k9flash Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Hey guys quick question. I know my tank is still fairly young, 3 months, but I am religious about testing parameters weekly and doing weekly water changes and yet I still am getting that dusty green algae gunk on my glass, and have seen very little coralline growth on the glass. Seems to be growing decent on the live rock though. Phosphates are always 0 and flow seems to be where it should be. MH's are running about 8 hrs a day with actinics going for 10. I have a GFO and Carbon reactor on its way from BRS to try and polish things up to see if that helps. Does this stuff go away with time or am I doing something wrong? As always, thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9flash Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 Oh and I always use RO/DI water for changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhowe Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Sounds like normal algae growth. Just use an old credit card to scrape it away. My old Alberstons card seems to work the best. I like it better than the magfloat scrapers. Does a better job but is more work. Make sure that your tank is not near bright sunlight from a windows or door. That can cause algae to bloom a lot faster. Three months is pretty quick to start seeing coraline on glass. Coraline will first start sticking to plastics in the tank, on overflows, or powerheads before you'll see any sticking to the glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akambience Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Yeah Green Dust Algae. I have that stuff too. There seems to be less then ideal information about it on the interwebs. It seems pretty harmless, and its easy to wipe away. I just use the mag float. If it's the GDA that I think your talking about, then there should be no credit card required. If you don't have a magfloat, you could always 'Make Yourself' something with the card idea. GDA should not to be confused with Green Spot Algae, which grows in circular spots, and usually requires a scrapper or razor blade. From what I understand, its presence confirms some excessive nutrients, but not necessarily the PO3-4 that is usually tested for. And I'm not convinced that excessive is the right word since I'm not sure GDA hurts anything but your view of the tank. Lighting is also theorized as a culprit, but again usually attributed to old bulbs with diminished wavelengths producing a 'Morning View' spectrum. There may be others with more experience with this stuff, and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but the conclusions that I have made from endless hours of (sometimes obsessive) reading: With new bulbs, RODI, good-tests, and a reactor with GFO on the way, it sounds like that it will starve it's self or cycle out but nothing to worry about and even common in new tanks. I'll bet the GFO reactor would be a 'Light Grenade' to solve associated issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9flash Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 Yeah its the dust kind. Easy to wipe off. Just annoying to see the little snail trails through it. If I leave it on the back glass it will tend to pile up a bit but other than that it seems to just be a nuisance. Lights are only a couple months old so not thinking they are the problem. Oh well, hopefully the reactors will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akambience Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 man, I thought all of my Incubus references were clever. ...My wife thinks that I'm the funniest person I know. I'm beginning to think she's right.... Let me know what you think of the BRS reactor. I was a hair away from buying one, but unforeseen circumstances prevented any new investments for a month or two. Did you get the dual or the single one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9flash Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 I went with 2 singles so I can adjust the flow for each better. Sorry I didnt catch the references. My wife says I'm the dumbest person she knows. I'm beginning to think she's right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhowe Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Clarifying preference of credit cards over mag-floats. I was using a mag-float to clean off the glass on 125 I previously had setup. Got a couple small pieces of substrate caught in between the grooves of the mag-float. That put about three separate 6 inch scratches on the front of the tank in about .2 seconds. Sorry for being off topic. Be careful with the mag-floats. That one accident when I wasn't paying attention was enough for mine to go in the trash can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akambience Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 True story! I did the same thing to my first tank. I was cleaning the glass everyday and going crazy about it. It took me weeks to figure out where all the little scratches were coming from. Now i'm super carful and "clap" the inside float a few times before I start cleaning just to be sure no grains of sand found a way in the velcro stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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