Algea OUT OF CONTROL

I just upgraded my tank from a 55 gallon to a 75 gallon. It has been about a week now. I went from pc lights to a mh pc fixture and now I have a real bad algea issue. I can clean the glass and then 3 hours later it needs to be done again. That and I have some yellow green algea on the rocks as well but the green algea is driving me crazy. What can I do.

 

is that a new MH??? if so it can take upto 100 hrs to break it in could be the problem.

 

i had a similar problem when i move up to MH. try cutting back some time that it is on. The do what you can with the algae. lots of water changes, less feeding, pulling as much algae as you can. on you next water change before you toss the old water take your rock out and scrub it with a toothbrushh to get as much off as you can, i would then rinse it with new water. otherwise i invested in a blue spoted sea hare which did wonders for my tank. check your params, you may also have a Phospate problem.

 

All of this sounds quite normal as the tank is cycling. If you added the Halide as you said and are running it for 8-10 hours from the "get-go" you will have some related issues. I think you have an all in one? Is there separate controls for the PC and the Halide? If so run the PC for your normal amount of hours and the Halide for 4 hours in the middle of that cycle for a week or two and then add an hour each week after. If you are not using a Phosphate reactor, it is a valuable addition.

 

do you have a picture?

 

I'm covered in this brown algae from all the sides of my tank to the sand... i thought 2 astrea snails would help clean it but they just seem to just sit on my LR not doing much! do i need more snails?

 

How old is the tanks?

 

about a month

 

Yes, I have about 35 snails in my 30 gallon. I would have about 80 snails if I were you in a 75 gallon. A mix of Cerith, Turbo, nassarius, trochus, margarita, etc. would do you good. 2 will sit and get fat and happy and probably not do much. 80+ will help your tank stay clean. Even after algae is nearly gone they'll scavenge and eat detritus that would normally break down into nitrates. Get some hermit crabs, too.

 

yea i have about 2 hermit crabs... is there a certain ratio any of you guys know about? for example.. gallons to # of crabs, # of snails??