Algae Problem and Solution

[VinnyP]

So I have a 12 gallon starting to turn into a reef it's going on three months and I'm starting to get green algae on my rocks mainly only where the light is shinning the most also get brown/green on the glass that pops up a good amount weekly. I do weekly water changes and readings are fine don't over light the tank or over feed, I'm also using tap water and dosing but will be getting an DO/DI unit within a week I'm also upped my salt mix and got red sea coral pro. Do you think when I start using the rodi unit the problem will get better? I also have small signs of purple corralline algae so I have to be doing something right......right? Any advice would be awesome

 

[Animal-Chin]

Growing pains Vinny, everyone gets them. I'm assuming you don't have a sump for a tank that small and the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep the water clean. Keep doing water changes with RODI water, the tap water has phospahtes that the algae loves. You could take the rock out and scrub it down too. Its all about maintenance and keeping that water clean.

 

[VinnyP]

yeah im pretty religious about my water changes and no sump just run a filter with some filter pad carbon and bio-max. I'll be getting the ro/di unit shortly planing on doing two big water changes that week to get the new water in and the tap out, ill also take the rocks out that week give em a good scrub and and hopefully things will go good from there.......hows that sound

 

[kdpuffer]

That sounds like a good start. Rodi should help, also make sure when you scrub your rocks do it in the old aquarium water so you don't risk drying them out and killing off the bacteria and any other good stuff. What do you have for a cleanup crew? A good compliment of snails and some select crabs and or shrimp can help alot with consuming excess foods and eating the algae.

 

[kdpuffer]

Also look into getting some GFO to run in your filter with the carbon, it will help remove phosphates and help prevent the algae from growing back. Like carbon it requires replacement one a regular basis. Note that it will not kill algae it will just reduce phosphates to inhibit growth.

 

[VinnyP]

The main clean up is my 2 what I'm pretty sure are turbo snails and three hermits, and I have def. looked into GFO.

 

[VinnyP]

I also want to get some shrimp one day but haven't decided what I want something reef safe and maybe something set where I can have 2 or 3 any suggestions

 

[kdpuffer]

As far as shrimp you would be pretty safe with skunk cleaner shrimp or peppermints. Cleaner shrimp are cool, mine jumps on my hand everytime I stick it in the tank which people find pretty cool. Stay away from coral banded and fire shrimp as they can be aggressive and get larger. There are many other kinds like sexy shrimp and such which I believe have a more strict diet but I'm not an expert. Remember though that mantis shrimp are bad for reef tanks!!!!! The cleaner and peppermints are safe bets as they eat left over food and the cleaner will eat external parasites off fish.

 

[kdpuffer]

Going back to the algae, GFO would help. Just run a pouch of it alongside your carbon or even mix it with your carbon. What kind of algae is it? If its hair algae you may find emerald crabs help and I would also look at getting some additional snails to help.

 

[VinnyP]

Yeah I think next time around I'll just be running carbon and GFO and as for the algae it's not bad I get brown stuff that comes up on the glass and on the rocks it's green not enough to tell if it's hair yet it's kind of like an Afro across the rock and I also have spots of purple two

 

[kdpuffer]

The purple spots are coralline which is a good sign of a healthy system and will continue to grow. I had a nasty algae problem in my tank and have recently got it under control. I have a larger tank so was able to enlist more aggressive help. I got a fox face rabbit fish and a starry blenny and in less than a week I was algae free and both fish eat prepared foods also so they wouldn't starve once it was gone. If you click on my avatar/picture and go to threads started by me it's my 55g build. You can see how bad my algae was and how it is now. The carbon and GFO halted it from growing back once the fox face and blenny ate what was there.

 

[VinnyP]

Sounds good thanks A ton for all the help I def want to try and keep it under controll before anything gets out of hand, hopefully these changes will do the trick

 

[kdpuffer]

It can be a process so be prepared. Once you get it under control though it will be worth the effort. I finally have my tank under control so now I have to tackle the father in laws tank. Every inch of his rock has hair algae so we need to get that cleaned up.

 

[Bkmrsteel]

What kind of algae is it? If its hair algae you may find emerald crabs help and I would also look at getting some additional snails to help.

I have two emerald crabs in my 75, and they are really fun to watch.

 

[Schism]

Vinny, your algae is perfectly normal for a tank that age. Usually fir the first 6 months to a year you will see many algae blooms, some worse than others. Ro/di will definitely help to alleviate any nutrients the algae is using. Also gfo will help. Everything your doing sounds to be right so just keep it up.

 

[VinnyP]

Hey thanks a bunch good to hear when ur doing something right haha