Algae Control Help

[LarryS]

Hey All:

Have a newly established 45 gal reef tank (cycled 4/7) 192 watts PC w/14 gal sump/fuge Mag 9.5 return. Water parameters Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, ph 8/2, salinity 1.025. Tank inhabitants 30 lbs TBS liverock, 15 lbs live sand, serpent star, hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp.

Problem is algae. TBS live rock came with green and red hair algae which is growing, and brown and red algae growing too. The crabs cannot keep up with the growth. My 6 Turbo snails have disappeared (eaten by crabs, or other?).

(1) Will it upset the water chemistry or create any other problems to simply wipe down the brown and red algae to remove it from the back and side glass?

(2) As to the growth on the rock, should I just get more cleaners, and if so, recommendations, or should I manually remove as best I can.

(3) Is it proper maintenance to wipe down algae off the walls of the fuge?

The stuff looks terrible. Any comments appreciated from this newbie reefer.

[LarryS]

Forgot to add, I also have a EuroReef ES5-2 skimmer.

[Seaworthy]

How old is your tank? My guess is 3 - 4 mos. If it's in that range you're going through the algea stage. Manual removal is fine, I used a toothbrush on my LR and pulled the rest out with my hands. Keep the LR in the tank and use a turkey baster to suck up as much free floating algea once you scrub it. Let your skimmer do the rest. I'm not sure what causes it but it should go away in 4-6 weeks. I just got through mine and now there's no trace of hair algea anywhere. A little brown cr@p on the substrate but it seems to be diasappearing as well.

Be careful about beefing up your clean-up crew too much because once the problem goes away, you'll have to feed them something and you'll have a tank full of hermits and snails with no algea. I have about 6 blue legged hermits 4 red legged hermits, 2 big Mexican Turbos, 10 Astrea snails, and an algea blenny in my 50 and I think I've gotten too much now that the problem is gone. Try to size your crew for the future and use manual removal to deal with it for the next month. Also try not overfeeding and perhaps put some type of PH sponge in your sump. Also try cutting back on the hours the lights are on and if there's a window nearby keep the blinds closed. At this point try dealing with it like this for a bit and see if it goes away.

[baz]

I agree with seaworthy. Weekly water changes will do the trick also. I just went through all the stages and came real close to adding chemicals to combat the issue. I am so thankful that I didn't now. One morning I woke up and my tank looked clean and healthy!!

Good Luck,

Baz

[LarryS]

Thanks for the comments guys. Good suggestions.

[zcorbett]

I am at about 4 1/2 months on a 75 gal FOWLR, I wanted to go about 6 to 8 months to make sure I am completely established before adding corals, I as well am starting to see a LARGE growth of red hair all over my LR, and I have some coraline growth but is there a way to "jack it up", this forum is aces, never have a question that can't be answered here.

[crimson156]

all new tanks get these outbreaks
if their isn't any real nutrient problem the algae will use up all the available nutrients,left overs from the cycle, and then cease to grow as fast
at this point or u can do it right now introduce macroalgae to help absorb these nutrients from your water and help control your other algae problems

[mfinn]

try a lawnmower blenny.

[zcorbett]

will this blenny be ok with a yellow tang, watchman goby, and a pacific blue tang? Also a couple of emerald crabs a couple of small red crabs a boat load of snails and hermits a serpent star and a large red star?

[mfinn]

They go good with most all fish except themselves, only one to a tank