green algae

[joe&rae]

my tank is starting to get a green algae and i dont want it to get out of control. what can i do to stop the problem!!

 

[catmel]

What is your water sorce? Treated tap or RO/DI or water bought from the store? What do you use to top off your tank? What kind of filtration do you have? How many fish do you have and how often do you feeD?

Algae comes from excess nutrients and/or excess sunlight or a combo.
Answering these questions will help us help you!

 

[joe&rae]

I use treated tap (dechlorinated), I feed every afternoon(they eat every bit of what gets put in to the tank), and there are 5 fish (2clowns and 3 damsels) and a whisper 60 filter> any suggestions

 

[Ziggy953]

I use treated tap (dechlorinated), I feed every afternoon(they eat every bit of what gets put in to the tank), and there are 5 fish (2clowns and 3 damsels) and a whisper 60 filter> any suggestions

Can you get a pic of the algae posted?

The tap water could be the beginning of the issue but only part of it.

What do you have in the whisper 60 for media? How often do you do water changes? What kind of food are you feeding your fish? How long has this tank been set up? How much live rock do you have in the tank?

Test your water for NitrAtes and also test your tap water for NitrAtes.

One of the best investments you can make in the hobby is getting a RO/DI unit to filter your tap water. RO/DI water is pretty much pure water. Check on ebay you can get one for under $100 shipped.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Is this algae on the glass, or on the rocks? And do you have any snails in this tank yet?

 

[joe&rae]

the filter is using the store bought replacements for it! (what a good option). tap water and aquarium water all test good for everything! i test the nitrates & nitrites, ph, ammonia, weekly.
I use ocean nutrition "formula" flakes. I switch every few days between that blue and green label. (was recommend to enhance fish color) and i feed them frozen brine shrimp (once a week)
The tank has 40-50 lbs of lace rock and a lb or 2 of live rock! it has not been set up that long. Kinda, the tank and sand is new but the rock fish and about half the water came form a different tank i had. This one has been setup about a month..
There was a piece of driftwood that was in the other tank that seemed to have a large amount of algae on it so i removed it today.(never had algae on it before even in the other tank)
And no the algae is still not enough to show in pics to identify but it is a "hair" type. it is only in a few small spots in the front glass and on the wood That i removed today, i just dont want it to get out of control!!!!!!

 

[joe&rae]

is this good filter and how hard will it be to set up
will i be able to set it up to "auto top off my tank" cheap and easy
ebay #120331551454

 

[Justin_Toronto]

Just curious, on this new aquarium are you using different bulbs at all? I just set up my aquarium around a month (even less)... I used my freshwater plant grow-lights and mixed some seaweed in the water (took some sea-weed, chopped it into tiny pieces with a blender, and mixed it into some of my aquarium SW, to 'seed' some algae growth.) I did this because my LR came with an lawnmower blenny, some snails, and other creatures that need some algae growth. Within around 3-4 days I finally began seeing the same as you. Tiny spurs of green algae hair appearing on my aquarium glass, on my surface skimmer box, and aquarium heater. I then switched my lighting to 10000k and 6000k bulbs, the algae 'bloom' has stopped in its tracks for the past 10 days or so.

 

[melosu58]

Read this article for proven ideas on combating algea.

http://www.fantasyreef.com/database.php?p=viewitem&dbid=11&itemid=5

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Snails? Any? If you don't have any, then you should probably expect some algae.

Regarding tap water testing "good", well... it's just testing good for what you're testing for. Lord knows what's really in it. And what's in it today may be different tomorrow. I've been down that road... and we're talking about "good" municipal water, not well water. Not saying you absolutely need RO/DI water, but don't rule out your source water just because a few tests read "0". It might be worth switching to store bought distilled or water from your LFS for a while to see if it doesn't change the situation.

That's assuming you have an adequate cleanup crew.

 

[melosu58]

I work for a water municipality and I know what goes in there. Ammonia and nitrates are added to purify water. Good for us bad for your reef. Read this

Chemistry and the Aquarium

 

[joe&rae]

how often should i feed my fish

 

[fijiwigi]

how often should i feed my fish

every other day is fine I usually feed every 3rd day. Depends on your inhabitants but this is usually the case the fish don't need to eat daily

 

[melosu58]

I feed mine every other day except on the off days I feed some dried seaweed for my tangs.

 

[Justin_Toronto]

I was under the impression they should be fed twice a day, but very small amounts?
I have two small o-clowns, small blue tang, and a medium sailfin tang, and a lawnmower blenny. Everything else is cleanup crew (shrimp, stars, hermits, snails)

 

[austinsdad]

What kinda food you using? That could be a key issue too.

Once a day feeding is fine unless you got those higher metabolism, smaller gut fish like anthias or etc.

 

[DJLiquid]

I can't believe that if your feeding twice a day that your nitrates aren't through the roof? If they aren't, it's just because your algae is feeding on them. It's a false negative on your nitrates. Most people I come across feed every other day to keep their water from being nutrient rich. Also, since you have such an abundance of algae I assume your not doing partial water changes often enough. If you insist on running your aquarium the same way get SNAILS. My Turbo snails keep my tank virtually algae free! Good luck! Next battle- ICH to be continued...

 

[Scoot]

I'm down to full feeding every 5 days, and have stopped my algae's progression through my tank (although I haven't eliminated it). I'm using full RO/DO with 0.00 readings on the TDS meter.

I tried cutting back my lighting cycle, which helped, but my anemone's didn't care for it and started shrinking.

The algae at it's current level doesn't bother me too bad, and I think it's continuing to die off since I cut back on feedings.

 

[joe&rae]

OK are either of these good choices for snails ILLANASSARIUS OBSOLETA, or Turban Snails