Algae Problem in 30 Gallon!

hibye

Reef enthusiast
I have a algea problem in my 30 gallon reef tank. I kinda ignored it when I had school becuase I had a lot going on. It got worse and worse and now that I am out of school I have a lot more time.

Well today I did ~5 gallon water change. I have hair algae covering almost every rock. Everything is doing very well in my tank and that includes the algae. I have hair algae all over my rocks and red algae on the gravel and glass.I also recently got a protein skimmer and that will help a little.

What should I do to get rid of this problem? Should I start bleaching rocks with no corals on it one by one? should I get one of those gravel cleaners and clean my gravel? should I get a UV? Should I do more water changes? Clean the filter? Run both skimmers at once?

I will get my parmeters right after this post. Are there any other things I should try to get rid of this disgusting algae? it does seem ever since I got rid of my refugium the problem started. I also use RO water. I also was using pellets, but stopped because I thought that might be the problem. (Should have listened to you Biff). I also cleaned all the rocks with a toothbrush but that didn't help.
 
Hibye,

Start ripping the hair algae out by hand.
Get some powerheads hitting those red algae spots...flow will help.
pickup some turbo snails, algae blenny or something to help out with the hair.

Pickup some Phosban or use a reactor with GFO to try and reduce some of the phosphates in your system. You may need to neutralize any nitrates in the tank too.....depending on the readings you get. I used to use a Marc Weiss product that would neutralize the nitrates pretty good, but I don't remember what it was called.

Good Luck! Let's see some pics!

Pics of algae infested tanks always makes me feel warm and cozy inside :-)
 
Definitely DON'T bleach the rocks! It won't fix your problem -- which is nutrients in the water. Do remove as much as possible by hand, and throw it in the trash. Keep up with water changes -- start doing them twice a week.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I am going to,

clean filter
replace phosban
turn both skimmers on
brush everything with toothbrush
do 5 gallon water change
wait overnight
clean everthing again the next day
another water change 1-5 gallons

I also want to go to the fish store and get some more test tubes. I also want to get hermits,turbo snails, and one of those sand cleaning tubes. There goes my money :(

My temp is 82
my salinity is .0022( I like it in the .23-.25 but thats because the water change mixed thigngs.

I cleaned my skimmer and salt off of my light yesterday. Also the glass.

Pictures are coming.
 
Should I lower my Temp?
should I raise my salinity?
Would these help lower my algae?

Video



it looks worse in person. Also it is starting to kill my closed brain coral so I need to get rid of it ASAP.
 
Sounds like removing the fuge cause an imbalance in your system. But bleaching the rocks would just kill any beneficial bacteria that are living on them. I wouldnt add anything until you get the parameters nailed down. You are definantly headed on the right track
 
yes i aggree with other members this stems from water quality problems you must keep to a rota with water changes etc and testing whats ur nitrate and phosphate readings.??and also what test kits do you use. if you start neglecting your tank even just for a few weeks this is what happens the dreaded hair algea get ur water quality up to scratch and it shoud start dying off. imo i would also rise ur dkh to about 20 also the skimmer you are using does it remove anything from the water
 
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I use the red sea test kits. I don't have a tube so I need to get one for 1$ as soon as my parents take me to the store. My skimmer has about a centimeter of black water/goo in it.
 
put your fug back on! and just keep up on your maint. don't do to many water changes or you will contribute to the problem.

Maintenance maintenance maintenance. :)
 
I had an algae problem on my 55g. I would pull some algae out everyday. I setup a fuge and a year later my algae is gone. I also added caulerpa prolifera to my tank and it is beautiful and it eats up the nutrients before the hair algae.
 
I also added caulerpa prolifera to my tank and it is beautiful and it eats up the nutrients before the hair algae.

How fast does that Caul spread? I've been thinking of adding some into my tank, cuz I don't have a fuge. I just don't want it to spread like crazy and get outta control.
 
The caulerpa prolifera doesnt spread real fast and is easy to cut back. I have sections in my tank where I let the caulerpa prolifera grow. And the plus side is it looks good.
 
ok, i'm still considering myself a noob to all this, so i have to ask, how is doing too many water changes going to contribute to growing algae?

i would have just thought that it would help dilute and remove stuff that the algae is using for food, and thus would just basically starve it out...

what am i missing?
 
IMO doing multiple, large water changes everyday can deprive your Live Rock of essentials that it needs to help the nitrogen cycle in your tank. But then again my knowledge may be completely bass ackwards. Sorry if it is. The Mods will def. give you the answers you need.
 
Doing too many water changes will just make your tank seem "new" all the time. Large water changes can shock your system and your animals. You'll be removing a lot of the beneficial bacteria that lives in the water column. Most of that bacteria lives on rocks and sand, but if you did enough large water changes I think it'd deplete the bacteria to some degree.
 
ahh ok,so sounds like mrsniffels was pretty close on the target on that one, i guess its really both..

yea i know changing too much too fast can shok the system... but the algae growth would be a secondary affect of too many water changes, not a direct result of it... ok, now i understand better,

thanks
 
So here is an update,

It is even worse

I still havn't gotten my parameters check yet. Still haven't bought a clean-up crew. Still haven't gotten that siphon hose yet. More pump would help too.

I have been cleaning the rocks, filters, and skimmer. I have one pump on. 2 fish died over vacation, (good in the way that I will have less p00p). Lights are on for less.

Today I am going to clean everything except the sand,add a 550 gph pump to areas where there is most algae, add water (It is low), frag a coral 5% I will, and feed my goby and take videos at the end.
 
Before,


After,


I did write this huge War on algae story but I lost it by accidentally pressing the backspace. I think you guys would be happy and sad at the same time about that.
Anyways, I think that this will do the trick, no more algae.
 
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