Tang and Algae Algae and Tang

[macman7010]

I was going to temporarly add a yellow tang to my 50 gallon reef to eat off some of the algae growing from the rocks. Think this is a good way of getting the algae down?

 

[tripper]

Tangs won't necessarily eat the algae that you want them to. Unless you want to keep a yellow tang (and a 50 gallon is a little small), I would advise against getting one. Your best bet is to determine what is feeding the algae and correct the source. What are your nitrate and phospate readings?

tripper

 

[macman7010]

nitrates are too little to detect . Phosphates I havent tested recently, if they are high what is the best way to lower them?

 

[mykpoz]

water changes with RO/DI and maybe some Phosban?

I'd just do a few good clean water changes and that should help

 

[Hara]

ANY nitrates or phosphates are fuel for algae, so are old bulbs that need changing.
Most nuisance algae will not be eaten by tangs. How is your clean up crew looking? I had a bit of algae come back and I realized I had not replenished my snail/crab poplulation in a couple years.

 

[austinsdad]

Would a foxface help - aside from (what i think may be) a phosphate problem and fixing it?

 

[macman7010]

I just tested my phosphates and they are testing so low I can barely read the color showing that they are even there. I cant imagine they are high since I do a weekly 25-30% water change. I dont know what is fueling this algae growth but it is mainly hair algae along a strip of rocks where my clams are setting. My clean up crew is pretty good, many small blue leg hermits, bi-color blenny, turbo snails, and some small queen conch. My hope was the Tang would nail the hair algae some.

 

[macman7010]

btw next month I am upgrading to a 75 gallon tank

 

[austinsdad]

How long are the lights on? How old are the lights?

 

[macman7010]

The lights are pretty new, its an Orbit 384 watt compact flo. set-up. I got them in May so they have been running about 4 months. According to Current you should get 12 months life out of the Sun Paq bulbs but I was gonna replace them in December regardless. They run 12 hours per day - 10:00 a.m. actinics kick on 10:30 10,000k's and at 9:00 at night 10,000k's kick off and at 10 at night the whole fixture goes out.

 

[natman2]

I added a yellow tang to my 75 gallon that was beginning to get some hair algae. He mowed through it. Now diatoms and cyano, I seriously doubt it would touch em.

 

[lando]

I just tested my phosphates and they are testing so low I can barely read the color showing that they are even there.

Testing for PO4 can be a bit misleading. You can get a reading of close to zero and still have algae problems. This is because there is enough PO4 in the system to feed the algae, once the algae has consumed the PO4 it may not be detectable. Basically, the algae is exporting the PO4 faster then you can test for it. Test your source water and evaluate your feeding techniques as a way to eliminate PO4 getting into the system. Stop that and you can stop the algae.

 

[macman7010]

thanks a lot guys, I tested my tap water and found a slight reading of P04. It was more detectable in the trace water from my tap than it was in my tank. I am thinking about investing in an RO unit to take care of this.

 

[lando]

Sounds good. Just make sure you invest in an RO/DI rather then a RO until. It is the DI portion that takes out the PO4.

 

[macman7010]

I am talking with a friend who owns a local fish store on getting the best deal on the Kent Marine RO/DI - I have read they are very good and reliable