Ok ***?

[MBWhitmore]

I have had my tank for about a year, all of the sudden algae like you cant imagine!!! it looks like a Fern type algae on some places, and a thick hair algae on other. its taking over my tank!!! i have thousands invested and i am almost ready to FOLD. PLease anybody any suggestions would help


Phosphates are good, i got a foxface to help but he cant keep up.

[Aquarist007]

If you have a bloom of algae then your phosphates and nitrates have increased even though you are not getting a reading on them.
the algae is consumig them as fast as they are being imported

[Aquarist007]

although you state this happened all at once it could still be a varienty of causes adding up

1. do you use ro water?

2. what is the flow rate like in your tank--should be between 20-40 times the vol of your tank in gph and the flow should circulate from the top down along the sand bed and back to the top at the side of the tank were the overflow

3. in your sump does the flow match the output of your sump. If not organic laden water is returned to the lower levels of the tank where it has to rise up to the top again. It is available more for algae will it is doing that

4 do you feed alot at one time--try feeding less and make sure you riinse off all frozen food with ro water first.

5 to you take a turkey baster to the rock and sand bed once a week and lightly baste it. Gets organics etc back up into the water column and with the help of a decent flow they are filtered off

[Aquarist007]

If your doing all of the above and have a handle on the importing of phosphates then you might want to consider

1 running phosban in a phosban reactor
2. running carbon in a phosban reactor also

3. adding a refugium with losts of chaeto algae. Not caulerpa algae

[drparker]

Agreed you don't see them when you test because they are being used. Have you changed your bulbs, you should every 6 to 12 months. Old bulbs can cause algae out breaks. Also what's your water source old filters in RO/DI could cause it as well. Have you changed food or added a new one?

You could add a Phosban Reactor