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I am just completing my cycle on a 220g, I have 2 green chromis and I am developing a lot of green hairlike algae on my live rock is this normal? My ammonia test good and my nitrite is slightly elevated, but it continues to go down. Any suggestions?
I do not know what the phosphates or nitrates are at, I have just the dual strip lights with 1 10,000k and 1 actinic blue in each. And yes I used filtered tap water and used Amquel chlorine remover
, The hair algae is being fueled by the nutrients in the tap water. I would recommend manual removal of as much as possible, using a bottle brush twirling it in the hairs, using a toothbrush (bought for this purpose) to scrub as much off as possible. Remove as much from the tank as possible. You should invest in an RO/DI filter which will remove nutrients like nitrate and phosphate (added to water supplies to combat lead piping in older houses) before they get in the tank. I would recommend turning your lights off for a week and running them for no more than a few hours a day, until the nutrient problem is resolved. I would also recommend a protien skimmer for your tank, your gonna need a pretty big one for a 220g tank, you might consider a downdraft. Once the nitrite and ammonia are 0, you should do a large water change using RO/DI water and you can add a clean up crew to help with the hair algae, some blueleg hermits and an assortment of herbivorous snails. Hopefully others will jump in with some other suggestions as well.
I do have a protein skimmer which was turned off during cycling at the advise of the LFS. I bought today a sally lightfoot crab, emerald crabs, and blue legges hermits. Would the introduction of some tangs also help control the algae? Does algae pose a threat to the live rock and the overall health of the tank? Would a DSB help remove the nitrate and phosphates?
Thanks.
The DSB would help the phostphates, and just about everything else. I dont know if buying a fish would help, but then again tangs would eat some of that stuff.