# algea bloom



## matt87 (Apr 20, 2013)

i have a green hair algea bloom getting pretty bad in my tank, while im trying to figure out what is causing it would it be advised to keep the lights off or will this mess with the fish i have in the tank? i know my nitrates are 0 im getting a test kit tomorow to test for phosphates. but to try to minimize the growth in the mean time i was thinking about keeping the lights off for a while.
any thoughts?


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

What lghting set up do you have running and what's your photo period?? And how long has thr tank been cycled for.

Maybe your over feeding? If there are fish in the tank. Let us know more details


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Think about it this way...

If you have Green Hair algae in your tank, this just means that you have something going on that gives the GHA a reason to grow. It could be nitrates, phosphates, or your bulbs might be older.

The GHA will give you a false reading if it's eating everything up in your tank. You might be reading 0 nitrates/phosphates but that might be due to the GHA eating it all up!

A good solution to the GHA is to find something that will eat it naturally like a emerald crab or lettuce nudibranch. That and taking care of your problems with the high numbers


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## matt87 (Apr 20, 2013)

I have an aquatic life light setup on a timer running from about 8:30 am to 8:30 pm. i have two clowns and a royal gramma. i feed twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening. tanks been cycled for a around 3 weeks now. fish have been in for about 2 weeks.
I also have two mexican turbo snails and 3 red legged hermit crabs


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

You setup is still new and this is normal. Just keep pulling out as much of the GHA manually and cut your photoperiod. (8-10 hours is fine). Try running some Chemi-pure if you don't already and this should help.
FYI, fish can handle total darkness for days with no real problems but the algae will come back when you turn on the lights. I keep my lights on from 2 to 10 pm because then I can see my tank while I'm home.


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## Reaper (Mar 25, 2013)

What kind of rock do you have? Many who use dry rock and don't cure it properly leach phosphate into the water fueling gha


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

The AL bulbs are prone to encourage algae growth moreso than KZ/ATI bulbs. 

If you don't have much coral to use the light energy and cover the LR, your photo period is too long. I don't know what you have but if you list it (sry if I missed a post in your coral stock), we can advise you on a photoperiod to help with the issue.

HTH


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## matt87 (Apr 20, 2013)

ive already changed the bulbs to ati bulbs. i dont have any corals in the tank right now. Ive adjusted my photo period down to 10 hours. i tested my phosphate yesterday and it is reading 1.0


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Dax said:


> You setup is still new and this is normal. Just keep pulling out as much of the GHA manually and cut your photoperiod. (8-10 hours is fine). Try running some Chemi-pure if you don't already and this should help.
> FYI, fish can handle total darkness for days with no real problems but the algae will come back when you turn on the lights. I keep my lights on from 2 to 10 pm because then I can see my tank while I'm home.


Bad idea;

The algae is sucking up nutrients. Thus consuming the them! If you rip it all out, the HA has to start growing again. Meanwhile the nutrients will build up again.

HA is just a symptom. You need to sort out the cause. Either rock full of phos, or bad food, too much food, etc.


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## matt87 (Apr 20, 2013)

ive been using ro water from BA and the last few times ive tested the water with my tds meter and its been reading 180 so i have a feeling thats where the problem is.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

My tap water is 140ppm...so if your reading 180 then they might be getting their RO/DI water from the toilet


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

I still think your photo period is still a bit long when you have no corals in the tank while feeding fish. Right now I have a few starter corals and a clearner shriml and I only havey lighs on for 7 hours

If you have a turkey baster, blow off your rocks and in holes and cracks to get all the left.over poop and food out and do a water change. Keep an eye on the tank and see if it does better. I have yet to test the tds in the ro water I get from vaugh.


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