black algae

boxxmann

Reefing newb
I have some kind of black algae in my refugium. I also have some gren hair algae and some reddish looking cyano in there. I am not sure what it is. Everything else in there is fine. I keep the temp between 77-79F. The salinity is 1.024-1.025, Ca is 475, Mg is 1300, Ph is around 7.9-8.1. I can try to take a pic if needed.
 
generally speaking, algae in the fuge is to be expected. Is your question why is it there or how to get rid of it? 99% of algae issues are problems with nutrient export - too much in, and too little out....
 
There are several ways to accomplish nutrient export. You can feed less, skim more aggressively, put chaeto / caluerpa in the refugium, or look into running a bio pellet reactor as well.

What kind of light do you have over the sump, how old is it, and how long is it run?
 
Do you have any type of flow in the fuge? And do you shake the chaeto or caulerpa occasionally? Once I up'd the movement in my fuge area and started really stirring the chaeto, I found that the algae couldn't settle on them. Plus make sure you have enough light on your fuge. Around 100w (or equivalent) and 6500k works well for mine.
 
I have plenty of flow in my fuge (about 75% of my return line's flow dumps in there), I am not sure about the light but it is a cf spiral light.
 
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