Nuisance Algae

[Kimbob]

Morning all,

I've had my nano tank up and running for about 2 months, it's a 20 gallon.
Can anyone tell me what type or algae this is and what would be the best solution to get rid of it, ie clean up crew or fish?

I'm struggling with my phosphates and nitrates at the moment and do weekly water changes
Nitrates are sitting at 0 ppm
Phosphates are high at 0.56 ppm
Alkalinity is 9 dkh

Any solutions or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[LordofCinder]

its just normal algae. At 2 months, your tank is getting into the ugly stages, its a normal cycle that we all go through.

Best is manual removal, toothbrush and syphon weekly.
Get good testing kits and keep track of phosphates and nitrates, and use corrective action if the nutrients get too high.
Start increasing your clean up crew, get more algae grazing critters.

It takes months up to more than a year to get through this stage. Be patient, educate yourself on how to control algae, and keep on top of your husbandry practice.

 

[Kimbob]

its just normal algae. At 2 months, your tank is getting into the ugly stages, its a normal cycle that we all go through.

Best is manual removal, toothbrush and syphon weekly.
Get good testing kits and keep track of phosphates and nitrates, and use corrective action if the nutrients get too high.
Start increasing your clean up crew, get more algae grazing critters.

It takes months up to more than a year to get through this stage. Be patient, educate yourself on how to control algae, and keep on top of your husbandry practice.

Thanks for the advice, which critters would you recommend?

I'll start cleaning with the manual removal. I have Hanna test kits so that helps me monitor the nutrients.

Cheers

 

[Stephen Glover]

Snails would be my first choice, followed by reef safe hermits.

 

[Bpb]

In a smaller tank like that I think the most effective snails would be trochus snails, florida ceriths, and dwarf ceriths. I’m not a fan of mixing hermits with snails because ultimately the hermits will kill the snails as they are a more inviting meal. A small tuxedo urchin would be helpful as well but they can tend to pick things up that aren’t secured.

Reducing the phosphate is a good idea but won’t be a silver bullet. Algae in a young tank will just be a fact of life. In my experience if you stick with it long enough, the algae will go away and you’ll end up BUYING algae to feed the herbivores.