Algae : The Bane of Reef Aquariums

Discussion in 'Reef Aquarium Articles and How To's' started by NASAGeek, Aug 31, 2010.

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  1. NASAGeek

    NASAGeek Eyelash Blennie

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    Nothing is more frustrating to me in reef aquariums than the seemingly continual battle against algae. I would also venture a guess that algae problems are one of the most popular posts on the forums. Particularly amongst new reef aquarists suffering through the initial algae blooms that often occur in new tanks.

    The purpose of this blog entry is to capture a checklist of common issues causing algae and to propose the recommended configurations. Recommended configurations are stated for a 120 gallon tank with sump and refugium. Solutions would, of course, be different for nano-tanks, etc. This blob entry is not detailed or comprehensive in its explanations. It is intended as an overview for commonly asked questions. Feed back would be appreciated to improve it.

    I am beginning to believe that 90% of all “Algae Problems” are truly “Water Problems”. It seems that with incredible frequency on the forums that members post Algae problems and the advice from experienced members comes back Water Problems.

    Source Water : Begin at the beginning. What type of water did you use to make your salt water and what do you use for automatic top off to replace evaporation?? If the answer was not RO/DI water, you can stop there in your search for your algae issues. Tap Water, whether city provided or well water contains an amazing amount of particulates that are detrimental to reef aquariums. People seem to believe that “conditioned” tap water makes it okay. It does NOT. Bottled water from the grocery store is a second thing you hear frequently. Again, if it isn’t RO/DI solve that problem first. Some people use bottled or tap water and do alright. I am happy for them... but their circumstance is unique. If there is anything that I would not cut short on... it would be RO/DI water. It is the foundation of your reef system The fact is that any other water source contains nutrients that promote the growth of algae. Either buy an RO/DI unit yourself... it will pay for itself in time... or get RO/DI from your local fish store. SpectraPure is a 3reef sponsor and they provide an awesome unit.

    Another point, if you are already using an RO/DI filter make sure your media is good and the output TDS is still zero.


    Nutrients : Algae only grows where there are sufficient nutrients to support it. Thus, if you are having algae problems, the root cause is not the algae itself. The root cause is the fact that there are excess nutrients in the water column to support that algae. Many times you see people post statements like “my water parameters are all perfect and I have algae everywhere”. That is both true and false. Their water parameters may well test out as zero Phosphate and zero Nitrates, etc. What they don’t realize is that the phosphates and nitrates are truly there, it is just that the algae is consuming the nutrients as fast as they become available. Thus, the amount present in the water column tests very low, but that is only because the algae is eating it up. So... without testing... if you have an algae problem, you have a nutrient problem. The solution to algae problems is to increase the competition for those nutrients to the point that the algae loses the competition. Throughout the competition, the water parameters may test out at never low levels.


    So now the question becomes how to we increase competition?? For this discussion, I’ll break the discussion into a few categories: 1) Nutrient Sources; 2) Nutrient Export and 3) Habitat.


    Nutrient Sources : How do those nutrients get into the system in the first place? We’ve already covered a big source; the source water we use to make our salt water. Non-RO/DI water can contain Phosphates, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, metals and all kinds of other “stuff”. All the stuff that algae needs to thrive. Second major source is livestock waste. Fish and coral poop. There is really nothing you can do about that. After all, the whole point of reef aquariums is to keep those critters alive and healthy. Next source is the food we feed those critters. The question there is balance. You want to feed but not over-feed. Uneaten food eventually sinks to the bottom and decomposes to release phosphates, ammonia, nitrates, etc. into the water column. Dead live stock... a dead fish that was never found hiding in the live rock. Dead snails or crabs. All these dead creatures follow the ashes to ashes and dust to dust mentality. Their bodies break down into phosphates, ammonia, nitrates, etc. and release them back into the water column. If at all possible, remove dead critters as soon as possible. Finally, dirty mechanical filters and trapped detrius. Any place where “gunk” accumulates. Some people will say that they don’t have any mechanical filters, but they do. They run a GAC/GFO reactors and when they clean out the carbon it is filled ‘gunk’ that got trapped in there. Porous foam. Cannister filters. The surface of live rock. All these are great places for ‘gunk’ to accumulate and start algae off.


    Solutions : Limit Nutrient Sources

    1) Use RO/DI Water

    2) Don’t overfeed and allow uneaten food to accumulate

    3) Remove anything dead ASAP

    4) Clean filters, foam, etc. much more often than you think necessary.

    5) Eliminate as many detritus traps in your tank system as possible.

    6) Use a turkey baster to clean off live rock every week.


    Nutrient Export : In spite of our best efforts to limit nutrient sources, nutrients are unavoidable due to fish and coral wastes. Since it is a given nutrients will exist, how do we get rid of them once they are there? This is the part where we increase competition for those limited resources. Aquarists can do that in a variety of ways, but we’ll break this down into Mechanical, Chemical and Biological filtration as has been done in so many other reef discussions. We will just discuss these from the point of view of algae.


    Mechanical Filtration : Intentional and unintentional. Intentional mechanical filtration is typically things like filter socks, porous foam, etc. Simple concept: water flows through some sort of fine mesh, etc. and the junk get caught in the mesh and the water flows through. Nothing wrong with these methods as long as these mechanical filters are cleaned OFTEN.... very often.... a lot. All the gunk in there is decaying and putting nutrients back in the system. Unintentional mechanical filtration is gunk getting caught in crevasses in your live rock or accumulating in media reactors or other spots in your water column. Clean these regularly as well. Every time you clean that filter you are exporting nutrients.


    Chemical Filtration : Chemical filtration is adding something to your tank to chemical react with nutrients and capture them so that you can export the nutrients each time you change media. Examples: Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) chemically reacts with phosphates and binds them to the GFO. When you change out the GFO, the phosphate is removed with it. There are NUMEROUS products on the market proclaims to filter one nutrient or another. GFO is very popular because limiting phosphates as a nutrient also limits algae growth.


    Biologic Filtration : Biologic filtration is essentially getting bacteria farm going where the bacteria eat the nutrients before the algae can. Nitrates... a favorite nutrient for algae and bacteria. Some products such as EcoBak by Warner Marine promote the growth of bacteria that eat phosphates and nitrates. These bacteria eat the nutrients first and limit the nutrients available to algae. Those types of augmentations are nice but the big biologic filtration occurs in the sand bed and in the live rock. The whole game plan with the grains of sand and the porous live rock is that every grain and every pore is covered by nutrient eating bacteria. Thus, having a deep sand bed and plenty of live rock will help reduce algae growth. Another important nutrient export means is having a refugium. A refugium is in this context a place where we WANT the algae to grow. Aquarist use chateo and other macroalgaes that also consume nutrients. As the algae grows, the aquarist ‘harvests’ some and throws it away taking nutrients out of the tank.


    Protein Skimming is certainly a form of nutrient export. Not sure how to categorize it though. Protein Skimming is chemical because organics stick to the tiny air bubbles, but it is also mechanical in nature because the air bubbles push larger particles out of the water column. I think it might be a combination. Regardless, protein skimmers are an excellent means to export nutrients and reduce algae.


    Habitat : There are two aspects of habitat to discuss: Lighting and Flow. Too much light enhances algae growth. Too little is not enough for corals. The trick there is balance. 8-10 hours per day in the display tank seems about normal. Refugium lighting is a separate deal. We flow the algae to grow in the refugium, therefore many aquarists use reverse lighting... having the refugium light ON whenever the display tank light is OFF. Thus, the refugium would get 14-16 hours of light. Old bulbs are also a possible cause of algae. As bulbs age, their spectrum shifts towards lower frequencies... frequencies more conducive to algae growth.

    Flow is important for two reasons : 1) It keeps detritus suspended in the water column until it gets to the protein skimmer for export and 2) it distributes nutrients around the tank and avoids concentrations.



    Conclusions

    All of the above...

    Solutions : Limit Nutrient Sources and maximize nutrient export

    1. Use RO/DI Water
    2. Make sure RO/DI TDS is zero.
    3. Don’t overfeed and allow uneaten food to accumulate
    4. Remove anything dead ASAP
    5. Clean filters, foam, etc. much more often than you think necessary.
    6. Eliminate as many detritus traps in your tank system as possible.
    7. Use a turkey baster to clean off live rock every week.
    8. Use GFO, Activated Carbon, EcoBak
    9. Make sure your protein skimmer is tuned and clean.
    10. Have refugium with chaeto on a reverse lighting schedule
    11. Don’t have your DT lights on too much
    12. Make sure your aren't using old bulbs
    13. Have plenty of good flow in your display tank

    Note: All of these solutions aren't 'required', but it is a check list of things to consider if you are having problems.


    Reference Articles[/B]

    How To Control Algae
    Algae Control Tips
    Saltwater Aquarium Algae Control: The Elimination of Nuisance "Algae"
    Aquarium Algae Control

    Matt Rogers encouraged me to post this entry from my blog in the articles forum. Please feel free to comment... we all learn that way.

    Thanks, Mark

     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2010
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  3. ReefBruh

    ReefBruh Giant Squid

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    Good article. Very informative.
     
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  4. xmetalfan99

    xmetalfan99 Giant Squid

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    You left out how algae growth increases when your bulbs need to be replaced. As well as why this happens. (spectrum) What about changing your RO/DI filter membranes and canisters when the clean water TDS is above 000? What about temp of water?

    You don't need a fuge to have an algae free tank.
    You don't need to use GFO, Activated Carbon, EcoBak to keep algae down.
     
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  5. NASAGeek

    NASAGeek Eyelash Blennie

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    Great points. I'll update it tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback.

    I'll noticed that I don't mention skimmers as a nutrient export means.

    M
     
  6. NASAGeek

    NASAGeek Eyelash Blennie

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    Updated my blog and the article above with old bulbs, ro/di tds 0 and protein skimmer.

    Explain to me about temperature connection to algae?

    M
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2010
  7. Jmblec2

    Jmblec2 Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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  9. Robman

    Robman Great White Shark

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    Nice post..I agree with everything. The one thing you did not touch on was U.V. sterilizer. Just would like your thoughts.