Help Please Algae Invasion

[vanwy6]

HELP PLEASE

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE.

MY TANK IS INFESTED + ALGAES. I CLEANED IT 6 DAYS AGO-SCRUBBED ROCKS, CHANGED SAND, CLEANED TANK SIDES , WASHED FILTER, DID WATER CHANGE- I THEN DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE GREEN PARTICLE LEFT. 6 DAYS LATER MY TANK LOOKS LIKE THIS: PLEASE SEE PICTURE.

I AM TOTALLY EXHAUSTED FROM THIS.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE?

THINK ABOUT SELLING TANK AT THIS POINT.

PLEASE EMAIL ME AT VANWY6@AOL.COM

THANKS SO SO SO MUCH

ALEXANDRA

[GoTakuF1]

More information about your tank is needed. Such as: tank size, amount of fish, type of filtration, feeding schedule, water parameters or anything else you think would help in the troubleshooting process.

[vanwy6]

Thanks So Much For Trying To Help.
It Is A 55 Gallon Tank With 2 Clowns, One Yellow Tang And Like Four Blue Damsels And A Starfish And 3 Snails. Got A Aqua Clear 70 Filter A Ps75 Protein Skimmer , A Water Jet And 2 Marine Glo Lights.
Have Had Tank For Over Year Now,. None Of My Fish Ever Die. Corals , Zoes, And Other Softies Always Die. Gave Up On Buying Them.

Help Please

Thanks


Alexandra

[LotsaFishies]

Just a bunch of basic, background stuff first:

Algae basically grows from a combination of two things: Light and Nutrients. The more light you have, the longer the lights are on, and specific types/ranges of light will cause algae to grow more intensely. Also, the more nutrients in the water, the more food for the algae to grow.

Regarding lights: How long each day are your lights turned on? They really don't need to be on any longer than around 8hrs/day -especially if you don't have any photosynthetic (light-using) corals. By chance is your tank in any direct sunlight from a window? You said two Marine Glow bulbs... The color spectrum of light bulbs are rated in something called "Kelvin's" aka "K", ranging from 0K up to 20,000K (at least that's the range we would be concerned with). Within that range 10,000K (aka 10K) is right in the middle and is considered pure white. Anything less than 10K --ie bulbs that are 2,700K, 5,100K, 6,500K etc --look yellower, and anything higher than 10K --ie bulbs that are 12K and 14K --get blue-er and blue-er all the way up to 20K which is basically solid blue. The different spectrums do different things. The blue-er spectrums tend to make colors show up much prettier in an aquarium - the colors really 'pop' so to say, however the bluer light is 'weaker' and isn't able to make things grow as well. On the other end of the spectrum (below 10K) the yellower side, the colors are relatively ugly, but the light is 'stronger' so to say and things, including algae, grow very well. Also, as bulbs age, the spectrum of light they actually produce shifts lower / yellower. Thats why they say you should replace your bulbs at least once every year. A 10K bulbs after a year might actually be giving off the same light as say, a 6,500K bulb. The range right around 5,100K to 6,500K is considered the ideal plant-growing range --ie algae-growing. All that being said, do you know what Kelvin your bulbs are? And how old they are?

I've got to go black friday shopping, I'll be back later!

[smirkis]

u said your using 2 marine glows. are they t8's or t5s? those could be the reason your zoa's n corals keep dying.

and a improper light schedule could be feeding your algae like ^ said.

[seahorse_man]

Ditto everthing Chris said^^

T-8.... http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_015561116077-Hagen-Aquarium-Marine-glo-Fluorescent-Bulb-40-Watt

[vanwy6]

hi,

sorry still dont get it.

on one hand seems like i am not using enough light because my corals keep dying.

On the other hand it seems like I am using too much hence the algae infestation.

???????????

Is it possible one off you could comme and look at my tank please?

I will pay you

Thanks for trying to help

Alexandra

ps: live in golden Hills

[JHAI4]

Alexandra,

PM Scott (Redeye) and or Kevin (Live Water Aquariums) both service tanks as a profession and both are excellent and know what they are doing. It sounds like a combination of many things, lighting, nutrients, lack of flow, you may have a detrius problem as you didn't indicate a large clean up crew. In addition you should give us all the water parameters, you probably have very high phosphates, nitrates ad nitrites. Like previsoulsy stated it sounds like a combination of issues that can be resolved and get your tank back and better then befroe enabling you to keep corals...

In terms of why your tank looks green again, well you are cycling your tank by scrubing the rocks and switching out the sand. Take a look at "da6d2003" tank a 260g new setup... His alge ais the same as yours and it's due to the cycling process..... Give Scott and or Kevin a call and they will help you out! Best of luck and keep us posted.

Justin

[Redeye]

Sounds like lack of filtration, is that base rock? or is it all LIVE ROCK?
if you don't currently have corals living, cut off your light completely and let the cyano dieoff, start doing water changes with either scripps water or RODI and a quality salt mix
atleast 20-30% a week at this point, due to the extra dieoff of algae you will be causing

Judging by the look of the rock, it is a new system that has too many fish, too soon

[estamm]

"on one hand seems like i am not using enough light because my corals keep dying.

On the other hand it seems like I am using too much hence the algae infestation."


Once you get a handle on your nutrient level - Light should not be your limiting factor in a marine/reef type tank. You should attempt to limit algae by limiting the introduction of foods and other additives that are contributing to the imbalance. Too many fish too soon is definatly feuling the problem. Bear in mind that phosphates and such "soak" into your gravel and live rock so just scrubbing them off doesnt always do the trick and can many times make things worse as the beneficial bacteria can be hampered by the process of scrubbing and handling, same goes for gravel. Sand beds work good when used and managed properly but they can act as a super nutrient bank too. Your description of green algae leads me to believe you are feeding too much and your system is not cycling to its potential. Red and brown cyano are typical reef problems and show up now and then even in lower nutrient systems, usually when we get lazy.. Dont sell your stuff just consider this part of the learning curve and press on..Once you master nutrients you can look forward to many other little lessons this hobby has to offer....ES

[DaveMorris]

How much do you feed? The amount of light shouldn't be a problem, but the quality of the light might be. Several of us have probably 50 times the amount of light on our tanks as you do with no algea issues. I think Scott is right. It is a combination of things. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but we can get you past this. Give us some more info like specifics on feeding. How much and how often?

[montiporadict]

This may not be an answer to solving the algae problem but get rid of the blue damsels. It will lighten up the bio load a bit and save you a future headache(IMO).

[sandiegoreefish]

I has the same problem with my tank when i started out, i think you started adding things to soon. cut down on the lights and do water changes, if you had your system running for a while, get some fish that eats it, get crabs, snails etc etc, You mite want to test your water to see what you got to start off with