algae attack!!

[clairewill4]

having a algae attack!! everything turned a brown rust colour! water tests still fine! prusume its my new lights, have reduced the time they on to 4 hours a day had them off completely for four days! this is making no difference at all! should i let it run its course?? we just got acradia series 3 halides 2 x 450 w its a 200g tank that we bought second hand we been running it three months but previous owner three years running we moved everything including water HELP!!!

[Jason25]

Have you checked for Phospates?

[clairewill4]

yes its fine too

[glampka]

What kind of water are you using? Test for silicates. Brown algae would be diatoms which are fed by silicates. If it's red cyano - test for phosphates as Jason suggests - if high, get a phosphate remover like Phosban. Cut back on feeding. Ideally, post a picture so we can see what the actual problem is.

[clairewill4]

added a deltec rowaphas thingy but no difference its half true sea water half made up with pure well water which is tested once a month. have cut back on feeding the last four days the only thing different is i added some live rock three weeks to a month ago that my partner bought from lfs it didnt look very good live rock nothing on it! i kept it in bucket with ph for couple of weeks tests all fine then added it. could this have something to do with it

[Jason25]

Phosphates and Nitrates can be tricky when you have algae because your water may not show traces of them because the algae is consuming them. Like already said check your source water before you put it into the tank.

[clairewill4]

[lcstorc]

Hmm, it looks like diatoms but not quite. I say that mostly because the substrate looks clean and IME diatoms are on the sand as well as the rocks and glass. It is usually everywhere.
Most likely cause is the source water. You say it is tested, but tested for what? If not TDS then you should get a tester and see what it shows.
Do you have any light living critters like corals and such or is it just fish? If you do not have any light living critters put the tank in a blackout for a couple of days. Just turning the lights off may not be enough if there is other light in the room. Most people find cardboard easy to work with and easily obtained.
Other than that the normal suggestions apply. Decrease feeding, increase water changes, rinse all food in RO water before feeding.

[rlcline76]

Are those air bubbles in the algae as well? Maybe dinoflagelletes?

[lcstorc]

Ah Ha.
That may well be it. Forgot about those.
It only has extreme close-up pictures but a lot of information about them in this link.
Dinoflagellates

Reefs.org: Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet - Dinoflagellates, or was that "Boogers with Bubbles"?

[clairewill4]

right help!! think this is what it is what do i do?????

[rlcline76]

Problem Dinoflagellates and pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

It is one suggestion. I am sure you will get a few more. Once you get it reduced, I would doublecheck those parameters.

[JWarren]

With all those fish in there you want to increase your cleanup crew, several hermits aint gonna get it. In a tank with a prodominant population of fish you will need a sizable cleanup crew. More hermits (50 minimum) and snails (30 minimum). Get a hand full of Nerite snails, if you don't have any.

Your rocks look a little stagnant, you got any powerheads in the tank to move the water around? Post a pic of your full tank and what you have in it, mainly what makes your water move. incoming and circulation.

[clairewill4]

we got one huge tunze, and three other small power heads in my partner is a plumber and about to make our own power heads, doesnt seem to matter how many we add its not making difference!! we got 3ft sump with aqua medic skimmer a rowaphas thingy, ocean runner pump, we are running lots of carbon, we got new halide lights it all seems to have started from them! have blacked out tank and tested source water its all 0 phospate 0 nitrate 0 nitrite 0 amonia 0, the only thing i can see is it being the lights??
we have about 25 baby crabs, 6 meduim crabs, and three big ones got about 5 snails to and sandshifting goby and arrow head crab who does great job raking the sand ???

[JWarren]

How many gallons of water are you circulating through the sump in an hour?

I am assuming you have enough due to the clarity of the water.

You have at this point, no competition in your tank. No cheato or other micro algae that would be in a fuge. The lighting increase has made the algae in your tank, start to actively consume more nutrients from the water. Snails! more snails!

So you need to also add some competition. Look at the link to my QT. No skimmer there, just a lot of plants. I would rather see plants than algae everywhere. Stick a big ball of cheato behind the rocks until you can get a fuge setup or employ some beautiful plants.

In the mean time get some more snails (vegetarians) and hermits (both).

Are you running any charcoal? Never mind I re-read your post.