Algae Outbreak

[jasonv]

Hi all,

In recent days, algae has started appearing all over my tank, on the glass on the substrate and also on the rock (not live). I'm not sure why seeing as though nothing has changed at all, it's happened on a lesser scale once when i left my lights on accidently. Anyone know what could be causing it and better yet what to stop it.

Tank is 300L with 1 lionfish and 1 ray

[RandyStacyE]

You can lower the amount of lighting during the day. Also, if you have an hour inbetween the day when the lights go out, it sort of "stunts" the growth. It has to "regroup" and start regrowing. I had this in one of mine, and this is what I did. That was 3 weeks ago, I did a thorough scrubbing and massive filtering, and now it's virtually gone. My light goes out for one hour around lunchtime. Also, since you don't have LR go ahead and flip your rock over (so the algae growing isn't lit up) and this will help that to die off. Lots of Luck!

Stacy

[jackdp]

Algae outbreaks are usually caused by excessive nutrients introduced by overfeeding or contaminated water or salt mixes. Have you changed food or feeding habits lately? Made salt mix change or switched water sources. Check your tank for nitrates and phosphates, check your freshwater source and some freshly mixed saltwater to rule those out. You may also want to replace filter media, sometimes older GAC can begin to leach nitrates into the tank. Also, it may be time to replace your lamps in your lighting, as lamps age their spectrums shift and may cause algae blooms. Good luck! HTH