big red algae issue

[andyfs]

okay... 8 gallon nanocube with 2x18 PC...

10lbs live sand
12lbs live rock
1- cleaner shrimp
1- green line goby
1- clownie

i do a 50% water change religiously once a week with water from my local fish store (skiptons) entire setup is almost exactly 6 months old.

i get absolutely awful red algae outbreaks. it has been consistent for quite a while. my fish eat all the food i give them. if i turn the lights off, the algae will die, but in the morning when i turn them back on, you can practically see it growing. i do have bio balls along with live rock in the back setup for filtration, but i rinse the bioballs every other week in salt water. PLEASE HELP

 

[JayM]

If your nitrates are at 40 and you do a 50% water change....they're still at 20, which will support cyano.

Can you post your parameters, and what you have for circulation?

Most interested in Nitrates, Phosphates, Alk, pH.

The bioballs are probably a bad idea for a reef tank...you'd be better served with live rock rubble in that compartment.

 

[delta]

Sounds like cyano which is actually a bacteria and not an algea.

Get your parameters in-line, cut back your lighting schedule to 4 hour until it is gone. Also make sure to keep you PH as close to 8.3 as you can, don't let it drop. THe lighting schedule alone will eradicate it but if you do not fix the other issues it will return.
The bio ball would be better replaced as Jay suggested.

 

[Rick C]

You would be better off doing smaller water changes more often. Its tough with such a small water volume. I had the same problem with my 12gal at first. Do a 1 gal or less water change every 3 days or so for 2 weeks. Someone else posted the same prob the other day and tried this and it worked so far.