green saltwater algae?

Question

I have green algae gathering on the glass of my saltwater tank. It starts to show up in the high flow areas and eventually covers the entire surface after 3-4 days. I just cleaned my tank yesterday including a water change and today the algae has started again.

Answer 1

Is it a green, feathery mass? that is probably Green Hair Algae.

Once Green Hair Algae gets a foothold in a saltwater aquarium, it can soon cover everything in your tank if prompt measures are not taken. The cure for Green Hair Algae is the same as the prevention: Starve it into oblivion. Green Hair Algae require not only light, but also nitrates and phosphates in order to survive.

If you have Green Hair Algae in your tank, your phosphates should read well above .05 mg/L., which is considered by many to be the lowest level at which Green Hair Algae will grow. The most common source of phosphates in an aquarium is from the FW used for top offs and water changes. In this case, doing water changes to reduce phosphates will only continue the problem unless the water source is changed. There are two basic methods of reducing phosphates in your tank.

Use only RO or RO/DI water whether you purchase an RO/DI unit or purchase RO/DI water from a commercial source. (Recommended)
Purchase and use Mangrove Plants in your tank or sump. (Recommended)
Check to see if your commercial sea salts contain high levels of ammonia/nitrogen.
Purchase and use a good "nitrate sponge".
Do not overfeed your tank.
Siphon uneaten food and other loose material (detritus) from the substrate.
Perform periodic water changes.

Answer 2

It wont magically flow away, in truth it truly is likely going to worsen. between the topics with an overstocked tank is that the further foodstuff that each and every one those fish produce is released into the water, the position it feeds the algae. Your nitrate / phosphate and so on try ok, because the algae is actual absorbing it because it grows. it truly is effectively operating as a marginally ugly organic and organic filter out. Overstocking has undesirable part consequences, one among them is too a lot waste contained in the water, it is causing the further algae. Ian Edit, what psYA is referring too is called a Refugium. In a marine tank the in effortless words vegetation you may strengthen are algae, yet there are a variety of of "large leaf" seaweed varieties. you establish a separate sump tank, with sturdy lights and positioned a number of this algae in there. It grows and absorbs the a number of foodstuff from the water. this suggests a lot less for the different algae. at the same time as the sump receives finished of weeds, you prune it and throw a million/2 out, thereby eliminating those foodstuff from the gadget. If the algae contained in the tank receives eaten by technique of the snails and shrimp, it merely receives grew to develop into decrease back into fish poop to strengthen more beneficial algae. yet final analysis is you nevertheless have too many fish in there....inspite of a regugium it truly isn't any longer going to artwork real.

Answer 3

one website I saw ages ago claimed that having real plants in the tank competes with the nutrients the algae needs to grow. Thus, you get less algae blooming. Also, overfeeding leaves more nutrients free in the tank to encourage an algae bloom. A lot of people over feed, leading to a host of problems in the tank. try cutting down the food a little bit, and the algae growth may slow.

Best of luck!

Answer 4

You probably have excessive nitrate and/or phosphate levels, caused usually by overfeeding or too many fish/invertebrates in the tank, or by polluted water being used for the water change

Complete water changes are not advisable, particularly for salt water tanks, since salt water fish and inverts are extremely sensitive to small changes in water conditions.

Try daily small water changes using distilled water only, no more than 10% each, until you can either reduce the pollutant level by reducing the amount you're feeding the fish, or by reducing the biomass in the tank.