Algae problem? Pics inside

[clownaround]

Hi,

I keep having this stuff growing on the glass of my tank and on the bottom over the shell grit and I was wondering what the best way to PREVENT it from growing.

Each time I do a water change I clean the glass to get rid of it and syphon the it out of the shell grip but it keeps coming back.

Can anyone help?

Here are some pictures. It noticed that theres a bit growing on the live rock too. I do regular water changes (15%) each week to try and keep the nitrate levels down. Should I cut back the amount of lighting to prevent photosynthesis?

Would there be any snails I could buy that would eat it or any kind of fish?

Thanks

[danjen10]

What kind of water are you using? Ro/DI?

Can you clean the glass and re-post a pic? Growth on the glass is going to happen no matter what you do. It will just be a matter of how much and how fast. Some of the people on this site can get 5 days between cleaning. I'm not to that point because I have too many fish.

[Geoff]

it looks like cyano. not an algae, but a kind of bacteria. caused by an excess of nutrients in the system. do you have a skimmer?

G~

[Sambo]

Aha - the perennnial problem! (G'day by the way - I'm looking forward to my xmas on whale beach this year!)

So a few questions: Are you using a RO/DI system for your water? How long has the tank been set up? how many fish do you have in the tank and how much are you feeding them? What sort of skimmer do you have going?
Have you tested your water parameters recently? (esp nitrates and phosphates)

As far as algae is concerned, usually the cause is too much in the way of nutrients (excess phosphate and silicates are what most people quote as the usual suspects) Algal blooms are much more likely in new tanks since the populations of benthic organisms and other creepy crawlies (eg bristle worms) are not at great enough numbers to deal with the extra nutrient load.

Options for dealing with algae: try to get the basics right first: make sure your water is phosphate/silicate free - use RO/DI water. Cut back on your feeding (lots of people have told me to feed only once every 2-3 days. Except my fish are such greedy pigs I don't have the heart to deny them!) Use a good skimmer and over-skim (adjust it to pull off lots of foam). Lots of water changes (which you're doing just fine by the sound of it). Some people also cut back on the light but I'm not sure that that's as important as the other factors - if you're running MH lights keep them down to 8hrs or less per day.

Adding a cleanup crew can help some - but not many snails scour the sand. Nassarius/astreas and turbos all are good for the glass, you could try a conch or 2 or some ceriths for the sandbed. You could try some fish - sandsifting gobies, some people like some of the blennies. Some people also try sandsifting stars - I've heard that they tend to denude the bed of the benthic organisms (that you want) then bury themselves in the sand and slowly starve (I'm sure you'll get other opinions around here - do a search for sandsifting stars).

And then, if you still have high phosphate levels, you could try adding carbon/and or a phosphate sponge (if you run a sump, phosphate reactors are fairly cheap). And you can try to add some macroalgae to your sump (eg chaeto or caulerpa) - you'll need lighting on it though.

Sorry for the lecture - and hope I haven't just been teaching my grandmother to suck eggs...

[clownaround]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm using tap water... lol... 1st mistake...
No skimmer... 2nd mistake...

The tanks been running for about 3 months now, it was happening before but I just kept cleaning it and it would always grow back by the time I did another water change.

I have 3 clows which are a little over 1" long and a red coral brand shrimp that just hangs upside down on the live rock.

I feed the fish once or sometimes twice a day a small amount of brine shrimp. I've been told to use the 30 second rule which I do stick to, meaning theres no uneaten food in the tank after this time. The fish to me appear to be quite healthy, they have been growing since I put them in and they are happily swimming around exploring the tank and the rocks.

I will be shortly moving over to a larger tank so I will just keep at it with the regular water changes. Its probably in my best interest to maybe buy R/O water from an aquarium shop, I just hate the idea of paying for 'special water' but if its needed then why not...

Would there be any benefits by using tap water for the water changes? Also, when I clean the glass the stuff is going to be sucked into the filter. Would it be best to change the filter media or clean it? (I am using a wet / dry trickle filtration)

Thanks once again.

[Sambo]

I think you should do some saving and invest in a few important pieces of equipment if you want to be in this for the long haul and have any sort of corals (well worth it if you ask me!!) Skimmer is no. 1 - make it a fairly good one (I am a fan of the ASM series but they have to sit in a sump). RO/DI water is a must long term. Bigger outlay probably, but it's worth getting a system. Those would be my 2 big purchases. The third would be lighting if you haven't done that already...

As for the filter - most people are of the opinion that in SW tanks all they do is trap debris which accumulates and rots and leaches lots of nitrates into the system (promoting algal blooms) - if you get a good skimmer chuck out your filter (or take out the media, leave in the sponge and just run it for a brief period of time after your water change to clear up the water)

I've just told you to go and spend a bunch of money - but well worth it in the long haul.