endless algae problem please advise

[bumreef]

We have had our tank for a year now ... only moderate success I'd say. Most of the corals we've gotten have done fine ... too many fish have died. Over the past several months we have battled major algae and have tried everything the aquarium place has advised (A good place we think). We still can't get on top of it. Any thoughts would be so welcome. Everytime we go in for a water test ... the store does it .. they say everything is fine. The latest advice is a new protein skimmer .... so far ... no change. It's driving us nuts!!
thanks for any thoughts
carla and tony

 

[ClamKnuckle]

are you using ro/di water?
how old are the lights? I've heard when the bulb ages the light spectrum changes, and this can add to the growth
That's all I have done in my tank so far to limit it
sorry can't be of more help...I know others on here will be
welcome to AA by the way! It's a great place to learn a lot and the people are wonderful

 

[ccCapt]

As ClamKnuckle mentioned, an ro/di unit is very important in controlling algae. If you are using regular tap water, it's possible you are just constantly feeding the algae with all the crap that's in tap water.
When you say your lfs says you water tests OK, what are they testing for and what are the results? They may say a nitrate level of 40 ppm is OK, but that can feed microalgae and also stress out your fish.
Also, how often do you feed you fish and how often do you do water changes?
With a little more info I'm sure you can get better answers to help you with the problem your having.

 

[Atari]

Check phosphate levels.

 

[1neondottyback]

Are you buying everything they are selling? Perhaps you need to get a third opinion from another LFS. Sometimes a store with advise to add this and that and before you know it you trying to balance out all the chemicals you added.

What kind of algae do you have? Hair algae or red slime? This could help answer if you have enough water movement in your tank.

You have to start with the best water possible and do frequent water changes.

I hope you have a cleanup crew in the tank to help naturally control the algae, 10-15 hermits and a dozen or so snails.

Are you feeding your fish just a couple of times a day or everytime you look at the tank?

 

[gump3842k]

I was having the same problom with diatom algae, and it turned out a snail had died and fallen behind some rocks and began to rott, so he turned everything brown for a while...Also are you using RO water, how long are you keeping your lights on? Also what is the algae color, and what does it look like?

 

[kidkameleon3]

get hte unit I was on the path to algae hell about 3-4 weeks later I have almost none, but still fighting the sooner the better, trust us