Algae prevention

[bradyrollie4]

So, does anyone have any secrets to preventing algae? I'm talking about bubble algae in particular. I have used chemclean once Apon a time and it worked great. Now I feel the algae actually came back worse though after I dosed that. How effective is peroxide? How much and how often in a 75 gal? I also have coral in the tank so not trying to stress them out. I understand frequent water changes and don't over feed, R/O water. This is my 2nd Salt tank. It is cycled and maintenanced weekly.

. Should i put A UV light in my sump? Protein Skimmer? Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Doctorgori]

short answer is, NO: you don’t actually “prevent” algae per se, you control it

I've seen the bubble algae panic threads but I’ve controlled it easily, many here have also. Firstly if your 2part or alkalinity regime is cooking, coralline algae will actually cover the bubble algae …trust me, sounds like BS but it can

if you are scraping off lil pink spots on your glass daily, the bubble algae doesn’t compete well…
ATS or algae reactor obviously help, so does phosphate control
I have seen emeral crabs control it, all of my tanks have them but I don’t fully trust them,..
JUST ordered pithos from Reef Cleaners, so I will give them a shot for “Preventive” maintenance ..

Fast growing corals are another sure fire preventative

Spot treatment with peroxide is 100% effective, as is manual removal( plastic forks work like a charms)
…oh that parroted thing about popped bubbles spreading spores has been debunked

 

[bradyrollie4]

With the peroxide can you over dose? What is the correct way to use that method?

 

[bradyrollie4]

Also i Have a tank at work. Small 10 gal that has 2 damsels. Has a little built in light, nothing crazy. Seem to have a dia bloom. I been letting it run its course and it slowly is dissapearing. Is there anything else i can do to help that? Seems like if i scrape it, it comes back 10 fold.

 

[Doctorgori]

With the peroxide can you over dose? What is the correct way to use that method?

You can absolutely OD on peroxide, click my tank badge, I wiped out a entire tank… but I used the food grade 30% stuff, don’t use that
If you use the drug store 3% type, you can sometimes pull out the rock and squirt directly on the rock, be advised some things tolerate peroxide well (some palys/zoas) , other thing like shrimp, it’s lethal… Safest application is via syringe underwater, less effective but safer …use common sense

Also i Have a tank at work. Small 10 gal that has 2 damsels. Has a little built in light, nothing crazy. Seem to have a dia bloom. I been letting it run its course and it slowly is dissapearing. Is there anything else i can do to help that? Seems like if i scrape it, it comes back 10 fold.

you got a phosphate test kit, and your tank does not look bad at all btw

 

[bafia]

I've always had great luck with emerald crabs to eradicate the bubble algae in my tank.

 

[Neoma369]

short answer is, NO: you don’t actually “prevent” algae per se, you control it

I've seen the bubble algae panic threads but I’ve controlled it easily, many here have also. Firstly if your 2part or alkalinity regime is cooking, coralline algae will actually cover the bubble algae …trust me, sounds like BS but it can

if you are scraping off lil pink spots on your glass daily, the bubble algae doesn’t compete well…
ATS or algae reactor obviously help, so does phosphate control
I have seen emeral crabs control it, all of my tanks have them but I don’t fully trust them,..
JUST ordered pithos from Reef Cleaners, so I will give them a shot for “Preventive” maintenance ..

Fast growing corals are another sure fire preventative

Spot treatment with peroxide is 100% effective, as is manual removal( plastic forks work like a charms)
…oh that parroted thing about popped bubbles spreading spores has been debunked

Personally I am having issues with black algae, any pointers?

 

[Neoma369]

Personally I am having issues with black algae, any pointers?

ISO RODI sys & would like it to be refillable

 

[bradyrollie4]

You can absolutely OD on peroxide, click my tank badge, I wiped out a entire tank… but I used the food grade 30% stuff, don’t use that
If you use the drug store 3% type, you can sometimes pull out the rock and squirt directly on the rock, be advised some things tolerate peroxide well (some palys/zoas) , other thing like shrimp, it’s lethal… Safest application is via syringe underwater, less effective but safer …use common sense


you got a phosphate test kit, and your tank does not look bad at all btw

Thanks. My 40 breeder got out of control. IDK if it was because i put sea lettuce or the chateo in it or what but one day bam. I took all my rocks out and soaked them in a 5 gallon bucket with peroxide before i put them in my 75.

 

[TokenReefer]

I've always had great luck with emerald crabs to eradicate the bubble algae in my tank.

I agree with this. The only places this is visible in my system is a small patch on top of a few powerheads and I think that's because that's where the emeralds can't get to it; sometimes the urchins will take a few bites out of it when they get up there.