Help in cleaning up algae

[mateysp]

I'm a bit of a noob, and I have been having some algae problems. My tank has been set up about 3 months, it has 2 false perc clowns, a coral banded shrimp, and a feather duster. I have had brown algae on my glass in the past that I simply got off my a magfloat, but now things are getting worse.

First, I have some kind of hair algae growing on the crushed coral substrate. I don't know how to get this off, I have never stirred the sand bed and I am afraid to do. Any other way to get this off? (picture #1)

Second, I again have what looks like the same kind of hair algae growing on some of my rocks. If you can't tell I seeded some dead rock from some live rock. Thats why the rocks my looks different different. I'm not so concerned about this as I don't think it looks too bad, but I don't want it to be harmful to anything. (picture #2)

Finally I have some weird algae growing on the back of the tank. It is purple and looks like it has bubbles in it. This I would like to remove (picture #3)

It makes me nervous to get in there and clean because I don't want to hurt anything or remove anything that may be good.

I am also very worried about messing with the sandbed as I have been told that if you don't do it regularly I should not do it ever.


Any advice on the removal (or non removal) would be awesome!! Thanks

Cheers :Cheers:
Sean

 

[earman88]

Sean, can you tell us more about your tank:

1. How often have you done water changes/how many gallons per change?
2. What are your water parameters looking like?
3. How often/how much are you feeding?
4. What is your lighting schedule?

 

[mateysp]

Sean, can you tell us more about your tank:

1. How often have you done water changes/how many gallons per change?
2. What are your water parameters looking like?
3. How often/how much are you feeding?
4. What is your lighting schedule?

I usually do about a 4 gallon change once a week. I am a little behind this week at about a week and a half.

parameters are as follows:
Temp - 79
Ph - 7.8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

Usually a pinch or two a day. Usually go without feedings on Sundays.

Standard Biocube lighting is on 9 hours a day. Moonlights on at all other times.

 

[earman88]

Hmm.. I would start by cutting back on the feeding a little. Maybe once every 3 days - other board members might want to confirm.

You might also want to consider two things:
1.) adding a clean-up crew (proper snails/crabs)
2.) adding something such as Phosguard or Purigen which are filtering products to combat nitrates/phosphates (nitrates/phosphates are 2 ingredients algae needs to thrive - and light)

I would search the LR forum for posts regarding these two topics.
As of now I would have to say the source of your algae is overfeeding.

As far as ridding your current state of algae while you implement the above suggestions:
I would cut off all aquarium lights for 3-4 days at a time, even eliminate ambient light sources (plastic garbage bags lined around the tank work great). Your fish will be fine, you can check on them and feed them as needed.

Just my two cents. :)

 

[earman88]

Also, after you have done the blackout for a few days (no light), you can expect your algae to die off, but of course it's still going to be still in your tank.. dead grass essentially.

So what I do at that point is take a toothbrush, rubberband it to a thin siphon tube (1/4"), and scrub your rocks. You'll be sucking up the dead algae as you scrub. Works great.

 

[Cheeser]

when u have crushed coral...alot of detritus and uneaten food will get trapped within the substrate. i know some people that will actually syphon the substrate real good like u would do with gravel in a freshwater tank. thats really the only way to get rid of everything that collects in it. every time u do this it will kick up alot of shit and your tank will get really cloudy and your skimmer will start to overreact and spit alot of micro bubbles into your tank. if i were u i would switch to sand and ditch the crushed coral. i know it kinda sounds crazy but u should do it now while your tanks still young and save yourself a ton of headaches. i learned all this the hard way.

 

[Cheeser]

also what kind of water are u using? if your using tap water u should stop and use ro-di or distilled.

 

[Damnselpa]

My Biocube 29gallon tank had alot of algae issues when i first set it up. I recently added my sump with refugium. the refugium i think has saved my life from algae. before the main tank would be covered, from the sand bed to the LR and all over the glass. put now with the refugium i have cut down the amount of algae in the main tank down by 95%. the refugium has taken the role of hosting my algae. with alittle macro algae my refugium, my main tank will become clean as a whistle. I still have a clean up crew in the main tank but the tank is much nicer to look at now that its not caked in algae.