Green algae and Cyanobacteria attack.

Hey Guys,

I am having trouble with Green Algae and Cyanobacteria. Cyano has consumed my LR, and green algae is consuming the glass and the tops of my dry rock, which I am trying to get my LR to seed.

I have a 55g tank, that houses 2 ocellaris clowns, 2 reef chromis, 2 fighting conch, 2 turbo snails and a peppermint shrimp. I think one of the recommendations will definately be really ramp up the CuC.

I currently run an Aquaone Marisys 240, but its crap and next week will be replaced with a Hydor 450 performer skimmer, Sump with Miracle mud, LR, Chaeto and Phosphate Reactor. I am even going to put a small UV filter in there.

My parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, 8.2 pH, 0.25 phosphate. (Dont have Alk, Mag, Ca testers yet).

From some reading its because of the phosphate is high and this is because I use Tap Water, because I live in rural Australia, I cant get a proper RO/DI unit installed, im hoping that the phosphate reactor will be able to help me there.

My light stays on for 10 hours a day and is on a timer. I have LED lighting by HETO and im not sure what WATTS it gives out.

I feed my fish enough they can eat in 30 seconds, twice a day. Is this to much and causing algae?

Will getting a bigger clean up crew and the sump I mentioned fix me of this problem? or are there other steps I can take to get rid of the stuff?

Thanks in advance.

Ryan.

 

You may to have to use Phosgard.... or similar products.

Since you are in a bind regarding having to use tap water consider making your self an Algae Turf Scrubber (ATS). Easy to make and effective once established. It should out compete the algae in the display eventually. You may have to manually remove all the algae in the display initially, to allow the algae to gain a foot hold on the scrubber.

You may also have to make use of certain fish such as a Lawnmower Blenny if you have the algae to support it's dietary needs.


Good Luck.

 

+1 to the ATS. I just installed an upflow ATS 4 weeks ago now - my nitrates went from 20-40 to ~10 in those four weeks and phosphates have been undetectable after the third week in (first full week of growth). All that benefit for a whopping $6 in materials (I already had the air pump, but that would only add $10-$15).

 

Is an ATS used as an alternative to a sump or extra?

 

It can be placed within the sump or built in a standalone container (5 gallon bucket, rubbermaid, etc).

 

Do you have any pictures or a build thread? That I can copy?

 

Algae problems are usually caused by aquarium water with excess nutrients like phosphate, nitrates etc. You can try and siphon out what you can to remove the algae in the short term. In the long term you may have to examine how you care for your tank. There are some commercial dry foods also contain excess nutrients and other undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc so I strain/rinse my fresh/frozen foods before feeding my tank. You may want to consider feeding your fish less often. Also, changing your photo period, light bulbs more flow, using RO/DI water and a high quality salt with little if any NO3, phosphates etc like Tropic Marin may help too. Adding a phosphate remover and increasing flow in your tank may help too.

 

Sorry, I missed this post.

You can find pretty much any information you could ever want about the ATS at algaescrubber.net. Personally, I recommend going with an Upflow ATS due to it's effectiveness and ease of construction relative to the waterfall style of ATS. There's a sticky at the top of the UATS forums there that details the build process.

I don't have any pictures of my setup available at the moment. Perhaps I'll take a few when I get home from work.