Algae Problems

[Clownfishie]

Hi Everyone,

Hoping someone can give me some pointers here... My 90 gallon reef has been up just shy of a year and I have got rotten brown and semi red algae problems. I know that not using RODI / filtered water can cause an algae problem.. but HOW CAN I get rid of it?! And how can I encourage more coraline growth. I will be doing primarily softies on my tank as I have PC's on our acrylic aquarium... my three anenome and corals are doing quite well, but I can't get more coraline to grow.. SO, now that Ive posted - hoping some folks can give me some pointers! Thanks!

Clownfishie - Christine

 

[mikrok]

investing in a R/O unit will help solve it. I haven't had the problem in a long time, so others should chime in, but do a search on RC for "cyano"

about the R/O - I'm sure others will back me up here...it really does improve your water condition. look out here and RC for used units. ebay should have some too

 

[Moe_K]

How do you get rid of it?
The best way i found is to siphon it out.
Then replace the water you siphoned out with new saltwater that was made using RO or RO/DI water. Running carbon will help too - just make sure you change the carbon at least monthly.

How to get your coraline algae to grow?
Measure your calcium and alkalinity. Keep the calcium around 420ppm and the alk above 3.0mEq/L. A good way to do this in your softie tank is to drip kalkwasser. That'll provide both Ca and alk. Given your lights, the coraline should take off once the parameters are in range.
Good luck.

 

[Piscevore]

I'm using B-ionic and coralline is becoming view threatening

 

[TheUltimateNoob]

i also started using b-ionic and coralline is starting to grow like crazy. not too sure if that was the cause but considering it was the only thing that i changed, it very well could be.

 

[this is me]

Yah, b-ionic definitely boost the growth of coraline!

 

[Moe_K]

Well, the B-Ionic is keeping the Ca and alk elevated.
In Clownfishie's soft coral tank, I'm thinking kalkwasser would do the trick, and do it cheaply.
If kalk isn't enough to supplement Ca and alk, then B-Ionic should definitely handle the job.

 

[Harley387]

When I first started, I used tap water initially. I then realized my mistake, and switched to store bought distilled water. I never did get the algae problem solved. Since my meltdown 1 1/2 months ago, I used 100% RO/DI water which I now make myself. I use B-Ionic, and Kalk. I cannot even grow algae on my glass. My poor snails and algae blennie are scrounging to find algea on the 150+ lbs of live rock in my tank. I do, however, have plenty of corraline, which my purple urchin seems to love.

 

[denvig]

No one mentioned lights???..?what kind of lighting do you have? This will also play a roll in the production of coraline. If it?s the wrong type of lighting it can also grow the bad stuff.

 

[starrfish]

I had the same problem - especially in my 10g QT. The brown algae was so bad it started floating in the water and I could barely see the fish! I invested in an RO/DI and it has made a HUGE difference. I got a relatively inexpensive one:

http://www.airwaterice.com/typhoon1.htm

I really didn't want to spend the money, but then I started thinking about all the money I already have invested in the tank, the fish, the rocks, etc...and I realized it was a small investment to keep everyone healthy.

Regarding the coralline - it's already been said, but you need to boost your calcium. I just started using Seachem's products - Reef Complete and Reef Carbonate and my calcium and alk are already climbing. I did a lot of research on using kalk - the only problem with that is you need a way to slowly drip it in the tank. It's A LOT cheaper than the liquid products, but you have to invest in some sort of dripper or be handy and do a DIY.

Hope this helps.