green hair algae and bubble tip questions

[Reefinator]

Ok, I have two topics I'd like some input on:

First here's what I'm working with - 30 gallon tank, 150 watt 14k halide in a K2 Viper fixture (bulb is brand new), Penguin Biowheel 240 and a red sea HOB skimmer.

Inhabitants: gold striped percula, 2 blue velvet damsels, 2 skink shrimp, 1 coral banded shrimp, 1 emerald crab, 1 lanwmower Blenny and a sand sifter starfish and an assortment of snails and crabs.

Corals: Trumpet, candy cane, small brain, torch, hammertip, Montipora digitata, a few pink tulip anenomes, white bubble tip anenome, small zoa colony and some pulsing xenias, various mushrooms.

Green hair algae - it's everywhere, it's thicker and more lush than my front yard. I change out both filters in my biowheel filter every other week, I've been doing weekly water changes of 5 gallons - prior to which I manually pinch off as much of the green algae as I can, adjusted the light duration, replaced the bulb and cleaned every powerhead and piece of equipment in the tank. I check the levels constantly and they are always great, nothing out of whack. Is there something I'm missing? I previously had a problem with the notorious red slime but I got that taken care of. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

White Bubble tip anenome: when I first got this anenome his little tentacles would come out and extend and my percula took to him immediately, as time went on his tentacles no longer come out and he has the appearance of a capless mushroom, is this common? I tried spot feeding it to see if it was maybe malnourished but that didn't seem to help. The percula still hangs out in it too.

Like I said, any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Darin
Reefinator

[luvmylo]

Originally Posted by Reefinator

biowheel filter

there's your prob. fish poop and excess food build up in the filter. if yoiu aren't atleast rinsing the filter every other day and installing a new one weekly you are leaching tons of nitrates and phosphate into your tank. Do you have a skimmer?? you should ditch the power filter and get a nice skimmer to put on there. that's also why your bta isn't doing so hot most likely

[DarthOcellaris]

get rid of the biowheel, increase the water changes for a while to about 10 gallons a week and reduce your light period.

Your phosphate levels are probably pretty high but testing may not prove anything because the HA is probably consuming them fast.

Your anemone might perk up some after taking care of the HA

[motorslave]

Originally Posted by luvmylo

there's your prob. fish poop and excess food build up in the filter. if yoiu aren't atleast rinsing the filter every other day and installing a new one weekly you are leaching tons of nitrates and phosphate into your tank. Do you have a skimmer?? you should ditch the power filter and get a nice skimmer to put on there. that's also why your bta isn't doing so hot most likely

I think the build up of detritus in the sand and rock would be a bigger problem. The filter would contribute nitrates to the system but the build up[ of phosphates in the rock and substrate would be the real issue IMO. The phosphates are the fuel that feds the algae.
What are your husbandry habits? How old is the tank? Sand or crushed coral? Flow? Basically, you are not exporting enough nutrients form the tank. I would begin to blast off the rock with a power head or turkey baster to get the detritus out and do so before a water change. Also take car and diligence in siphoning of the surface of the substrate.
Do you have any sand sifters?
There are many ways to deal with this but he best way is to remove the problem and the problem is nutrients in the rock and substrate. Snails can help control the algae but don't remove the problem, adding algae removing chemicals are a temp fix and don't remove the problem.
Avoid the band-aids and remove the problem, it takes time and can be a hassle but is Worth it in the end, cheap and gives you a healthy tank as opposed to a tank with a bunch of useless chemicals or starving clean up crew.
Blast the rock off, siphon and stick to a regular thorough cleaning routine. This is the best way to fight algae. Lights don't feed it either, thy just help it grow.
HTH

[motorslave]

Also consider ading or redirecting flow in the tank so that it keeps detritus suspended so it can be removed by the skimmer.

[Reefinator]

Thanks for the input, to answer some of the questions posed here:

Luvmylo - I do have a hang on back skimmer that is overrated for my tank (bigger is better, right?). The general consensus is to get rid of the biowheel, however what will filter the tank aside from the skimmer if I have no mechanical/chemical filtration?

Is it ok to run a tank with only a protein skimmer and no other means of flitration? I have two penguin 500 powerheads and a Hydor Koralia #2, should I just use the Hydor to "blow off" the detritus from my rock? I read an article about cooking the LR but I really don't feel like pulling all of my LR out of the tank for 2 months while it cooks, nor do I have the room to let it sit around for that long.

I'll disconnect the biowheel this weekend and see if it makes a difference next week, along with larger water changes.

Thank you all for your help, I appreciate it!