Algae Take Over...HELP

blazk

blazk

Reefing newb
Hey all sorry its been so long since my last post. Just been SO hot the last 2-3 weeks here, im talking 46C (114F) for 2 weeks.
Anyways I think i have a pretty serious algae outbreak in my tank and would LOVE some help to get rid of it. Looks awful. Im not sure what kind it is but its pretty much everywhere on the sand and i think on the LR too. Here are some pictures not even sure what the grey on the glass is either looks kind of like mold ?

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My tank is 250L (65G) with 50L Sump. Nw-110 Skimmer, 2 power heads, Octopus Horizon Lighting (4 T5 tubes). I do 40-50L water changes weekly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and would greatly help my cause.
 
it looks like diatoms to me. is the tank new? as this is normal for a new setup. It is caused by silicates in the sand which will be used up over time and phosphates, you may find it disappears after a few months.

To help get rid of it, you could increase flow, what is yours currently? Or use a phosphate reactor, which will help rid you of other types of algae as well. Do you have any snails or fish that turn over the sand bed? That helped a lot in my tank. Also some turbo snails or something similar will help with the rocks.
 
That could be diatoms,but could also be cyano.
Just follow Mblacks suggestion.And try leaving the off for 3 or 4 days.
And keep cool:D
 
mblack is right on. Nassarius snails should help, if you don't have them already. Keep up with your water changes. Not much you can do but wait it out.
 
Could just be the pics, but I'm with Yote....looks like maybe Cyano (reddish) rather than diatoms (brownish)......
If it is Cyano, most all the hermit crabs should take care of it....also, there are "red slime" removers if you want. Personally, I don't like to use chems in my tank.

Good Luck.
 
I would just wipe it off with my algae brush just be careful not to scratch the glass or acrylic what ever you have. Hopefuly the snails and crabs will take care of it.
Good Luck!!
 
If its slimy then its cyano. Increase water changes and decrease things that would raise the phosphates. A.K.A. feeding. and get something that removes phosphates.
 
There's no rule that says you can't have both or more.It looks like a combination of diatoms,a little green and cyanobacteria(aka red slime algae).

1-feed sparingly,avoid flakes and pellets
2-reduce the lighting or leave them off for a few days
3-clean any mechanical filtration(sponges,floss etc.) weekly
4-run phosphate remover(GFO)
5-replenish evaporation and do water changes with pure water(RO/DI)

It's tough,good luck.
 
Thanks all for you input on this subject. I cant get RO/DI water where I am but i am close to the ocean if that makes and difference. I usually feed my fish once every other day either flakes, frozen brine, seaweed and sometimes live brine. I have 2 power heads both running at 5-8k Lph (not sure exactly) with the return at 9k, not sure if flow is the problem. I do dechloranate the water at least 24-48 hours before i use it, even if it just top up water. I HAD snails but i think my puffer ate them as now all i see are shells, i think i need to get turbo snails as they are bigger and i dont think he likes them. I have a few hermit crabs but they just love eating the rocks atm. The tank has bee established for a couple months now. I will try cleaning all the pumps as i havnt since they been put in, and turn off the lighting for a couple days and see if that makes any difference. The sinlicants remover was VERY expensive as i saw down at my LFS was like $98 for some small amount.
Thanks again for all suggestions and input. See how things go.

P.S FINALLY a nice 25C (77F) for the next week..Least i can get the lawn mowed.
 
The thing about using NSW,is unless you can get it a few miles off-shore,its going to have stuff like fertilizers and oils from boats in.Not really stuff you'd to add to your tank.
 
looks like cyano. siphon out what you can and use something like chemi-clean to get it completely out of your system

You would have to monitor your quality a little better later on though to keep it from returning
 
Well, there are little tricks to doing it.

I usually use a small sized siphon, and keep it about 1-2" above the sand line, then stir the sand up with my fingers and move the siphon hose above as I do that. that will suck out a lot of the unneeded waste.
 
reefplayground said:
Well, there are little tricks to doing it.

I usually use a small sized siphon, and keep it about 1-2" above the sand line, then stir the sand up with my fingers and move the siphon hose above as I do that. that will suck out a lot of the unneeded waste.
Click to expand...
but stirring the sand could possibly kick off a mini cycle
 
Blazk,Use a piece of airline tubing and siphon out what you can of the algae.You'll loose a little bit of sand,but not enough to even notice.I'd go a head and do a decent water change at the same time.Then turn the lights on the tank off,and leave them off for 3 to 4 days.It wont hurt any of your corals or fish to go that long without light,but it'll wreck havoc on algae and cyanobacteria.
Then the day you turn the lights back,do another decent sized water change,siphoning out any cyano you see thats still left.
I dont recommend chemi-clean or any other chemical to combat cyano.Because once you use it,the bacteria build up some immunity to the antibiotics,making it harder to get rid of the next time around.Not to mention,the chemicals kill the good bacteria right along with the bad.
 
If you can't getRO/DI water then use a simple charcoal filter. Not as good as RO but way better than plain tap water. Charcoal filters will get just about everything out except phosphates.

I've has cyano as bad as yours and I put some "red slime remover' in followed by a water change a day later and it was gone. I also took measures to get nitrates down.
 
I have / use "Pure Tap" its a 2 stage charcoal and solids remover, i use that in combination with Tri-Start a dechlorination conditioner. Should that be sufficient? Ro/DI units are hard to come by in Adelaide / Australia eg $300 for a 2 stage was ridiculous. I was going to get RO/DI delivered for $40 for 200L but i thought i would just save and get a unit instead.
 
Stirring the sand should cause a mini-cycle in your system. There's nothing that you would kill off/destroy unless you have a sand bed deeper than 6".

If Ro/DI is not possible, filter out the tap the best you can.
 

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