oceanic tank with internal overflows and algae

[rhenie]

I have recently, in the last 3 months had a crazy algae problem that i can't seem to beat.

The one constant is that I always see the algae first at the mouth of the overflows and inside the overflow boxes.

dinoflagelattes are out of control and have killed 10 turbos, green hair is taking off like crazy, green slime algae is a common occurance.

My question is why are the overflows such a magnet for this stuff and how do I stop it from occurring there?

I feel like I can vacuum sand, do relentless water changes, cut back on feeding by 1/3 as often as before, and still no progess because the overflows are a breeding ground.

My water always tests perfect and my skimmer is on all the time sucking up the extras.

Anyone else think the overflows may be the culprit?


Thanks for the help!

[scrmbld33]

by water tests perfect, what tests did you take,

the algae is feeding on something, i m beating HA now with water changes, picking it off the rocks, blasting the HA with a turkey baster (to spray the sand out from under it on the rocks) and added chaeto to my fuge, its a long process, as for the algae in the over flow vents, mine seem to come from getting stuck there and it takes hold if not removed daily,
im unfamiliar with the dinos killing your snails though

[dougchambers]

What are you using to make your water? In our area, silicates are high in the water stream which promoted algae. A high quality RO/DI water maker is a must in my opinon.

As for the location of the algae, you canl see more growth in areas of good current where the water helps feed the algae.

-Doug

[rhenie]

Okay, here are more details...

tests-
ammonia 0
pH 8.2
Nitrate not detectable 0
Nitrite 0
Kh 8.0
Alk 2.86
Calcium over 450 and ususally closer to 600
PO4 0
SG 1.02

I've been running carbon filter for about 3 weeks.

We purchase RO/DI water from the LFS.

I only dose calcium and nothing else. Calcium gets added rarely as this tank seems to run high naturally.

I have a refugium w cheato. Lights in refugium run 24 hrs.

I know I have a dinflagellate bloom, because it is a known killer of turbos, and everytime one hits my tank it dies within 24 hours.(I read this in "algea a problem solver guide" by Julian Sprung.

My light bulbs are almost a year old. Maybe time to replace?
Cut down on lighting period in the tank? I haven't tried this yet because I am worried about the effect on the corals and BT anemone. Right not halogens run for 8 hours and floresents for 10 hours.

I would love to try ozone, but I've read about it for 4+ hours online and am so (%&#$#ing confused, I still don't know what to buy or where to start.

Thanks for any feedback.

Rhenie

[Jive Turkey]

Some brands of carbon leach phosphates.
Test the carbon by soaking some in ro/di overnight, and doing a water test the next day.

Algae will grow on clean plastic faster than on surfaces covered by coralline algae. I've seen it on clean powerheads and magnet scrapers many times w/o seeing a bit of algae on the rocks or the coralline-coated back glass.
Still, algae won't grow w/o a nutrient source somewhere.

[Jive Turkey]

"My light bulbs are almost a year old. Maybe time to replace?
Cut down on lighting period in the tank? I haven't tried this yet because I am worried about the effect on the corals and BT anemone. Right not halogens run for 8 hours and floresents for 10 hours."

Didn't see this.... Those halogens are a prime suspect. I have never seen a tank lit by them.

[davidryder]

the lights can have a pretty big affect (the age i mean) after time, their spectrums change and can become lights that algae proliferates under. an addition of a macro algae will help too - it out-competes the micro algae for nutrients and they diminish in numbers.

[So Cal shaggy]

some algae like hair algae prefer heavy water flow IE the overflow and the top of the overflow box gets a lot of light so most overflows have algae I have hair algae growing just inside the top of my overflow I clean it off once a week that is the only area it grows in and it is somewhat like an algae scrubber. Do you have Bio balls in your overflow box? Bio balls are algae factories if you are using bio balls replace them with live rock

[davidryder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6906816#post6906816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by So Cal shaggy
some algae like hair algae prefer heavy water flow IE the overflow and the top of the overflow box gets a lot of light so most overflows have algae I have hair algae growing just inside the top of my overflow I clean it off once a week that is the only area it grows in and it is somewhat like an algae scrubber. Do you have Bio balls in your overflow box? Bio balls are algae factories if you are using bio balls replace them with live rock

bio balls are factories for copepods, amphipods, and bacteria... bioballs aren't usually exposed to a lot of light