PDA

View Full Version : New guy algae problem need some help!


Michael3672
10/16/2011, 02:41 PM
Hi all
New guy here and let me start by saying hello and I hope this is posted in the right area.
I had a reef tank a few years ago so can't say I'm new to the hobby but this problem is perplexing me.
I set up a biocube 14 two months ago and it cycled with no problem. Went through it's diatom bloom which has since receded. Now I have a nice new algae starting to take over the entire tank. The best I can describe it is as follows: brown small stringy almost like a filament with a fatter top and a most have a bubble on it. I'll try to post a pic soon. But this stuff is growing like wildfire and overtaking everything. I don't know if it's a form of a hair or slime algae or dinos.
Here are my parameters. Sg. 1.026. Ph 8.2, Am 0ppm, Na 0ppm, alk 8, calcium 400 and 0 phosphate. These results are current as of today. I change 2gallons a week with pre made SW from the LFS. Temp is kept at 79-80 With a 10 hour photoperiod. I have 2 small chromis in it and feed a pinch every 2 days. No other animals in the tank other than a CUC..have been taking it slow. I run carbon,chemipure elite and floss for filtration along with a ball of cheato in the middle chamber on a reverse light cycle.
I know it's hard to diagnose a problem or a specific algae but I'm at a loss and it's getting worse. So I hope coming here will point me in the right direction. Just wondering if this is a normal thing or something to jump at now. It just has stumped me cause I never saw this crap in my previous tank.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Michael3672
10/16/2011, 02:47 PM
http://tapatalk.com/mu/62a68a5a-42a7-e3c2.jpg

Dustin1300
10/16/2011, 02:47 PM
Have you tried checking the Phosphate with a second kit? Something is feeding the algae and manually removing, going lights out, and removing the fuel would be my strategy. Does your LFS test the water for you to show it has low TDS before mixing with the salt (I won't use water without TDS of 0 before I change out my filters)