Algae bloom help

[digi]

Hey guys,
I'm in need of some advice..

I've been having quite a lot of algae growth over the past month and a half, and I'm scared its not going to go away. I've been growing everything, including hair algae. I belive I bought a POS rock to begin with - I should have done some better shopping... already removed 5 rock crab from the display.

My current setup:


8.5 gallon display
5.5 gallon sump
2x nanocustoms par38 LED spotlights (21W each), 20,000k.
Vortech MP10 powerhead - giving out good flow to tank.
Aquaclear filter in sump - running carbon
overall about 16lbs of live rock split between sump and display.


Livestock

Fish:1 neon goby, 1 clown goby, 2 evoita goby, 1 red neon goby, 1 tailspot blenny (all gobies under 1")
Coral: Alveopora, torch coral, octospawn, open brain, dendro, birdsnest, zoa's. All coral seem to be thriving, except for alveopora which is currently bothered by algae :( .
2 turbo snails
2 peppermint shrimp
3 penny sized hermits


I don't believe to be overfeeding. I rotate a diet between zooplankton, mysis, a second type of frozen plankton, flake food. All food is always 100% consumed by the fish.

I'm having to scrape algae off the glass every 3 days to even keep it viewable.

Water changes have been religious - 3 gallons weekly (no skimmer).

I wish to keep things natural, and would not like to implement a dosing routine - although i'm open to suggestions.

Note: I'm adding a 9 gallon refugium over the next week or so. Will be growing some macroalgae in there.

Tips, thoughts?

[4lti7ude]

Daaaaamn,
Thats alot of fish for such a small tank first of all.

How long have you had this setup?
It might be crazy cycling cause of the huge bio load in the tank.
Sounds like you could be feeding to much...
When your feeding it looks like everything is eaten but debris of food is still floating around which a protein skimmer will catch. Without this the food will just kinda keep cerculationg without being extracted from the water.

The LED lights might be over kill for such a small tank. What hours are you running your lights at?

With this much livestock id suggest a protein skimmer.
If you dont want to go this way then shoot off debris with your turkey baster. If you have any dead spots in your tank get another power head to liven it up.

Annnnd if your running a sump then you can try reverse lighting and throwing some cheato in that thing to control PHs at night. (I dont know if this will affect algae growth so much, but ill be alot better for your tank.

[naesco]

For an 8 gallon you are overstocked IMO.

[gobytron]

that's alot of fish for a small tank and also for how new your system is stated to be.

If I were you, I would invest in a nice skimmer (like a deltec or that rs-80 someone was selling on here).

You have some very nice equipment and its a shame that out of everything, the skimmer is the most important piece...especially with as little water volume as you have and you have none at all.


I would also PACK my sump with LR, run a phosban reactor and keep up on the water changes you are already doing.

The fuge should really help out a lot as well, especially as it will add another 30% or so water volume.

Adding 5 or 6 more snails should help as well.
a couple nassarius and some astraea should do it.

[digi]

For an 8 gallon you are overstocked IMO.

Yeah, i somewhat agree with this... I know im pushing it. In terms of space, the tank is 24" wide, but only 7" tall - so i believe each fish has some room to claim territory if needed.

If you were to remove something what would it be? Fish or shrimp? Crab?

The shrimp are kindof bothering my coral and in turn bothering me...

[Wayne]

That is a huge bio load for that size of tank. I have heard success stories with guys running phosphate removers. I have personally never tried, but I am going to on my next trip to the LFS :)

You may need to part with some of the fish. Its hard to do but...

Also a crazy eater of algea is a Mexican Turbo Snail, but you might not have enough algea for him to eat at your current size long term.

[naesco]

Yeah, i somewhat agree with this... I know im pushing it. In terms of space, the tank is 24" wide, but only 7" tall - so i believe each fish has some room to claim territory if needed.

If you were to remove something what would it be? Fish or shrimp? Crab?

The shrimp are kindof bothering my coral and in turn bothering me...

The blennie and at least one goby should see an improvement in your water quality and algae. If the shrimp are bothering your coral remove them as well. They all eat and poop.

[digi]

That is a huge bio load for that size of tank. I have heard success stories with guys running phosphate removers. I have personally never tried, but I am going to on my next trip to the LFS :)

You may need to part with some of the fish. Its hard to do but...

Also a crazy eater of algea is a Mexican Turbo Snail, but you might not have enough algea for him to eat at your current size long term.

Cool, thanks guys.
Ive put up 3 of my gobies and 2 peppermints up for sale.
I'd like to keep the blenny as at least he's helping out the algae situation... although he does **** alot, hmmm..

[RuGlu6]

Get NP Pellets reactor going make sure they are aggressively turning.
TLF reactor might work if you have strong pump (not MJ 1200)

[ElGuappo]

I agree with most of whats been said but lots of $$$$$$$ solutions.. instead of adding a refuge you could try a diy one out of a large aquaclear hob filter.. i have used them in the past as i am just starting my first sumped tank...

Take the carbon out of your aquaclear and add some cheato, then have its photo period opposite the tanks.

Mexican turbos are great for hair algae but they get huge and start rescaping your tank for you..

IMO shrimp are a positve to your bioload as the eat left over food and deitrus....

For future stocking options this is a decent guideline for nanos..

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

[digi]

I agree with most of whats been said but lots of $$$$$$$ solutions.. instead of adding a refuge you could try a diy one out of a large aquaclear hob filter.. i have used them in the past as i am just starting my first sumped tank...

Take the carbon out of your aquaclear and add some cheato, then have its photo period opposite the tanks.

Mexican turbos are great for hair algae but they get huge and start rescaping your tank for you..

IMO shrimp are a positve to your bioload as the eat left over food and deitrus....

For future stocking options this is a decent guideline for nanos..

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

Cool, thanks for the tips.
I thought about doing the Aquaclear fuge setup like you've suggested, although i thought adding some water volume through a full scale fuge would be a better route to go.

I'll post any progress in the future.