green algae all the time

Hey, My 30 gallon aquarium gets destroyed by green algae all the time. I leave the daylight (10,000K, 36 watts) on for 8.5 hours a day along with the actinic. My live rock has become covered in green algae, along with my glass which i clean very often. I have 9 snails but they do not eat this algae i dont think. Im very confused about how to reduce the algae, if its bad or not.
Please help me, thanks

 

What does the algae look like? Green pile of mush? Or green prairie grass looking wavy stuff? Also, how long has the system been setup and do you have a protein skimmer?

 

I have a small protein skimmer, and the system has been set up for 2 months. The algae on the rocks looks like a green slime algae. It does not seem to be like a grass, and i dont think its like mush, lol. The algae that forms on the glass however begins by forming as small gree circles.

 

Your tank is still cycling. Do you have fish in the tank? What type of skimmer do you have? Test for NH3, NO2 and NO3 and PO4. What type of water circulation do you have in the tank? You want to aim for at least 10x turnover rate or more.

 

Also what kind of water do you use?

 

I got the perfect solution for you.

Get these and all your algae will be gone i mean all of it

For your tank,

15 Cerith snails (most important)
10 Astrea snails
2 Emerald crabs
1 Bottle Copepods

On top of that you need to use RO/DI water, be careful -do not overfeed, Do water changes, Maintain high pH - 8.35, Salinity around 1.024

;D

 

I would say you should aim for closer to 40-50x turnover.

Check your Nitrates and Phosphates as tiger suggests too.

I agree it sounds like you are still cycling. You may need to add a clean up crew depending on where you are in cycle.

9 snails isn't very much of a clean up crew for a 30. I have around 180 in my 55g (most of which are tiny and live in the substrate during the day). You should have a good variety of snails as they specialize in what they eat. Hermits are another viable option if you are OK with them.



If you are still cycling, do not do a water change to solve this. Just ride it out.

 

Fuzzy Chitons are amazing algae blasters. Stick one on a rock and give him a week, and even the worst hair algae goes away. And makes the little guy fat as ever.

Actually, alot of my CUC is getting fat. My 4 inch brittle star revealed himself today after about 3 or 4 days of hiding (digesting I guess). We had 2 pep shrimp die after their trip from cali, so he probably got those guys. His center disk originally had a concave "dip" in the middle of it, not it's the opposite. The fat bugger. Our first Blue Leg has also changed shells 4 times in the past 3 weeks. He found a pretty big one for him that we found walking the beaches at Sanibel Island Florida. Lucky him.

 

Woops sorry, I was thinking fuge rate. Shame on me. :-[

 

Algaes favorite food: Phosphate
#1 source of phosphate in the aquarium trade: flake food