Need help with algae problem

Reefer333 · 03-30-2008, 02:24 PM

I have a Red Sea 34gallon reef tank thats been up for about 7-8 Months. I am losing the battle against hair algae and red slime. I do a water change every week (5gallons), and all I am dosing is Iodide, calcium and buffer when I do a water change. I try to remove as much red slime that I can, but it keeps coming back. What do I do??? I am new to the forum so I don't know how to upload photos to show the tank

CATALYST · 03-30-2008, 02:31 PM

My tank did that too when it was about as old as yours. I increased flow by adding another powerhead, lessened feedings, and ran some phosphate and nitrate remover. I would suck out as much of the slime as possible with a turkey baster and scrub the rock with ha with a toothbrush. I added some macro algae (chaeto) to my tank too. It took a couple months to clear up and all of the ha isn't totally gone but it's under control.

Woodstock · 03-30-2008, 02:36 PM

Welcome to ReefSanctuary

Red slime loves low oxygen and high phosphates and nitrates. Keep the nitrAtes at 10ppm or less via water changes.
Make sure your tank has good water flow, soak/rinse all foods in ro/di prior to feeding (the ro/di actually draws out the phosphates from the food), be careful not to overfeed, use ro/di water, and start using GFO (granulated ferric oxide) phosban media to help remove phosphates.
.
Only use ro/di water when mixing new salt and for all freshwater top offs. Tap water and well water is usually very high in total dissolved solids (read algae fuel).

Make sure you're testing to make sure you need the iodide, calcium and buffer (alkalinity). Test before and then a few hours after to make sure all is well.

lcstorc · 03-30-2008, 02:40 PM

Pull it out and starve it out.

Reefer333 · 03-30-2008, 02:43 PM

I always use r/o water for salt and fresh water top off. I am also running Phosphate pads in my filtration. How much should I be feeding? In my tank there are a blue spotted jawfish, clown, fire fish, and three cleaner shrimp. The tank is loaded with corals. Will post pics later when I figure out how...
Thanks for all the advice!

lcstorc · 03-30-2008, 02:47 PM

That is a small bio-load so not very much.
What do you feed and do you rinse it in ro/di first? Most prepared foods use phosphate as a preservative so you are adding phosphates event when you don't think you are.
Do you have any snails or other cleanup-crew? I would add some nassarius snails to help with uneaten food and a turbo or two to eat the algae.

Reefer333 · 03-30-2008, 02:53 PM

I feed D/Ts, Mysis shrimp, Reef plankton. The feeding schedule is Mysis 2 times a week, D/Ts once a week, Reef plankton once a week. I dose Iodide 3 times a week, calcium twice a week, and buffer once a week with water changes. As far as the clean up crew I have 20 snails ( 10 sand snifting ) and 20 crabs, brisstle star. Am I over doing my tank? I do have a lot of corals in there.

sasquatch · 03-30-2008, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reefer333

I always use r/o water for salt and fresh water top off. I am also running Phosphate pads in my filtration. How much should I be feeding? In my tank there are a blue spotted jawfish, clown, fire fish, and three cleaner shrimp. The tank is loaded with corals. Will post pics later when I figure out how...
Thanks for all the advice!

"The tank is loaded with corals" now that sounds like an importation of organic phosphates, not sure how effective the p pads would be but as Woody suggested the GFO is the way to go. Nitrate reduction below 10 is counter productive as it starves beneficial algae, cyano fixes nitrogen in its cell walls, the real fuel is phosphate in all its glorious forms. getting detritus and mulm out of the water column is very important so maybe a little turkey bastering would help.

lcstorc · 03-30-2008, 03:05 PM

I would cut way down on the dts and the plankton. Why are you dosing iodide and calcium and buffer? Do your test results show that you shoud? Never dose anything unless the tests tell you it is needed.
If the mysis is a whole cube, I would go to a half a cube every other day. Most corals are photosynthetic and get their food from the zoanthela which lives off of the light. I rarely feed my corals unless they are sun corals or another type that requires target feeding.
Also increase your water changes. That is the best way to get bad things out of the tank.

rlcline76 · 03-30-2008, 04:56 PM

What is your substrate? I know you said that you have sand sifters, but that doesn't mean you have to have sand.

Reefer333 · 03-30-2008, 05:09 PM

I dose iodide because my corals respond really well to it. The calcium is a seachem product that just maintains the calcium level and does'nt add any more calcium to the tank. The buffer is because I am having a little problem maintaining my Ph level. I do have to add about a 1/2gallon a day R/O fresh water to top the tank off. So I don't know if that is effecting my Ph. My substrate is about 3" of sand, and there is also about 88lbs of live rock. My corals are thriving though, so I havn't really had a negative reaction in my tank besides the red slime and algea. I just want to make sure that everything in my tank has what it needs to thrive.

lcstorc · 03-30-2008, 05:14 PM

Test before adding. It is very easy to overdose iodide and the calcium is what is throwing off your alk and ph.

rlcline76 · 03-30-2008, 05:37 PM

Did I miss it? I am searching all over this thread...have you given us your parameters?
I am also guessing that some of this dosing is helping your algae bloom.

03-30-2008, 02:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Reefer333 Midas Blenny Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 113 View Gallery Karma Komment	Need help with algae problem I have a Red Sea 34gallon reef tank thats been up for about 7-8 Months. I am losing the battle against hair algae and red slime. I do a water change every week (5gallons), and all I am dosing is Iodide, calcium and buffer when I do a water change. I try to remove as much red slime that I can, but it keeps coming back. What do I do??? I am new to the forum so I don't know how to upload photos to show the tank

03-30-2008, 02:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
CATALYST Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: SoCal Posts: 978 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem My tank did that too when it was about as old as yours. I increased flow by adding another powerhead, lessened feedings, and ran some phosphate and nitrate remover. I would suck out as much of the slime as possible with a turkey baster and scrub the rock with ha with a toothbrush. I added some macro algae (chaeto) to my tank too. It took a couple months to clear up and all of the ha isn't totally gone but it's under control. __________________

03-30-2008, 02:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Woodstock The Wand Geek was here. ;) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 23,264 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Need help with algae problem Welcome to ReefSanctuary Red slime loves low oxygen and high phosphates and nitrates. Keep the nitrAtes at 10ppm or less via water changes. Make sure your tank has good water flow, soak/rinse all foods in ro/di prior to feeding (the ro/di actually draws out the phosphates from the food), be careful not to overfeed, use ro/di water, and start using GFO (granulated ferric oxide) phosban media to help remove phosphates. . Only use ro/di water when mixing new salt and for all freshwater top offs. Tap water and well water is usually very high in total dissolved solids (read algae fuel). Make sure you're testing to make sure you need the iodide, calcium and buffer (alkalinity). Test before and then a few hours after to make sure all is well. __________________ ~Doni Marie~ *GOT ICH???* *My QT/Hospital Tank* ~120 Reef Chronicle ~ *~Breeding Picasso Clownfish~* "Energy and persistence conquer all things." Benjamin Franklin __________________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 120 mixed reef, dual Reeflux 10k 250 MHs, dual Geiseman Actinic T5s,Neptune AC III, ASM g3, 2x Korallia #3, Mag 9.5 return

03-30-2008, 02:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 20,008 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Need help with algae problem Pull it out and starve it out. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. In Loving Memory Of Z 01/22/07 - 08/19/08

03-30-2008, 02:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
Reefer333 Midas Blenny Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 113 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem I always use r/o water for salt and fresh water top off. I am also running Phosphate pads in my filtration. How much should I be feeding? In my tank there are a blue spotted jawfish, clown, fire fish, and three cleaner shrimp. The tank is loaded with corals. Will post pics later when I figure out how... Thanks for all the advice!

03-30-2008, 02:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 20,008 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Need help with algae problem That is a small bio-load so not very much. What do you feed and do you rinse it in ro/di first? Most prepared foods use phosphate as a preservative so you are adding phosphates event when you don't think you are. Do you have any snails or other cleanup-crew? I would add some nassarius snails to help with uneaten food and a turbo or two to eat the algae. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. In Loving Memory Of Z 01/22/07 - 08/19/08

03-30-2008, 02:53 PM	#7 (permalink)
Reefer333 Midas Blenny Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 113 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem I feed D/Ts, Mysis shrimp, Reef plankton. The feeding schedule is Mysis 2 times a week, D/Ts once a week, Reef plankton once a week. I dose Iodide 3 times a week, calcium twice a week, and buffer once a week with water changes. As far as the clean up crew I have 20 snails ( 10 sand snifting ) and 20 crabs, brisstle star. Am I over doing my tank? I do have a lot of corals in there.

03-30-2008, 03:05 PM	#9 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 20,008 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Need help with algae problem I would cut way down on the dts and the plankton. Why are you dosing iodide and calcium and buffer? Do your test results show that you shoud? Never dose anything unless the tests tell you it is needed. If the mysis is a whole cube, I would go to a half a cube every other day. Most corals are photosynthetic and get their food from the zoanthela which lives off of the light. I rarely feed my corals unless they are sun corals or another type that requires target feeding. Also increase your water changes. That is the best way to get bad things out of the tank. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. In Loving Memory Of Z 01/22/07 - 08/19/08

03-30-2008, 04:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
rlcline76 Manta Ray Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,365 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem What is your substrate? I know you said that you have sand sifters, but that doesn't mean you have to have sand.

03-30-2008, 05:09 PM	#11 (permalink)
Reefer333 Midas Blenny Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 113 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem I dose iodide because my corals respond really well to it. The calcium is a seachem product that just maintains the calcium level and does'nt add any more calcium to the tank. The buffer is because I am having a little problem maintaining my Ph level. I do have to add about a 1/2gallon a day R/O fresh water to top the tank off. So I don't know if that is effecting my Ph. My substrate is about 3" of sand, and there is also about 88lbs of live rock. My corals are thriving though, so I havn't really had a negative reaction in my tank besides the red slime and algea. I just want to make sure that everything in my tank has what it needs to thrive.

03-30-2008, 05:14 PM	#12 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 20,008 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Need help with algae problem Test before adding. It is very easy to overdose iodide and the calcium is what is throwing off your alk and ph. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. In Loving Memory Of Z 01/22/07 - 08/19/08

03-30-2008, 05:37 PM	#13 (permalink)
rlcline76 Manta Ray Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,365 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Need help with algae problem Did I miss it? I am searching all over this thread...have you given us your parameters? I am also guessing that some of this dosing is helping your algae bloom.

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