Which came first the nitrate or the algae?

Hey all, I've got quite the algae going on in my tank right now - my substrate is brown, my rocks are brown, I've got some green hair algae in a few spots and on the rocks and even a bit of red "slime" algae (it looks like at least). I had a bout with my nitrates not too long ago and I'm wondering if all this might be because of that (the algae feeding off the nitrates). My nitrate levels have gone down (holding around the 20 ppm range now), but I still have lots of algae. My tank is still fairly new (like 3 months old - cycled after about 2). Could this still be the "normal algae cycle"? Should I be worried about it? Thought about buying a lawnmower blenny to try and combat it, but not sure if that's enough of if I should worry about it. Thoughts?

 

Pictures

 

and another pic:

 

OK,

Here come Mr Unpopular

IMHO, you are still in the initial algae cycle and you can expect some more for sure. I certainly would not buy a lawnmower blenny just for the sake of the algae. If you like to fish then get it for that reason, buying a fish to rid yourself of a temporary problem can only lead to disappointment.

Right now, I would be using a turkey baster to move the sand around a little and get that algae into the water column where it can be skimmed out, either that or just remove it some other way. Also get a toothbrush, or something similar and go around the rocks and loosen any hair algae. This is what I have been doing with my tank ( 3 months old ) and ALL the hair algae is GONE ( I'm posting some pics tonight to update the original thread ).

Good luck and keep at it as eventually ( or sooner ) it will disappear

John

 

How deep is your sand? Is it deep enough? It needs to be 4 inches or more to work properly. I think the algae you are having is perfectly normal with the age of your tank. Do you have a refugium? With this the algae in the refugium will use up all the nutrients in your water before the algae in your main tank can use the nutrients to grow. I think that the red slime algae is pretty normal stuff for a new tank. But the experts here may disagree. I am about 6 or 7 months into mine and am battling the algae big-time.

Jay

 

Posted at the same time as you John

 

JohnO:

Why are you MR Unpopular?

 

Jay,

Inside joke, if I told ya we would have to kill ya

John

 

See everyone after Sunday. Leaving on good old Amtrak at 5:50AM to Vancouver WA for the holiday.

Have a great holiday and God Bless!

Jay

gotta get up at 3:30.....YIKES I better crash