Algae Outbreak

[Gilbert]

my girlfriend and i each have a 55gallon reef tank, we also both have hang on the back protein skimmers and filters, power compacts (260watts), a power head (mine is a little stronger), 3" sand bed, approx. 60lbs of live rock, 5 med size fish in each tank. the problem is that her tank her tank had a big outbreak when we first started it and we where told that that is normal, but now she is getting another outbreak of green hair algae and red slim algae. we do the same thing to our tanks so why is she having problems and not me???

[ErikH]

I can only assume that she is overfeeding. Check your Phosphate levels and post them here. What size are the powerheads? Sometimes flow will curb the cyano (red slime), but it's best to find the source. Powerspray the rocks with a powerhead and while all that muck is suspended, suck it out and do a water change. What kind of clean up crew do you have in those tanks?

[Gilbert]

she has about a quater of the amount of snails and hermit crabs that i have, could that be the problem??? cause she doesn't over feed

[alton]

Go buy some Phosban and a reactor. And install it on her tank. At this time I have three tanks and even though I use the same R/O water, same salt, same lighting, I have to watch algae growth in one but not the others. Maybe it could be that one tank gets more natural light more dust from the AC system? No two tanks are the same. What is funny is my tank that has the algae problem sometimes is the one the corals do the best in. Just make sure you are using R/O water for changes and top off and doing regular water changes. It will fix itself in time.

[bigmoe21]

like scorpino said there could also be a lack of flow in the tank..depends on what kind of powerhead you have because if its not strong enough to keep things moving in the water and keeping food from staying on the sand, it can build up and cause things like cyano

[Gilbert]

thanks guys.
we use regular tap water what changes would we see it we use R/O water

[bigmoe21]

you wouldnt have that hair algae problem
thanks guys.
we use regular tap water what changes would we see it we use R/O water

[Fish4life]

plus your corals/fish/ basically everything would do better. get one off ebay........ they run about 100 bucks. best thing i ever bought for my tank!

cheers,

kurt

[ratboy]

2 words - sea hare. You're in S.A. so the one I have for sale is prob too far but check locally. You will still need to fix your root problem but 1 sea hare eliminated all the hair algae in my 400 in a week.

[ST3PH3N]

i use sa's tap water and i have horrible outbreaks also, i started using r/o water for my changes and it has started to slow down to the point where my cleaning crew can handle it alittle more

[ST3PH3N]

2 words - sea hare. You're in S.A. so the one I have for sale is prob too far but check locally. You will still need to fix your root problem but 1 sea hare eliminated all the hair algae in my 400 in a week.

which sea hare is reef safe?

[crossxfire2]

The one that looks like a dark-ish green slug.

[ST3PH3N]

The one that looks like a dark-ish green slug.


thanks, going to go buy one from b&b

[envy]

you wouldnt have that hair algae problem

i,ve been using tap water well over a year and had never had that problem in the 55 gallon. only tank i had cyno problem with was the nano and thats cause i was over feeding and have two pigs in that tank(trigger and puffer) never had hair algae outbreak in any tank with tap water

[tropicana]

The cleaner the water... The better! Dont use tap water!!!!! I would never recommend it!

[MissT]

i,ve been using tap water well over a year and had never had that problem in the 55 gallon. only tank i had cyno problem with was the nano and thats cause i was over feeding and have two pigs in that tank(trigger and puffer) never had hair algae outbreak in any tank with tap water


rare... and very lucky
I'd recommend going with quality RODI water as well.. There are enough challenges in this hobby without bringing more on yourself by using tap water... I wont even drink the stuff much less put it in my tank LOL

[bigmoe21]

haha why did you advocate the use of r/o, especially for the inexpenive cost of obtaining it, in another thread but not use the stuff yourself? :lauging:...well yeah you must be lucky to not have hair algae unless you have a rabbitfish


i,ve been using tap water well over a year and had never had that problem in the 55 gallon. only tank i had cyno problem with was the nano and thats cause i was over feeding and have two pigs in that tank(trigger and puffer) never had hair algae outbreak in any tank with tap water

[envy]

i know i tell people to use it and its not expensive .25 cents per gallon but just lazy to go and get it. i have been thinking about it for my next tank though the 110. not to sure after having people tell me its not a 110 and its a 125 but what ever i got the size i wanted.

[envy]

go to the windmill and get water from there like i said .25 cents a gallon not bad just not to sure on the tds it contains. but maybe someone here might know.

[alton]

The office I work out of is on West Avenue in SA. So one day I decided to test the Nitrates, 10 ppm from the tap. Maybe this is an isolated area where the water sucks but?

[ST3PH3N]

FYI, that sea hare is a beast! it has cleared so much algae...oh and for the record i never really had a hair algae problem when i had about 4-5 wpg..now i have around 10 and it was really bad. I think thats why some people dont have to bad of an algae problem because they dont have to many wpg. idk i may be wrong( this is what ive noticed with people using tap not r/o water)

[ErikH]

I live off west and blanco, my apartments are brand new, and my nitrates read 0 right out of the tap. New plumbing I can only assume.