Huge Algae Problem! Please Help

[blankminded]

When i first setup the tank about a month or 2 ago i had a little hair algae problem. After about week it started to go away and i thought i was in the clear. About a week ago i started to notice a brown algae growing on the live rock. Today the tank looks so bad ive been thinking about tearing it all down and starting over. If anyone can help figure out whats going on that would be great.

A little info on the tank
-Its a 20 gallon long
-dual 65 watt compacts (1 10k and 1 actinic) running for 8hrs a day.
-magnum 305 canister filter w/ Polishing Micron Cartridge only.
-Fuval 105 canister filter w/ a poly-filter pad, chemi pure elite, and clearMax(phosX)
-Seaclone 100 Protein Skimmer

There arn't any fish in the tank. I have 2 scarlet hermits, 3 margarita snails, 2 bumble bee snails, and 4 Nassarius Snail.

I had some pulsating xenia but it's pretty much gone. The only other thing in the tank is a nice colony of green star polyps and they are doing great.

The parameters are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - almost 0
pH - 8.2
Temp - 80

I took a few pics

whole tank

Right side

Center

Any and all help would be great

 

[lzrlvr]

take your time let the tank cycle do not rush things.

 

[joewell]

Regular water change + more cleaning crew. I've noticed on smaller tanks such as yours regular water changes go a long way! I have the RSM 130D (34g) and I change 5g every week and it's been doing amazing!

 

[blankminded]

I'm thinking about moving a little water into a 2 1/2 gallon and moveing the star polyps and whats left of the Xenia into that and leaving the lights out for a few days. Would that kill things off?

 

[DaveK]

When i first setup the tank about a month or 2 ago i had a little hair algae problem. After about week it started to go away and i thought i was in the clear. About a week ago i started to notice a brown algae growing on the live rock. Today the tank looks so bad ive been thinking about tearing it all down and starting over. If anyone can help figure out whats going on that would be great.

A little info on the tank
-Its a 20 gallon long
-dual 65 watt compacts (1 10k and 1 actinic) running for 8hrs a day.
-magnum 305 canister filter w/ Polishing Micron Cartridge only.
-Fuval 105 canister filter w/ a poly-filter pad, chemi pure elite, and clearMax(phosX)
-Seaclone 100 Protein Skimmer

There arn't any fish in the tank. I have 2 scarlet hermits, 3 margarita snails, 2 bumble bee snails, and 4 Nassarius Snail.

I had some pulsating xenia but it's pretty much gone. The only other thing in the tank is a nice colony of green star polyps and they are doing great.

The parameters are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - almost 0
pH - 8.2
Temp - 80

I took a few pics

whole tank
...
Any and all help would be great

Here are your basic problems.

First, you have 2 canister filters on the system. These must be cleaned at least weekly, otherwise they become dirt traps and nitrate factories.

Second, you have a Seaclone skimmer. IMHO, this is one of the worst skimmers out there, and next to useless. I recommend replacing it with a skimmer worthy of your reef. Something like an AquaC Remora would be a good choice. I further recommend that you smash the Seaclone to bits, and discard, to prevent it from falling into the hands of some other unsuspecting reef keeper.

Lastly, I present -

DaveK's Standard Lecture #2 - Algae Control

Algae control comes down to controlling nitrates and phosphates. If you have a problem with algae it is because these two nutrients are out of control. Do not think that just because your test kits read zero or low values that you do not have a problem. In many cases the algae is removing the nutrients and growing. This is why there is a problem.

Here are possible sources of nitrates and phosphates -

Feeding, especially flake food and not rinsing frozen foods before feeding.
Using tap water to mix salt. Always use RO/DI water for this.
"Dirt traps" and "nitrate factories" in the system.
Low quality carbon can leach nutrients.
Low quality salt can sometimes add nutrients. This is unusual today.

Here are possible ways to remove nitrates and phosphates -

Water changes. Change 1/2 the water and you reduce the nutrients by 1/2.
Skimming. Remove the waste products before the biological filtration need to break then down.
Nitrate and phosphate removal products.
Deep sand beds.
Refugiums.
Algae Scrubbers.

Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. Most people that control algae well use many of the above methods.

There are also other items that can effect algae growth rates.

Good clean up crew.
Other livestock that eats algae.
Low general water quality, especially when the readings are off.
Old light bulbs. Colors change as they age and this can be a factor.
Water flow. More flow will often help keep algae down.
Manual removal. Very important, especially when there is a big problem.

 

[1Reefer]

Well said davek. All I can really say is patients goes a long way in reef keeping and it may still be part of a "cycle" and once you get it under control you may never see it again. My advise would be to stick it out take dave's advise and beat this algae problem!

 

[Uslanja]

Drop about 10 "Astrea Snails" in there. They won't fix the cause of your algae but they do a bang up job of eating what you have! Give them about a week and things will look much better.