[gr.dane101]

Hey everyone i have a 36 gallon reef tank and i am having a bit of a algae problem i have a pepermint shrimp and i have hermit crabs and a couple snails i have my lights on for about 9 hours a day and i cant really find out a good way to lose the algae do you think i need more shrimps or hermit crabs ? What to do ?

 

[theplatypus]

Light, Nitrate,phospate= algae
less light, nitrate, phospate =

 

[gr.dane101]

My phosphate and my nitrate are both at 0 so i dont get how i am still getting algae

 

[theplatypus]

Have we entered the twighlight zone or are the test kits not telling the whole story?

 

[Jadinop]

What test kits are you using? Are they expired possibly?

You have algae, therefore you have a nutrient issue. Light alone does not cause algae to grow and reducing the amount/time period of light does not fix the underlying nutrient issue.

 

[gr.dane101]

They seem like they are wrong but they are salifert test kits and they are fairly new do you think that they are giving false readings?

 

[theplatypus]

They seem like they are wrong but they are salifert test kits and they are fairly new do you think that they are giving false readings?

I'm sure the test kits are fine, working exactly as they're intended.

 

[Nate_Bro]

lol, talk about beating the bush....

 

[theplatypus]

lol, talk about beating the bush....

He'll get it sooner or later.

 

[Nate_Bro]

He'll get it sooner or later.

hope so, theres not much bush left! :doh:

 

[gr.dane101]

so what do you guys think that i should do ?

 

[Nate_Bro]

reduce the nutrients

all you have to do is break the chain at one point, and remove them!

 

[theplatypus]

so what do you guys think that i should do ?

In order to have algae you need 3 things. What are they?

 

[Nate_Bro]

In order to have algae you need 3 things. What are they?

oh oh I know!!!!

 

[gr.dane101]

yeah i know light phosphate and nitrate but i just did a test and they all came out perfect i dont get it why arnt the test showing up bad than ?

 

[Jadinop]

yeah i know light phosphate and nitrate but i just did a test and they all came out perfect i dont get it why arnt the test showing up bad than ?

Because you are only testing the water, the nutrients are already bound up in the algae. You need to remove the algae to remove the nutrients.

Then you need to work on the source of the problem. Source water (for topoff and waterchanges) and overfeeding/stocking are the main culprits.

 

[theplatypus]

yeah i know light phosphate and nitrate but i just did a test and they all came out perfect i dont get it why arnt the test showing up bad than ?

Ding ding ding ladies and gentlemen we have a winner! We might get to the test kit part later.

So to get rid of algae we need to get eliminate those things. Since we're trying to grow things in our tanks that require photosynthesis we can't get rid of the light. However, we can cut down on two of them. It would be great to eliminate phosphate entirely, but then every thing would die. So what's a good way to cut down on the p and poo?

 

[Japonicus]

It is quite possible that the phosphate or silicates are uptaken by the algea
therefore rendering a false neg. Have you changed the DI resins lately in your RO?
Do so if not, and lots of water changes + turbo snails will help immensely.
Too many turbos and they starve and wrot, back to sq1
Kits aren't notable for their accuracy on PO4, but a photometer is. Take sample to
LFS with a photometer, to take a reading.

+1 on removing algae and addressing culprit

 

[gr.dane101]

Alright thanks for the info i will go and get off all of my hair algae that i have go what do you guys think is thee best way to go at this should i just take out some of the rocks with the hair algae and scrub them with fresh water ?

 

[Nate_Bro]

Alright thanks for the info i will go and get off all of my hair algae that i have go what do you guys think is thee best way to go at this should i just take out some of the rocks with the hair algae and scrub them with fresh water ?

No, scrub them with tank water....

also high silicates usually produce diatoms, because thats what they use to build their shells out of.