Secrets of solving algae problems

Do you have algae problems or just a small area of problem algae? Describe the problem here and the WMAS Message Board will help you.

In other words,
learn to keep it from becoming like this:        and if this is what you want it to look like:
Turn this: into this:

Edited by Mark Peterson - December 16 2007 at 9:13am

Adam, you must really like hair algae.  If it was GSP, I would second your motion.

That's not GSP Adam. I could get you some gorgreous frags of hair algea if you really want it. They're free.

RWK2002, In another thread you asked about ChemiClean. Lots of people have used it, but in my opinion, it is not good for the tank. There are a lot of organisms supposed to be growing in the aquarium. 99% of them are good while 1% are bad. Chemical treatments kill the good with the bad.

The best mothods for controlling algae are natural methods. And there are lots of natural methods that work.

For Red Slime Algae, which is Cyanobacteria (for good reading, search this MB for "cyano") there are several things that help it grow.

1) The first thing to look at is feeding. If you stop or seriously cut back on the amount of food, the cyano should disappear within a week. It would be good to know how much, what foods and how often you feed the tank, but while you are getting back to us with that info, try this:
Stop feeding for two days then feed half the usual amount for at least a week.

2) There are other sources of food for cyano besides fish food. The type, quantity and source of LR and LS can be a factor.
Do you have a pic of the tank that you could post here? If not, please describe the LR and the 100 lbs. of LS.

3) another thing is the lighting. Please tell us what your tank has. Cyano seems to grow better in lower light, though it may be that aquariums with lower light also have slower water circulation.

4) Circulation is an important item to consider and is first on some hobbyists list of factors. What kind of pumps, gph, etc. and how is the water stream(s) directed? Changing or increasing water flow has helped prevent cyano growth in some tanks.

Looking forward to your responses.

Absolutely no supplemental food "0"

The lace rock can be a source of phosphate which helps algae flourish. I've seen too many lace rocks covered with maroon colored cyano.

Where did the Aragonite rock come from?

Your aquarium has 14 carnivorous fish(Royal Grammas counted twice for good reason) and only 2 herbivorous fish! (Blue Tangs don't count. Generally, they are louzy herbivores.) Here's the link: http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/SeaStarJunePrint.pdf

You could pick up some useful info from the June 2001 Sea Star Online. The article is titled Herbivores vs. Carnivores.

The most important part of maintaining a healthy and beautiful reef aquarium is learning to understand the balance between all it's living inhabitants and their food supply. (One of the reasons saltwater is so fascinating is because of the diversity and amount of life, from Bacteria to Tang to Mantis Shrimp. )

For example, snails are some of the most useful herbivores an aquarium can have. Twenty 1" snails in a 20-30 gal. well lit aquarium is a good number and will usually eat algae as fast as it grows. Starvation could occur if those same 20 snails were in a 10 gallon tank.

If lighting is reduced, algae growth slows and herbivores get really hungry If lighting is increased or their number decreases because of death, the algae will increase. A new tank may have little algae at first and a few snails seem to be doing a fine job, but if it is well lit and additional snails are not added, the algae will increase.

Understanding this major concept and using it in the maintenance of a reef aquarium will turn an ordinary tank owner into a true reef aquarium hobbyist.

BTW, one hermit crab for every two snails is a good rule-of-thumb

Edited by Mark Peterson - November 27 2007 at 7:15pm

Mark how about bryosis (i cant spell)? How do you get rid of that? and also valonia?

Edited by bugzme

30 for a 10 gal?

How badly do you want to get rid of the hair algae? Have you read this? Ugly Green-Haired Mermaid After reading that, Adams post should make sense.

You feel shunned? I'm guessing that most if not all of us feel uncomfortable with being a counselor/therapist, especially when the purpose of this forum is reefkeeping. We hope to help you with your aquarium and some of us badly wish we could help with your personal life, but being in another state makes that almost impossible. We are all friends here and many of us get together at least once a month. We do care about you and are sorry that the distance separating us prevents us from getting to know you better and being able to be closer friends.

If you want more help after you read about the Ugly Green-Haired Mermaid, please read the February 2002 Sea Star Online to help you get started with controlling that bad algae.

We are answering you now, are we not?

Lex0219, We've given you some ideas. What are you going to try, to control that algae?