get back to no algae.?
<Start reading here: Mmm, having log-on prob.s... go to WWM, Marine, Maintenance, scroll down to Algae...>
I have some Kent phosphate sponge.? Does this material work or just another useless product.? In the future, should I just skip the invert feeding supplements and rely on tank lighting (72 watts PC, 50/50) only?
Also, I moved both mushroom rocks up from the sand bed about 3".? Both colonies were opening fully on the sand bed.? Now 1 colony opens fully and the other does not.? The problem colony also begins closing up much earlier.? I really would like to leave them both where they are.? Is there a chance the problem colony will adjust?? Are they really that sensitive to lighting conditions (3" move up).? Water flow is low and about the same in both locations.
Lastly, do you recommend Kalkwasser or two part supplements for calcium/alkalinity control?
Thanks Much,
Greg
<All these questions are addressed on WWM... go, read there. Bob Fenner>