string algae emergency

MarineMan150

can someone tell me how the hell to get rid of all this purple string algae??? its all over my rock and sand..i scoop the chunks out of the sand but cannot seem to reduce it on the rocks..please help . thank you.

usmc121581

We would need to know your water parameters. And tank size and lighting type. How much do you feed them.

MarineMan150

150gallon i feed them once a day 48" 260w power compact. i will test water asap.

usmc121581

As soon as you can test the water we can probaly get what is causing it.

caferacermike

purple string algae? Cyano?

As with all algaes the best advice is clean water. Excess nutrients and or worn bulbs will contribute to the problem. Sounds like your feedings may have been to heavy and or the amount of fish is to high for hte amount of filtration available. One thing that really helps to get rid of Cyano is increased flow through the tank. For a 150g I'd recomend at least 4,500gph internal flow. It's time to think about how often and how large your water changes are. It might be time to increase the frequency or volume of the water changes. Another thing that will help is a phosban reactor or 2. Phosphates are what help algaes to thrive in the system.

What type of filtration are you running?

MarineMan150

marineland 350 magnum canister-350gph---good for 100g
ehiem canister-350gph---good for 100g
biowheel-----good for 75g
penguin 1140 powerhead by marineland
my power compacts are a week old...
i have 4 damsels,1 clown,1yellow tang,1 Porcupine Puffer,1coral beauty,2spotted gobies,2diamond spotted gobies,1lawnmower blenny,1horseshoe crab,2camel shrimp,1haitian anemone 50# fiji/tonga live rock,100#sand

im pretty sure thats everything in my tank.
i hoppe that will help you help me.
im testing the water now ill will post everything asap.

thank you

caferacermike

Sounds like you have a decent fish only set up. There are quite a few fish there, could you tell us how often you feed,how much and what? I'd be feeding about twice a week about 3 cubes of either mysis or krill and some very light daily feedings of dry food like Nu Spectrum marine.

Your tank is very stagnant as far as flow is concerneced. My guess is total your numers would be 1,000gph (less than 10x turnover rate). However those numers are for zero head and clean media. Each filter will significantly decrease the output as you raise the return line up to the tank level and as the media clogs with waste (as it should). My guess is that your actual GPH is somewhere around 500gph, Not very much at all when you consider I have a 600gph true flow in my 20g cube. All of my tanks run a minimum of 25x turnover rate per hour. high currents help prevent stagnant areas that algaes grow in. Look at your local fast moving stream, you'll notice an absence of algae on the rockwork. Now look at a stagnant pond or lake runoff and you'll see green water and tons of algae. Keeping yoru tank swiftly moving will also improve your filters operation. By not havign enough flow internal of the tank debri and wastes will settle directly to the substrate and be absorbed and broken down or caught in your rock work. This concentration of nutrients encourages algae growth in those dead zones. Creating turbulent flow will keep detritus supended until your canister filter can reomve it instead of allowing it to concentrate in your substrate.

To combat any algae I would take these steps.

1. Get a good skimmer. It sounds as though you do not have a sump so I'd recommend the Corallife super skimmer 220 or larger.

2. water changes. weekly significant water changes will provide the most drastic improvement.

3. add more power heads. I'd recommend Seio's in about the 1,100 size. At least 2. This will really improve the cleanliness of the tank.

4. Clean your filters often. Do not really on them as bio filiters. You might want to add a bit more rock, even buying dry reef bones will help improve the bio available filtration. But think of your cans as only mechanical filtration and keep them thoroughly cleaned. In marine tanks they tend to react with the alkilinity of the water and the other minerals quickly breaking waste down into a liquid form that seeps right back into your tank, quickly fouling the water.

5. I don't normally use carbon in my tanks but to help rid yours of algae I'd think about refilling one of those cans completely with carbon. Carbon will quickly wick away any excess nutrient and store it for a little while before releasing it back to the tank.

6. test for phosphates. You may wish to get your hands on a 2 little fishies brand phosphate reactor. These use a special resin to remove excess phosphates from the water like a sponge. The kit is a simple canister type filter that is force fed from the bottom up. This lengthens the usuable time of the media to about a month. The stuff works great.

You might wish to switch salts. Red Sea and Instant Ocean are reported to have excess organics in the compound that contributes to algae build ups. Are you using only RO water? It is known that conditioned tap water will not kill the fish but the extra TDS (total dissolved solids) will build up over time. Both from water changes and evaporation topoffs. These could easily be pure phosphates coming from the tap water itself. most tap water tests out between 300-500ppm. My RO/DI water tests at 0-1ppm. this lets me know exactly what it is I add to my tank.

MarineMan150

thanks a lot for the help. i didnt get a chance to test the water yet. im gonna return the *not so good quality* powerhead i have and buy 1or2 aquaclear 110s. and ill get that 220 protein skimmer. you think ill be ok w/ that for now?
thanks


*edit by CRM, no content removal just a little kid cleanup.*

caferacermike

That's a good start. A skimmer is a great place to start as they will remove waste forever. Water changes are simple and cheap. They may provide one of the largest, long term benefits.

As for powerheads I still think you'll appreciate the Seio 1100's more. They are more spendy but the way they work is great. Instead of pressurizing a tiny little jet, it instead focuses it's output through a 2" opening that creates a lot of gentle movement.
Keep us posted.

MarineMan150

how about the seio 2600 instead of 2 1100's? or do u put them on opposite sides????