Saltwater & Reef

bjj_junkie · 04-10-2013, 04:24 PM

Hello everyone, my tanks been running for about 3 months now and I'm not sure if the way I started it off was the best idea because I have green hair algae everywhere and it seems to be getting worse. When I started the tank I filled it up with rodi water and mixed in the salt to the right salinity then I added live sand two days later I added 20lbs of dry uncured rock from bulk reef supply, right from the box to the tank and I also added dry rubble to the refugium. About a week later I got 50lbs of live rock from saltwaterfish.com and I added that straight into the tank. Time went by and it cycled and I added stuff little by little but there a ton of green hair algae now, almost everywhere especially the dry rock and the inside of the overflow box. The refugium is also COVERED in all types of caca algae. My buddy tells me to give it time and it'll die off but idk it seems to be getting worse and the parameters are all on point. I mean I know you can't get a clear reading with so much algae but I can't detect anything and all the animals are fine. Ph stays between 8.40 and 8.10.. any suggestions?

IslandHopper · 04-10-2013, 05:03 PM

Don't just let it die in the tank... That just releases the nutrients back into the water and you get ANOTHER algae bloom a couple weeks later ... Remove it from the tank as best you can, don't over feed, and eventually it should clear up ...

bjj_junkie · 04-10-2013, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Don't just let it die in the tank... That just releases the nutrients back into the water and you get ANOTHER algae bloom a couple weeks later ... Remove it from the tank as best you can, don't over feed, and eventually it should clear up ...

Remove all the rock??

Ingy · 04-10-2013, 06:17 PM

Do you have chaeto in your sump?

bjj_junkie · 04-10-2013, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ingy

Do you have chaeto in your sump?

Yes I do

IslandHopper · 04-10-2013, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjj_junkie

Remove all the rock??

No, no, no...
I just meant removing the algae as best you can ... leaving the rock in place... it's something you'll have to do every few days until it gets under control. (a process that might take several weeks.)
Anything you might put into the water to kill it would likely kill ALL the plant life ... including the stuff you want (like the chaeto in your sump, or algae that some fish and snails like to eat.)

bjj_junkie · 04-10-2013, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

No, no, no...
I just meant removing the algae as best you can ... leaving the rock in place... it's something you'll have to do every few days until it gets under control. (a process that might take several weeks.)
Anything you might put into the water to kill it would likely kill ALL the plant life ... including the stuff you want (like the chaeto in your sump, or algae that some fish and snails like to eat.)

You mean sticking a brush in there and scrubbing it off?

**Gti_Leo** · 04-10-2013, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjj_junkie

You mean sticking a brush in there and scrubbing it off?

no he means try syphoning it off the rocks when you do a waterchange

IslandHopper · 04-10-2013, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjj_junkie

You mean sticking a brush in there and scrubbing it off?

No, I was thinking of reaching in there and pulling clumps of it off the rock... scrubbing would result in pieces floating all over the tank and taking root elsewhere.
(But in my personal experience, I've had snails and/or fish that would then clean up the remainder... as long as i kept it from growing faster than they clean/eat.)

If you want to scrub every last bit, then remove the rock from the tank... clean and scrub all you want, then rinse it in clean water and put it back in the tank... That method would certainly get rid of more of the algae than just clearing it as it grows.