Need Red Algae help

So I manage a local PetCo hear in So Cal. We have a small salt water section that was built for us by Marine Land. It has been running for about 5 months now. A few weeks ago I noticed a few small spots of red Algae on the glass and on some of the rock. There isn't any in the sump, but it has been spreading to more of the tanks and getting worse. How bad is this and what can I do to get rid of it? Our tanks get very dirty very fast, I have ordered a bunch of astrea snails, turbo snails and cleaner shrimp for a few of the tanks but what else can I do? The live rock gets covered by green algae within hours of cleaning?

 

Well, what type of algae are we dealing with exactly? I am guessing cyano and hair?
Both feed off of waste nutrients. Cutting down on those is the way to get rid if the algae. Pay particular attention to the silicates, nitrates, and phosphates. Also, the cyano can take hold due to low flow. Maybe you can crank up the sump a little? I am not sure exactly as to how you could deal with these problems individually, on a unique system like that. Lighting can be a big factor too, but I imagine there's not much you can due there, you're going to have to have the lights for the entire duration of operating hours.
But eliminating the excess nutrients and increasing flow will help. Are you using RO/DI or tap? Also, you can change your feedings. Stop with flake/pellet and go to frozen if you can. Make sure to drain off all water from the frozen food after it defrosts before adding to the tank.

 

thanks for the quick response. The lights come on at 9:00am and shut off at 10:30 pm. I have one of the Marine land techs comeing out tomarro to fix a pressure problem we are haveing with one of the skimmers, so I will ask him to turn up the flow. I will switch there food to frozen for awhile but I can't do it permenetly because of store budget issues. Each tank looks to have 2 bulbs, 1 acintic and one midday. I will ask the tech weather they are PC or T5. I just know they arn't metal Halide. Petco also sells frags and coral. I would like to start getting some in, but not in the shape the tanks are now, and not unless I can convince my district manager to approve an upgrade on the lighting. The lights we have now wouldn't hack it. For water I believe we are using Distilled water and mix with the salt. I test the water pretty frequently and it looks good across the board. Alot of the fish do very well but some have defenetly died. I have a yellow tang in one tank that has been there for over a month and looks really healthy. Most the fish look to be in good health and that is my main concern. I will try and get more details on the system tomarro, and take some more detailed photos. Thanks again for the input

We do constantly need to refill our sump at least everyother day

 

The lights are on for a very long time. I understand they are on durring store hours, but that will cause part of your problem with aglae growth. Many stores dont run any lights over their fish, they just have their in-store lights to illuminate the fish tanks. If you can, try and limit the period of time the lights are on over the tanks, maybe 10a.m. to 8p.m. I'm glad to see you are interested in doing it right, PetCo dosnt have the best reputation in the hobby.

Snails and crabs will definitly help, but I'm not sure if cleaner shrimp will help your situation too much, but you can sell them easily. Looks like you have a gavel bed, sand would be better for the bacteria you need to grow to help the tanks mature. How long has the system been running?

 

Pack Leader gives good advice, however, I'm curious as to why frozen food would be recommended over flakes/pellets? I find that frozen food will pollute water alot faster than flakes would. Can you share the logic behind that suggestion?

 

Are you testing the tank water or the distilled water before it goes in the tank(s)?

 

I was wondering the same thing. Switching from frozen to flakes is what I believe assisted me in getting rid of a really nasty cyano outbreak last month.

 

i test the tank water, the distilled water, then the tank water again after adding some to the sump. And thanks, I know Petco has a horrible rep in the fish community. but I am trying to change that for atleast my store. Thanks again for the advice.

 

Ok so I tested my water again today. My Nitrates=0 the Alkalinity=180 the PH=8.4 and Gravity= 1.022 Then I mixed the distilled water with the salt to refill the sump. I tested it before I put it in, and it was the exact same except the PH was at 7.8. I started feeding them frozen brine shrimp and my long tentical anamea rosy red minnows. He loved them and grew almost instantly. He is looking amazing. I moved the sabea anamea to a different tank that has more light and a few nimo clowns in it. The clowns started playing in the anamea almost instantly and the anamea perked up real nice. I also gave the hawkfish a few minnows and he loved it.

As far as lighting, I have laid down the law, and the lights come on at 10:00am and shut off at 9:00pm I know thats still along time but hopefully it will help.

what can I do to get all the hair algea off my live rock. Before I was moving the live rock into a large bucket of salt water and lightly scrubing them with a toothbrush. Is that ok, or should I use like a low powered air compressor?

 

not sure on this one dude...? Frozen food has to have the highest crap count of all foods. But I do get the idea about thawing it and rinsing it to get all the juices out.