please help me rid my life of algae

hi i have a 45 gallon sw tank with 55lbs of lr and i just cant seem to get rid of the algae,i have red hair,green and some wierd growth on my back glass thats black and looks like smoke damadge after a house fire....i dont let i grow....every day i scrub,scoop,filter out substrate and iv even used chemicals(i only use as a last resort)but it stll creeps back...iv cut back on lighting hours,and i have a few tangs,and a clean up crew....any advice would be sweet....p.s. someone told me to just let it grow and it will cycle its self out....doubt full..right?i also don't over feed and the tank is 8 months old.....please help thanks

 

hi John Wilson

are you testing for Phospates and Nitrates? many algae plagues stem from high levels of those nutrients

do you have a sump/ refugium combination?
do you run a GFO ( phosphate removal resin) in either a reactor or cannister filter?
what is the total water turnover in your system?

what are your parameters - Calc , Mag and Alk? PH

tell us or better still, post images of your set up, and I am sure someone on here will be able to ID a root cause of these issues

Steve

 

I will suggest that when you post and are asking for help or for ideas, please include all basic information. Basic information should include; all water parameters(Calcium,Magnesium,Alkalinity,Ph and Nitrate and Phosphate levels) along with Temp. of your tank and Sg (specific gravity).Size of tank and complete set up meaning, filter type (sump, canister etc.), if you use a skimmer,lighting (what type and total output)plus what type of lighting are you using and what is your lighting schedule (how long a period are your actinic and daylights on) and if you have fish only with live rock and if you keep
corals. Also how long the tank has been up. I know some of this is in your bio but many bios don't contain this info. How many times has someone posted and then there is this list of postings addressing the above. If you give the most info you can to give us a good profile, it will cut down on response time and mis-diagnosis or answers that don't fit and we will all benefit.

 

As Steve said, algae relies on phosphates, nitrates and light to grow. Having an excessive amount of algae almost always results from either poor maintenance, excessive feeding or not using RO/DI water. It sounds like you do proper maintenance and you say you don't over feed, but we will need to know you parameters, how much you actually feed (an estimate) and frequency, do you use RO/DI water? what fish do you actually have in there?

 

Like mentioned, we're going to need your parameters stated.


Beyond that, a few tangs will over tax a 45 gallon tank.

What kind of tangs are they and how big?

Overstocking leads to too much food and poo in the water column. Not to mention other issues with having several tangs in a small tank.

 

It's a good point, especially if you don't have much LR.

 

i have 2 scopas tangs 1 clown a pj card,and a mandrin goby....and a clean up crew...ro water and i feed every other day my ph is 8.4 nitrite and nitrate 0..calcium around 400...

 

Hi John, I read your post yesterday and was waiting for your response to the replies. Please read what other have asked you already and respond to the questions - its the only way you will be able to get help from an online forum.

Here is what I do not recall you responding to:

Sump/fuge combo?
using a phosphate sponge?
water flow? (return from sump and any PH's in your DT)
MAG ?
ALK?
Temp?
SG?
Skimmer?
Lighting?
and I will add Silicates.

Trust me, everyone here wants to help you (and absolutely will) provided we get a complete picture from you. If you can not test for something or simply do not know - post that.....I wish you luck ! (pictures help as well)

 

i have a20 gallon over flow Sump
using a phosphate sponge?yes
water flow?405 power head,wave maker and return flow
MAG ?n sure
ALK?2.8
Temp?78 - 81 deg
SG?1.026
Skimmer?not sure the brand but its a small one
Lighting?1 blue actinic96 watt 10000k the box it came in said 420 nm,and a white 96 watt 10,000k...
calcium is right around 400
the pics suck,......cell phone

 

what brand of PC bulbs are you using and how old?