Loosing battle with bubble algae

[henri2009]

I recently cycled my first tank (IM Nuvo 20) about 4 months ago and I was having constant algae issues (green slime and bubble algae) as well, it was everywhere and no matter how much I cleaned the substrate, scrubbed the rock, decreased the light duration and water changes, the algae was back within a few days.

In terms of media, I was using Chemipure Blue but after some research I thought it would be best to try a combination of Aquaforest Carbon and Phosphate Minus (GFO) instead of an all-in-one media like Chemipure Blue. I got rid of as much algae as I could, did a water change, cleaned out my media baskets then inserted the new media. It has only been about a 1 1/2 weeks and the algae is well under control. The Phosphate Minus is the key player in getting rid of my algae. I am not using a reactor for the Phosphate Minus, only placed in a media bag.

I am also using Aquaforest Pro Bio S and NP Pro to help my skimmer work more efficiently which in the end, removes more of the nutrients algae need to survive.