Algae on the sand

[hickernellc92]

iv had my 125 gal tank in my room for a little less than a year now and before that i had a 50 gal tank. iv fought through slime algae, nuisance corals and, nuisance filter feeders. but this new rust color algae on the sand is having me bang my head against the wall :frustrat:. its gone when the light are off and everywhere when the lights are on. when i mix up the sand to get rid of it the sand lands on the rocks so now the algae is growing on my live rock.

what should i do to ger rid of it?

 

[hickernellc92]

 

[AmberSunrise]

How many and what kind of power heads are you using?
The more flow the less it can settle

What kind of water do you use for changes?
Only use RODI water or you will always have algae issues

What kind of food do you feed the fish and how much?
Flake foods are really bad and over feeding also causes lots of issues. Try cutting back to every other day and only feed frozen mysis or something like that.

What kind of lights do you have, how old are the bulbs and how long do you leave them on?
Good quality lights must be changed about every 6-9 months and it might help to reduce the time they are on by a couple of hours a day until you get it under control.

 

[hickernellc92]

I have a RODI unit but the filters are getting old. I have been feeding with flake food but I do have shrimp and what not. I have two power compacts with 2 foot white led strips attached. I've changed the right side bulbs today and I'm looking for bulbs online for the other side and as for power heads I have one in the top right and one in the bottom left. I don't really know what the best kind of flow is for my tank so I guessed. It's probably all of these things combined. Should I try to get the other algae of the walls?

 

[SarahSmile]

That is frustrating. I would say Amber gave awesome advice. Ditch the flake and shrimp will eat mysis or other frozen food happily, they don't care. And new bulbs and filters.
Cool clam btw.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I have a RODI unit but the filters are getting old. I have been feeding with flake food but I do have shrimp and what not. I have two power compacts with 2 foot white led strips attached. I've changed the right side bulbs today and I'm looking for bulbs online for the other side and as for power heads I have one in the top right and one in the bottom left. I don't really know what the best kind of flow is for my tank so I guessed. It's probably all of these things combined. Should I try to get the other algae of the walls?

You will always notice when your equipment is going bad because you get algae! Upgrade and replace. Reduce your lighting time and put in new bulbs not sure your budget but maybe consider upgrading to some nice T5's, power compacts are not as popular anymore so you might have better luck in your search.

Add another power head or updgrade to a stronger one so that stuff has no way to settle.

Do you have a skimmer? Maybe look into getting an inexpensive HOB Reef Octopus mine is wonderful.

 

[hickernellc92]

but how would i keep the sand from blowing around i have a really fine substrate

 

[Bifferwine]

You don't need a powerhead at the bottom. If it's blowing the substrate around, put the powerhead higher in the tank.