New at this..

[Troutmasters02]

So this is my first tank and so far so good. I've set the system up for sps but I've been reluctant to buy any frags for fear of killing them. One of my concerns is algae, as you can see from my signiture link I've had some real issues. Will the frags get overgrown with the algae thats already in my tank and how can I get rid of this junk?!

Thanks for the advice!! :bighug:

[Texreefer]

Yes, frags will get overgrown..we need to know more about your system but you need to get your nitrates and phosphates down. if your not using ro/di, start! make sure you have a good skimmer that is working. remove detritus traps. do regular water changes, get a bigger better clean up crew, keep removing as much as possible manually.. this should get you on the road

[Troutmasters02]

I have my own ro/di system which produces 0 TDS water. I plan on going to the LFS tomorrow to pick up some phosban. I do 30% water changes per month and perameters are good. What kind of clean up crew members should I pick up? Snails seem to ignore the algae thats growing.

[Texreefer]

turbos usually do the trick. but you need to get more of it out first,, they will mow down the short stuff

[FireWater]

I had a bad - I mean BAD outbreak of hair algae in my 90 when I started it up. What I did was 15 to 20% water changes every week and at least twice a week I removed as much algae as I could by hand. I bought several turbo snails and several hermits. They helped ,but you have to make sure you do your part by getting rid of the big stuff, checking the flow all over your tank, and not letting detritus build up on the rocks.It took about a month before I really noticed that I was ahead of the game and then all of a sudden it was gone.

[sharkboy]

take it slow and be patient is probably the best advice i ever got...

[Kyle46N]

You might consider using grape caulerpa as your macro. The only issue would be it getting into you main display. I have a yellow tang that loves the stuff, so its not an issue for my tank. I have had the caulerpa for about 4 months now and have had absolutely zero nuisance algae problems, to include cyano. I had cyano before I put the caulerpa in. This stuff grows so fast it outcompetes everything else for nutrients. I am constantly trimming this stuff back. And like I said, I also have plenty of food for my tang.

[Troutmasters02]

I have grape caulerpa and chaeto macroalgae in my refugium, but still have problems with hair algae.

[princer7]

After seeing what the Mexican Turbo snails (Turbo fluctuosa) can do, I would definitely recommend these in addition to the regular Astraea Turbo Snail (Astraea tecta).

[Kristy]

Your tank looks great. Just going to have to keep tweaking it til you hit that "sweet spot" where everything's in balance. I'd say your only sure bet is to up your water changes, consider increasing your flow, LOTS of diligence in manual removal, and add a couple of Mexican turbo snails. Won't be an easy or immediate fix, but it will work.

Here's an article to inspire you that this is possible.
http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

Good luck!

[Troutmasters02]

Thanks for the article Kristy, I will follow these steps and post what happens in a few weeks. Wish me luck!

[Rychek]

You might also consider a Sea Hare. They can mow through algae .

[Troutmasters02]

I had a sea hare, and yes he did cut through the algae like nothin but I want to find and fix the root of the problem. Got some phosban at B&B which by the way have some very nice frags right now.