Green algea control

[kkeller416]

Hello all.
So i have been battling alot with Green algea..and I'm not sure of the next best step.
I bought the tank from someone using
Tap water for changes and top off..the tank was covered in green algea
I'm now using ro di. 10% Water changes every 1-2 week.
I have no traceable phosphates.
I have gone to the point of removing all the rock to scrub what i can off(which is a pain) but it still comes back.
I've done 3days no lights.
Added some more cured live rock.
Used phosphate sponge.

I'm not sure of my next best step to get this fixed.. Should i buy a skimmer?
Buy more algea eating critters? Better salt mix? Feedings are very sparse. 2 or 3 times a week. Am i missing something?
This is a nuvo 38g aio
It's been A few months now..thought it would be better
Any help appreciated

 

[Chris A.]

If your in the neighborhood ( Weymouth) I'll give you a algae eating machine, Mexican turbo snail

 

[Chris A.]

You still need to address the issue and maybe look into carbon dosing ( vinegar)

 

[AlbertG]

i sayd get a cleaning crew . turbo snails /emeral crabs those are good just when you have no much algae make sure to feed the emerald crab .

 

[kkeller416]

Thanks I'll try the vinegar dosing Weymouth is somewhat close im in carver. That would be awesome if you have a spare Mexican turbo.
I guess that's what's kinda got me...what's causing the algea growth..I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Chris A.]

What do you feed your fish ?

 

[gzr918]

I would try running some GFO. There are some cheap reactors at marine depot, and I found a cheap supplier of GFO on amazon like 20 bucks a pound. Start with a very small amount. It did wonders for phosphate control and ultimately algae in my tank

 

[Nixperience]

Take the rocks out of you can and toothbrush them with peroxide. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then rinse in tank water and put them back in. Over the next few days, the green hair will start to lose color and then eventually dissapear.

 

[kkeller416]

I feed half a cube of frozen formula one fish food from petco..

A far as phosphates...I'm not detecting any with low range kit. Unless it was locked in the algea growth..but thought that would be corrected after i scrubbed the rocks..
I don't have a lot of room for equipment as i don't have a sump..so trying to figure what's necessary.

 

[gzr918]

My phosphates were also undetectable. I had a bad hair algae. Once I started running GFO it all died off. You can also run a phosphate remover passively and have a good effect. I would imagine it would help you out. Just change out the material once you stop seeing a decline in algae growth

 

[$uicide $hift]

From what I understand the phosphates are what the algae feed on. When you have a lot of algae you may read zero on a phosphate test as the algae is consuming it. My girlfriend was having issues with green hair algae and she started dosing NO3P04-X from Red Sea. She had great results reducing her nitrates and getting rid of the green hair algae. I know there are home brews that work the same but if you are looking for something in a bottle you can try the Red Sea N03P04-X.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The algae is on the rocks, right? They have probably absorbed tons of phosphate via the previous conditions and are now leaching it back out to directly fuel the algae. I think you can soak them in something to draw the phosphate out (I forget what, sorry). But you don't want to take all the rock out at once or you will screw up your tank's cycle. You could do it in stages. The new rock you added should be fine.

 

[gurumasta]

Have you looked into an algae scrubber? I am hearing these things work awesome. There are a bunch of DIY videos on how to build them or you can buy them pre built.

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[AlbertG]

Have you looked into an algae scrubber? I am hearing these things work awesome. There are a bunch of DIY videos on how to build them or you can buy them pre built.

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i maybe have one for sale .
it worked really good on my 150 gallon i cant use it now because i have a all in one tank

 

[AlbertG]

I'm not sure of my next best step to get this fixed.. Should i buy a skimmer?

yes! get one .
i would not run any tank over 15 gallon without a skimmer unless you have other forms to remove nutrients from your tank like doing daily or weekly water changes .
i run a 13.5 gallon skimmerless but i only have one fish in there and i do 1-2 gallon change a week . but i do it every other day i do a 1/4 gallon change also i do manually Rodi water top off

 

[dz6t]

Plus one. Get a good skimmer first before everything else.


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[dz6t]

Also, what salt mix are you using?
Do you feed frozen food?


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