Algae Problem and Questions

I have a 60 Gal tank with a Blue tang and a Clown, with one piece of open brain coral about 2 inches wide. I have been having a problem with algae covering my glass. I clean it and it is just as bad the next day as well as I had a GHA problem which is nipped for now with a lot of time removing rocks and hand cleaning the stuff off. My water parameters are all good, but phosphates are about .08. I have heard that I can turn the lights off for a few days and do a ton of water changes, but I was worried about the brain. Would manual feeding of oyster feed sustain it for awhile while I have the lights off? Also I read on another thread that using reef salt would add too much nutrient to the water. I use TM reef pro salt (per recommendation for my LFS) could this be causing my algae problem? My fish look to be handling the current conditions well. The blue tang has been seen nipping at the algae from time as well.

 

Do you run GFO? I doubt your salt is your problem but you could test it when you make a new batch to be sure.

 

I'm waiting on my new stand to be delivered in a week and then I will be hooking up my new sump with a Octopus Skimmer. I was thinking about a phosphate GFO, but I really have no knowledge on them. I guess you hook it up in your sump with a median in it, right? Do you think that will fix my problem as the algae seems to be only effecting the looks of the tank.

 

The GFO should help with the phosphates which are feeding the algae. How are your nitrates?

yes you can set up the reactor in the sump or outside of it.

 

my nitrites are 0 and nitrates currently are at about 10 ppm as it has been two weeks since my last water change which is due tomorrow.

 

your nitrates and phosphates are feeding any algae. depending on the amount of algae, your levels are probably higher than they are testing since the algae is consuming some of it. You might also consider a refugium with macroalgae like chaeto, a bio-pellet reactor or an ATS to lower your phosphaes and nitrates. i haven't used an ATS but it sounds promising.

 

Great. I will do 25% changes a few times until I get my sump up and running. Do you know anything about my salt question or the question concerning my brain and turning off my lights?

 

I doubt your salt is your problem but you could test a new batch to be sure. i would focus on lowering your phosphates and nitrates. Even if turning off the lights worked, the algae would just come back as long as your phosphates are high.

 

what is your feeding schedule and amount? the food is usually the phosphate source.

 

Algae problems are usually caused by aquarium water with excess nutrients like phosphate, nitrates etc. You can try and siphon out what you can to remove the algae in the short term. In the long term you may have to examine how you care for your tank. There are some commercial dry foods also contain excess nutrients and other undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc so I strain/rinse my fresh/frozen foods before feeding my tank. You may want to consider feeding your fish less often. Also, changing your photo period, light bulbs, adding more flow, using RO/DI water. Adding a phosphate remover and increasing flow in your tank may help too.