I am currently in mortal battle with an algae problem that is driving me crazy. First, the tank and setup.
40 gallon tank
40 gallon "package" from TBS (80 pounds LR, 40 pounds LS)
CPR Bak-Pak 2 skimmer
96 W 10K PC, 2 X 96W 50/50 PC
IO salt and I use distilled water for the mix
4 X azure damsels, 1 X percula clown, 1 X lawnmower blenny
Lots of astrea snails, blue legged hermits, 1 coral banded shrimp.
Open brain, ricordia mushroom, branching hammer coral, devils hand coral + tons of clams, sponges etc that came on the rock.
Tank has been running problem free for 10 months and in normally absolutley beautiful!
Latest tank parameters:
Temp: 79
SG: 1.024
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Phosphate: 2.0 ppm
I came back after a week vacation to a tank so choked with brown algae that you couldnt even tell the lights were on. I cleaned the tank and changed 15 gallons of water. The algae returned over night. Since then I have been changing 15 gallons of water at a time and using a toothbrush to scrub the algae off the rocks. The algae is mostly brownish green and comes off the rocks easily. In fact, most can be siphoned without scrubbing. I have added carbon to the skimmer chamber and phos-guard. This has been going on for about a week and a half now and I have changed a total of about 90 gallons of water in that time. The brown algae returns overnight.
I believe the algae bloom was fuelled by an increase in PO4 levels and and a high temperature. I keep my tanks in my classroom and the district turns off the AC during the sumnmer months and the tank temp rose to around 86-87 degrees. I was able to get my ac controller reprogrammed last week to keep my ac on 24/7 and this has dropped the tank temp back to my normal range of 78-79 degrees.
I am hoping that constant scrubbing of the rocks and water changes will bring the problem under control, mostly to reduce the PO4 levels.
Everything in the tank seems to be fine. All the fish are healthy and eating and everything seems good, except the algae problem!!
Anything else I can do?
