Old bulbs causing algae???

[dwculp]

I have been battling a HORENDUS algae outbreak that started over a month ago. The algae is brown and scrubs off easy (diatoms probably). I will scrub the tank, change water and the algae comes back over night. Here is the setup:

40 gallon tank
CPR bak-pak 2 skimmer
TBS package - 40 ponds LS and 80 pounds LR
1 X 96 W 10K
1 X 96 W actinic
1 X 96 W 50/50
4 Azure damsels
1 Perc

The tank has been running for almost a year, one of the light fixtures is 12 months old this month.

I have been scrubbing rock and changing 15 gallons of water at a time. My nitrates are close to 0 and virtually undetectable with different test kits and my PO4 is under to right at .25 ppm, temp is steady at 26C , SG is 1.025 and pH is 8.4.

I dont get it and it is really getting frustrating at this point, my tank is UGLY. I have read that as bulbs age they can shift their spectrum towards the red which algae like. I notice that the thickest algae is near the top and thins as you go down. No algae grows in the dark parts of the tank i.e. under rocks etc.... The algae exposed to light will actually produce O2 bubbles.

I have ordered new bulbs and they should be here Tuesday. I pray that is the problem as I cant figure it out!!

Everything in the tank is doing exceptionally well and with my constant water changes I have seen a lot of growth on my rocks and organisims I have never seen before. The look great and is doing great except for the algae!!

[EDIT]
I said the algae comes back overnight but this is not exactly true, it actually recedes overnight and is barely visable on the sand in the morning and begins growing throughout the day.

[Randall_James]

We just had a talk about this spectrum shift and the occurance of algae.

If nothing else has changed (photo period, nutrient import, livestock etc) then maybe the lights will fix the issue. Please post the results of the lighting change for us.

[Nuhtty]

Hopefully the bulbs will solve the issue. If they are PC bulbs then yes, you need to change them every 10-12 months...some say 8 months.

Also, water changes can help using RO/DI water

[dwculp]

I hope they solve the problem, I am out of ideas. My bulbs should arrive Tuesday and I have a new cleanup crew arriving on Thursday.

[EDIT]

I dont use RO/DI water, but I do use distilled water which I have tested for PO4, copper, and nitrates which all come out as 0.

[Randall_James]

Distilled water is actually better than RO/DI water. It is cost prohibitive is all. Most people do not have the resources for a water distillation setup.

[dwculp]

I tell people all the time that distilled water if done correctly is more pure than RO/DI, no one believes me :) I buy it for .58 a gallon at Wal-Mart and it has been run through RO, carbon filtration and steam distilled.

I plan to get an RO/DI unit soon, as it would pay for itself in about 6 months.

[herefishyfishy2]

Any progress on your algea? I have the same thing going on with our 2 year old tank. Brown stringy algae that receeds at night and fires back up again with the lights are on and gets bubbles in it

[dwculp]

Originally posted by herefishyfishy2
Any progress on your algea? I have the same thing going on with our 2 year old tank. Brown stringy algae that receeds at night and fires back up again with the lights are on and gets bubbles in it

I got the new bulbs in Tuesday and installed them tuesday afternoon. The difference is AMAZING!!! The tank looks so much brighter and bluer, it is incredible!!!

I scrubbed the tank tuesday night and yesterday was the first full day with the new lights. I did have brown algae growth through the day but not nearly as much as normal. I scrubbed the tank even better yesterday and today will be the second full day with the lights. I imagine my problem will slowly subside with the new lights as I scrub away the left over algae (impossible to get all of it with one water change and scrub!) and my new cleanup crew goes to work.

In short it looks as if the lights are working but it is too early to tell completely. Will update later.

[boxfishpooalot]

Old bulbs dont cause algae to grow, they increase their growth by having more colors in the spectrum in wich they use to grow. Especially reds and oranges. As bulbs shift it has been found that bulbs like metal halide bulbs do not shift in color but reduce in intesity thats all.

Algae grow from food sources wich include:

ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
phophate
silicate
iron
Co2

Remove/lower those and algae will not grow.:) Providing they are low enough.

[dwculp]

My Nitrates are undetectable along with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and PO4 below .25 ppm.

[bertoni]

Originally posted by dwculp
I tell people all the time that distilled water if done correctly is more pure than RO/DI, no one believes me :)

I'm not sure whether steam distilled water is necessarily cleaner than RO-DI. I think it's true, though, that a good source of distilled water is just as good in practice. The problem is that not all distilled water is clean by the time it arrives at the store. I did some water tests on a sample I bought, and it wasn't all that clean, so I've got an RO-DI unit.

[Randall_James]

Technically Distilled water has 0 everything as all the impurities are left behind in the heating tank. But yes I suppose that handling after the distillation process could cause problems. Our medical distillery provides absolute pure water.

[bertoni]

I don't think that the distilling process is 100% effective. I've seen references to double-distilled water, for example, IIRC.

[dwculp]

Could excess silica in the water be causing algae? I have 0 nitrates, sub .25 PO4 and no nitrites etc... Tank ran crystal clear for 7-8 months! I have exausted everything!!

[bertoni]

Silica by itself cannot cause algal growth. Silica is necessary for the growth of diatoms, or at least most diatoms. Still, every form of life will need reasonably large amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon to grow. Some algae can get nitrogen from the air, all (as far as I know) can take up carbon from the air, but phosphorus they need to get elsewhere.

You might want to work on the phosphorus issue:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm

[dwculp]

Do you think .25 is too high?

[bertoni]

Well, if you have an algae problem, that's one place I'd start looking.

[Randall_James]

Dr Ron did an article this month in RK that addresses something of this issue. Water changes and some type of phosphate trapping media. He also stated that cutting back on feeding actually has little or even the opposite effect in the long run. He seems to be advocating heavy on the water changes (big surprise?)

[dwculp]

Ok, guys, a question for all of you:

I scrubbed all the rocks in the tank tonight. I took each rock out, scrubbed it in a bucket of saltwater and then placed it into clean saltwater for a rinse. When I was done the scrubbing bucket was DARK brown from all the algae. I reaquascaped and for the first time I am actually happy with my aquascaping! Anyways, something happened while cleaning.

As I removed one of the larger rocks there was a large clam under it in the sand bed. I went to pick it up and thought "Oh good, it is still alive." As I lifted it out of the tank I knew immediatly it was NOT alive, the stench nearly made me vomit! Then a mass of white snot fell out of it and into my hand and ozzed into the tank. I almost lost it again! I fished out the ooze and here we are hours later and I can still smell that damn clam on my hands!!

Could that rotting clam be the source of my algae?????

I never detected ammonia in the tank.

[sandy,rvt]

I think the answer is "yes." I recently battled a large algae bloom after the death of a gobie that disappeared/died in the tank.

[Randall_James]

In short Yep.... The reason for low or no ammonia is that the tank probably had a healthy bacteria population eating up the ammonia creating the nitrite/nitrates needed for the algae. Glad you found it, sorry how you found it. After smelling a giant mexican turbo snail that had died, I can only imagine a clam!

Where did the clam come from? Did you even know it was in the tank?