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Old 07-03-2015, 10:44 PM
Roskoreef Roskoreef is offline
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Default Tank is slipping into algae hell - help

I think things are taking a turn for the worse, im loosing this battle and its getting worse.

For a few months ive been battling cyano with no headway, now bubble algae is rampant and Green hair is forming, plus in the frag tank, either brown slime or diatoms grrrr, they are everywhere.

ok so here are my params, lighting etc.

Phosphates -0.04 - hanna
ammonia - 0 - nutrafin
Alk - 128 ppm, 7.16 DKH, 2.56 meq/L
Calc - 476 - hanna
Mag - 1360 - salifert

lighting schedule,

DT-180 gal
8 hrs 30% radion led
8 hrs T5, 372Watts

Frag Tank- 40 gal
10hrs T5, 272Watts

10%/week water change minimum

Im almost certain that there is too much light... how long can corals go without light? enough to kill algae but not corals???

Opinions, ideas??
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Old 07-03-2015, 10:53 PM
Robw Robw is offline
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Are you using ro/di water? How heavily stocked is your tank? Skimmer running ok?

I was/am battling hair algae and cyano. I have been doing 50 gallon water changes ever two weeks on a 120gal + sump system. I am winning the battle. Using ro/di water. carbon change with water change. Running GFO and zeovit system. Algae is dying off. Doing as much manual removal as I can. I run my lights about 11 hrs /day 2 250 watt Mh and t5 for color.
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Old 07-03-2015, 11:18 PM
Roskoreef Roskoreef is offline
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yes ro/di, might need new media, 6mths old....

id say medium stocked with fish, fully stocked with corals, running 2 skimmers Reef Octopus 225 int and diablo external rated for 400 gal.

Full zeovit additives, and carbon changes with zeo media once a mth.

Trying to do as much manual removal as i can, have several emerald crabs trying to eat bubble, but my wrasses pick on them...

the problem is only alarming in my frag tank (same system) with either diatoms, but i think brown slime, ill add a few photos soon.

Does eggcrate release phosphates?? it seems to be growing algae the best.

I turned off all lighting in the frag tank today hopefully tomorrow with a good deep clean itll be better.

I should have mentioned how much i feed, I was feeding a little more than usual to help with my ich situation, so i was at 2 frozen mysis tabs and 2 cyclopeeze per day, with 25-30 fish its all gone in 15 seconds.. im now going to feed half for a while..
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:17 AM
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There are all kinds of algae out there so we need to nail down what it is you are trying to combat.

First, I would start by getting a couple of urchins and let them go at it for a bit.

Second, crank up the flow. I had the same issue with the frag tank even though it was sharing the same sump as the spotless main tank. The issue here is due to lack of flow, nutrient gets trapped in the frag tank which in turn feeds the algae growth sorta acting like a algae scrubber for the main tank.

Lastly, clean up crew like Mexican turbos and some trochus (think thats how you spell it).

Show me a pic please.
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:24 AM
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Which Zeovit additives are you using? I'd stop dosing any that wi help fuel algae until you have that under control.
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:31 AM
somafish somafish is offline
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What's your nitrates? Nitrates+phosphates =algae. Everyone is so quick to say ro/di water only,change up your lighting schedule and get more filtration. I use tap water, 12 hours with 8 bulb t5 and leds and a SWC 180 (granted I love this skimmer) no other filtration other then chaeto in a refugium, in a moderately stocked 120 gallon tank (but ran the exact same setup in a clown breeding set up which was fed 3× a day) and the only place I get any algae is frag plugs.
I have seen so many people with the same problem as you, and I can only think of 2 reasons why(other then bad husbandry,I don't know if it's the case with you) 1st broadcast feeding, especially as much as you are feeding, I only spot feed make sure all the fish are there for dinner and ad a little at a time, just cuz your food is gone in 15 seconds doesn't mean it's in the fish. 2nd sand beds I can't stress this enough. Shallow or deep it doesnt matter,they are nitrate traps and I believe the culprit behind many unexplained tank crash's
In the end i do everything your not suppose to and i have never dealt with algae and those are the only reasons I can figure why
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:33 AM
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Also, look up peroxide dosing
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somafish View Post
Also, look up peroxide dosing
Tried that recently. All my corals went brown. Not recommended by me
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Old 07-04-2015, 01:03 AM
somafish somafish is offline
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How much were you dosing In comparison to tank volume?
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Old 07-04-2015, 01:35 AM
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10ml targeted at algae in a 110g volume of water. Very little
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