Bored with Hobby

I have a 46 gallon that is fully stocked but I am unable to add any more corals because of size of tank and money. I have had this green algae on the sand now for a few months. I have tried everything. I might just vacuum up all the sand and just add new sand. I only have about 5 lbs of sand. I have no algae on my LR. I tried chaeto in a in-tank refugium but its not working in killing off the other algae. Hopefully it will add more pods so I can get another mandarin fish. I am enjoying my new e-revo mini rc truck. Thanks for listening

 

Algae issues are one of the main reasons tanks are taken down.

Unless you fix the root of the problem, swapping the sand out won't usually solve the problem. What are the parameters of your tank? What kind of lighting, and how old are the bulbs?

 

5lbs of sand in a 46 is not enough sand and that alone could be your problem.

 

Bored, Na, Set up a nano and frag a few of your existing corals to put in there. It shouldn't cost much. Give yourself a gift and a reason to stay in the hobby.
Like horkn stated, the lighting is a major factor in contributing to your algae growth. Old bulbs will definitely cause a bloom. Changing out the sand may do more bad than good.
Could you post your water chem specs?

 

I don't agree with that as a bare bottom tank is perfectly acceptable. I don't think the lack of sand is any problem at all (by itself).

Changing the sand though may escalate the issue.

How old are your bulbs? They start being a problem long before they actually burn out.

 

My bulbs are only 3 months old. I have a sunpod with 2 150 watt MH. I run 2 14k Aquamaxx bulbs. It seems like ever since I changed from Phoenix toAquamaxx I have had algae on the sand. Params are 1.025, 78.5, ph 7.8 - 8.2, Alk - 9, Cal - 420

 

adam it sounds like you have high nutrients in the tank phosphate and nitrate. the problem is that it would be hard to test becuase the nutrients are being absorbed by the algae fueling its growth.

ever thought employing a media reactor?

 

You are probably right. I use ferric oxide with carbon in a HOB filter. I have no sump. I have a growing ball of chaeto in a in -tank refugium thyinking it would kill off the mirco algae on the sand. I have no room for a reactor. I could if I removed the HOB filter. I don't know if that owuld help though. I only feed a very little piece of frozen in the evening which I first wash with tank water

 

I dont think it is the amount of sand that is the issue for the algae. it sounds like your not over feeding either and the chaeto should absorb some of the NO2.
how much skimate is being produced by you skimmer and how long are your lights on is all i can really think of. if nothing else.. carbon/GFO reactor has done wonders for me fighting algae.

 

Sounds like you may have some nitrate or phosphate issues, didn't see you post those parms. Also, I'm assuming you have good flow in the tank, if not that's a possible cause but most likely nutrients. If you haven't already, test your nitrates and phosphates, if they are off do some water changes, cut back on feedings, and depending on how bad it is consider a phosphate reactor (or you could just run some pura phoslock in a bag).

I've experienced some minor algae blooms when I swap out my bulbs but 3 months is a long time, so it may not be bulb related.