Algae doing ne head in

[Andyden71]

Iv been having problems with green hair algae for a while now water is clear no trace of ammonia, nitrite, natrate and phosphate salt is at 1.026 and ph is at 8.2 iv got a canister filter which I clean out every week and replace carbon every month. Iv got a algae blenny who is make much of a impact on it now iv notice that its turning brown iv pulled loads out off the rocks and syphoned the sand and do water changes every week about 25%. Does anyone have any idea what could be the problem.

 

[Fishninja]

Some pics would give us an idea of the problem

 

[Bectan01]

Yes some pics, also how big is the system? Most importantly where do you get your water from and how much do you feed?

 

[Andyden71]

Tank is a 63us gallon 55imperial gallon I feed frozen brine shrimp every 3 days and I only use ro water from the local aquirium store

 

[Andyden71]

Pictures of tank also water temp is 27oc

 

[bskerrichard27]

You have cyanobacteria and hair algae both caused by excessive nutrients ,nitrate phosphate...you need to lower the nutrients do you use gfo or a reactor to rid the tank of phosphate or nitrate...

 

[laura 1704]

I had this problem I used a phosphate remover in my canister filter and it cleared up within a few weeks... its a slow process

 

[Tim_G]

You can use chemiclean. It will help fix the cyano issue, however it is just a band aid, you need to lower your nutrients.

 

[Andyden71]

Iv been using phosphate remover now for about 2-3 months how do I lower the nutrients ?? I only feed fish what they can eat that's every 3 days

 

[Andyden71]

Picture of full tank

 

[Tim_G]

Do you test the water from the store before you add it to your tank? Also even though fish are consuming the food, they still have to expell it from them, by pooping ect. What kind of filtration are u using?

 

[Andyden71]

I'm using a fluvel 306 canister which I clean out every week when doing water change proteain skimmer uv steriliser. iv tested water from the store its a proper aquarium store only sells fish and sea creatures iv got no room for a sump

 

[Tim_G]

How old is the tank?

 

[Andyden71]

Tank it's 9 months old

 

[Tim_G]

Depending on what kind of phosphate remover u are using, make sure u change it out often, after a while they can leach back into the tank. Also the existing algae is locking up the trates and phates, so ur test reading may be okay. U may want to turn lights out for a couple days as the algae thrives on light.

 

[Tim_G]

Also, I had this issue, I bought a small yellow tang and he made great work of the algae.

 

[Andyden71]

Iv reduced lights to 4hrs a day as iv got my purple tip nem and pulsating xania in tank iv also got a blue tang he nibbles at the algae as well as the algae blenny

 

[blert]

Does the canister have mechanical media in it?

When you clean the canister how bad does the mechanical media look?

Are you just rinsing off the mechanical media or are you replacing it with new?

 

[Andyden71]

What u mean by mechanical media I clean all filters and take the propeller out and clean that then replace it

 

[blert]

What u mean by mechanical media I clean all filters and take the propeller out and clean that then replace it

Floss, pads, etc... Anything meant to capture and hold particulate matter.
Canisters don't remove anything, it is all still in your body of water. And canisters are very efficient at capturing crud for processing into nutrients that the algae is living on.
I replace the floss in my HOB filter every two days if not daily. The floss is always horrid looking even with a skimmer churning away in the sump.

IMO, ditch the canister and use an HOB. Then you can easily replace the mechanical media as often as you like.

Also make sure to take a turkey baster and blow off the rocks on a regular basis.