Reef Tank Zoo

Uncontrollable algae in Reef Tank…?

I have had many fish tanks in the past and have decided to start up a new 14 gallon mini Reef Tank. I have never had a problem with algae in the past, but this tank is driving me nuts and it’s not much older than a month. I have a green film that accumulates about 2 hours after I turn the lights on. I also had an outbreak of an algae that looks similar to hair algae but more of a leaf. That scrapes off though and doesn’t come back, but the normal clean the tank algae comes back everyday. I do a water change once a week. Everything in the tank is doing great, corals and fish look awesome. I have 3 small fish, 5-8 snails, 5-8 crabs, star fish and 2 zoo type corals. Anyone have any suggestions?

First, it’s not unusual for algae to grow in a new tank as it goes through the initial cycle.

That said, you need to test your water parameters for key algae feeding nutrients….ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and silica. Ammonia and nitrite aren’ t really issues though, as once the tank cycles they will be eliminated naturally and you’ll never have to worry about them again.

Your algae problem is more likely from one or more of the others: nitrate, phosphate and silica. Salifert makes excellent kits for all these nutrients.

The first thing to test is your source water…i.e. the water you use to mix new salt water and for evaporation make-up. If you’re using water that’s high in any of these nutrients, you need to deal with that first. Reef tanks require ultra pure source water. With the strong lights needed for the corals, even minimal nutrient levels will cause algae problems.

If you’re not using one now, a good quality RODI unit is a must to purify your source water. Not only will it remove the compounds mentioned above, it will remove darn near everything else from the source water…chloramine, heavy metals, dirt and nearly everything thing else that you want to keep out of your reef tank.

Check out SpectraPure….they’re the best on the market. Don’t skimp here, I cannot understate the importance of starting with clean water for a reef tank!!! It’s HUGE!!!!!

Test your tank next.

Nitrate – address with the RODI unit for your source water and do frequent water changes to bring down the nitrate levels. Also, keep good flow in the tank and be sure to do regular maintenance, as the build up of detritus in the tank is a key contributor to nitrate build up. Don’t feed too much!!

Phosphate – can be removed with a product like PhosBan (ferric oxide hydroxide granules). Again, remove it from your source water with an RODI unit and use the PhosBan on the tank. And don’t feed too much!!

Silica – this is very hard to cost effectively remove from the tank. Best thing is to eliminate it at the source before you put the water in the tank. Yes, you guessed it, RODI.

And of course you need to use a quality salt mix. Again, don’t skimp here, as the few dollars you’ll save on salt will cost you far more in the end, as the bargain brands use poor quality control methods and often contain excessive contaminents.

I also highly recommend sigining up for Reef Central…it’s free and has provided me more information than I could ever have gotten here at Yahoo Answers. No offense to Yahoo Answers, but Reef Central is specialized to just fish…in particular reef tanks.

http://www.reefcentral.com/

Go into the Reef Chemistry forum…you’ll find a link there for “Reef Chemistry Articles”…click it…it just may save your tank!! You’ll find great articles on dealing with algae problems, as well as how to maintain other key water chemistry elements for your reef….pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Most of the articles in there were written by Randy Holmes-Farley, a Ph. D chemist and reef enthusiast. And if you ask questions in the forum, Randy will often respond to you…as will other members of the community…perhaps even me (fishdad2).

As an owner of a fairly successful reef tank myself (225 gallons) myself, I can honestly say that I couldn’t have done it without Reef Central. And I had 20+ years of experience keeping fish before I started my reef tank.

So, RODI for your source water, quality salt, good flow and regular maintenance should get you on track. It may take some time, as the algae will take a while to die off and be eaten by your clean-up critters, but die it will most certainly do if you follow proper practices.

Good luck!!

Giant 200° Panorama Tropical seawater reef tank / Salzwasserbecken @ a Zoo Aquarium [1/1]