Help - Algae bloom

[rogermyrick]

I'm having a problem. I'm getting a bright green coating on my glass, my nice pink staghorn rock has turned Red and there is a dense dark green short cropped lawn growing on my main rock. Is there anything out there that will kill off this problem without affecting my fish or corals? Unfortunatley I made three rookie mistakes all at the same time. I bought corals from different sellers and put them into my tank. I changed from making water to using Scripps water and i went from a lame light to a kick ass lighting system all within one month.

[sdsocal]

Heres a good start: Let us know.

List all your H20 Params, Hardware, How long has tank been setup....

[LotsaFishies]

Agreed, need to know more about your setup. Tank size, type of filtration, etc... Water paramaters, what sort of maintenance you are currently doing etc....


As some very rough algae-combatting guidelines:
-decrease nutrients in the system
-decrease light
-increase circulation

[rogermyrick]

I will get that data tonite. Thanks.

[rogermyrick]

For those wanting to help, here are my water parameters:
Nitrate: 15ppm, Ammnonia: 0, Phosphate: 0.25ppm, Calcium: 420ppm, High PH: 8.3, KH 21dkH / 375.9ppm, Salinity: 1.027 @ 80 deg. after doing a 5 gal change.
Other info: 3gal tall w/ 10 gal sump. External overflow box, 170 gal pump up to tank. Older Coralife skimmer w/ wooden air stones. 1 power head in tank.
Other symptoms: new Coco worm won't come out, Leather toadstool not doing good (staying shrivled), Zoa's die off, Snails die, Peppermint shrims die, Duncan's / Torch's (Lost two heads recently)/ Frogspawns have on & off good days, Kenya's doing good, mushrooms doing ok (daughters are better), Dendraphilias are good, Pulsing Xenias are great, sponge is ok. Fish are good: 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 bangali cardinal, 1 blue damsel.

[rogermyrick]

CORRECTION: 3o gallon tall....

[rogermyrick]

This tank has been up and running for 1.5 years now. I have always had problems keeping Zoa's.
See additional info above.

[wildtigg3r]

As some very rough algae-combatting guidelines:
-decrease nutrients in the system
-decrease light
-increase circulation

Agreed with this.

You'll need to lower your Nitrate and Phosphate level. Both should be as close to zero (0) as possible.
Your salinity is a little high. Should be around 1.023 - 1.025.
You should invest in a better skimmer.
What type of power head do you have?
Describe your "kick ass" lighting.

[wildtigg3r]

Can the mod please move this thread to the proper section in the forum?

[jneiss19]

clean your tank and scrub off all you can then keep the lights off and cover your tank for 48 hours...make sure your tank is blacked out. thats better than adding a bunch of chemicals and stuff that can potentially have an adverse effect on corals and other good things.

also, lower the salinity. the highest you want to go is 1.026 and norm is 1.021-1.024 i keep mine about 1.024 because my calcium is at a good level w/ that mixture of salt/water. your calcium is a good level but low considering your running 1.027. id probably go w/ distilled water and mix your own reef crystals in to a 1.024 salinity level. this ensures nothing extra is in your water other than water and the reef crystal salt mix contains all the essential elements needed for most corals, of course supplementing w/ phytoplankton is beneficial as well. i use reef salt mix, coral vite, phytoplex, and microvert all from kent. i dont have zoas but my yellow polyps, mushroom corals, candycanes, and whiskers couldnt be happier, and i dont have a prob w/ algae.

[raja]

I wonder if there is a phosphate problem with Scripps water. I use Scripps water and have done two 20% water changes in the last three weeks and have green algae now growing on the LR and glass.

[hydrahawk]

I wonder if there is a phosphate problem with Scripps water. I use Scripps water and have done two 20% water changes in the last three weeks and have green algae now growing on the LR and glass.

This is one reason I have never bought/use ocean water, whether it is Scripps or Catalina water. You just don't know for sure. Rogermyrick, I would start mixing your own water. I get my water from a water machine outside my local Stater Bros. TDS reading is 3-7.

[jwebber974]

Set up a reactor and run RowaPhos through it. Also, your KH is way high, is it really 21? I usually keep mine aroud 8.7 never higher than 9. You might have an imbalance between calcium and alk. Plus, your nitrates and phosphates should be 0. Get a sea hare from local store to get rid of the algae once you correct all the issues above.

[JohnnyAirtime]

I'm having a problem. I'm getting a bright green coating on my glass, my nice pink staghorn rock has turned Red and there is a dense dark green short cropped lawn growing on my main rock. Is there anything out there that will kill off this problem without affecting my fish or corals? Unfortunatley I made three rookie mistakes all at the same time. I bought corals from different sellers and put them into my tank. I changed from making water to using Scripps water and i went from a lame light to a kick ass lighting system all within one month.

"Kill off the problem".... Nothing based on a chemical, no quick fix.

I don't see three rookie mistakes. I only see one thing being a possible cause, and that's the addition of "lame" to "kickass" lighting. Getting corals from different sellers won't effect anything, unless your bringing in pest algaes or critters on those corals. If so, it's another issue not anyone of them you've listed thus far.

Adding the new lights, AND changing your water makeup is more then likely the "main" issues. SCRIPPS itself is not usually the cause. I've been using it for a long time, with no ill effects to my tanks. I do test it every now and again, and it's usually just fine. I have a couple friends who have changed to RO/DI with a saltmix, and had more problems then using SCRIPPS. So, let's not blame SCRIPPS water.... NSW, is not the main issue here. It's the drastic changes that can cause these issues.

I'd try and run the "kickass" lights for less photo periods. Meaning, cut back a few hours a day... and do a larger water change to see about bringing down those nitrates and phosphates. I dose MB7 and BioFuel to aid in lowering those... you could try that too.