New to marine

[prabhu]

Hi Team,

I am new to the marine and I have been cycling the tank for couple of months. had ammonia spike and now it has come down ( close to 0)...but still the algae is there ( refer the attached picture). your advice are welcome...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W7V-NxCNE9M/UspajLo_M-I/AAAAAAAAAS4/0GxPIE71V-E/w1271-h715-no/Marine.jpg


Tank details:

2.5x1.25x1.5
Sump separate at the bottom
SA 2014 skimmer
2 X 24 W white lights ( Osram)
2 X 24 W blue lights ( Hopman)
8 - 9 hrs of light
Sand bed in Sump
Wave maker sicce voyager 1
Filter socks
Boyu chiller - 26 C


thanks

-Prabhu

[hersheyb]

if you still cycling your tank you don't need to have lights on for so long to avoid algea. Are you also doing water changes? and how long have you been cycling?

[prabhu]

doing cycling for couple of months with lights on..also 10% water changes was done 2 weeks back. did only twice water changes during the cycling

[Saltliquid]

The algae is growing due to the waste products at the end of the nytrogen cycle like othophosphate,phorphorus and nitrogen.
When the cells of dead tissue get brocken down via oxidation and anoxic nitrate atom sepration, that’s what’s left over and that type of algae feeds on it and grows when lights are on.

[thatreefguy22]

what water do you use? tap? ro? ro/di? di?

[Saltliquid]

I use just RO, I did an experiment with the help of my large algae area for over a year with no water changes and just tap top ups,this was to see if it would import all that is in tap water and the bio sinks handling the rest and it worked out fine, but for better easier results, you should use RO, DI its up to you.
I havent seen DI get any betetr resutlts then I do, so I wont go that way.

[prabhu]

i use RO water....i have a Kent ( water purifier) in my house and it also has RO / UV.

[Saltliquid]

That’s cool, but the UV is for you, not your aquarium.
Its a simple hobby to have wonderful success with, good luck with it all.

[scubaprashant]

Skim heavy, do water changes, cut back on the light cycle until you actually need light, and get a small clean up crew. I say small because you don't want to get a huge clean up crew that will starve out once everything is under control

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the pink pincushion sea urchin. One of those will get everything cleaned up in no time. They are known for coral thieving though ;)

Good luck!

[Derrick12]

I like the look of ur tank but u must isolate what's causing this

[petere1989]

how long are your lights on for? don't go over 8 hours a day to start with. Also, are you using RO/DI water now? you said above you just used RO/UV...get Ro/Di with 000 TDS and if it goes above 000 don't use it. What salt do you use too? my mouth dropped when i saw your tank haha, looks cool but glad its not me! you probably should test for phosphates, post it here, and go from there.

[prabhu]

Thanks Team...

As told by everyone, i will reduce the light, do the water changes. Try to add few clean up crew too (i have few snails in my quarantine tank)..

Petere - I am using the red sea salt..

[petere1989]

Thanks Team...

As told by everyone, i will reduce the light, do the water changes. Try to add few clean up crew too (i have few snails in my quarantine tank)..

Petere - I am using the red sea salt..

ok i was just asking because some salts have more phosphates in them then others (a high end salt will not have any, where as your cheaper salts have more then you would think). Good luck on removal of that stuff. post pictures of your progress. Also keep in mind its a good idea to find the source of the problem. Eliminating the algae is great but pointless if the source is still there.

EDIT: I just thought of another question. What kind of lighting are you using and if your using bulbs, say T5's or MH, how old are your bulbs? if they are old they have to be replaced because the light spectrum changes over time and gives off a red light which for sure will grow algae. They should be replaced ever 5 months, people say every 6-7 but to be safe every 5 is what I used to do before switching to LED's.