[billeboy7071]

Hi, I am starting a new reef tank. 34"X34"X20" high' 100gal. I have had saltwater tanks before and had some problems with algae. What can be done from the very start to keep all algae growth to a minimum? If anything. Is there anyone out there that has a saltwater tank and has never had any bad algae outbreaks in it ? The tank is empty right now so I am up for any suggestions...........................Thanks...

 

[petlover516]

algae is caused by high nitrate levels or too much lighting. To prevent it, don't slack on those water changes and make sure the tank is not getting a whole lot of light. Cut lighting periods to 8 hours a day and make sure the tank does not recieve natural sunlight.

 

[billeboy7071]

algae is caused by high nitrate levels or too much lighting. To prevent it, don't slack on those water changes and make sure the tank is not getting a whole lot of light. Cut lighting periods to 8 hours a day and make sure the tank does not recieve natural sunlight.

Thank you, I can do that............... :fish2:

 

[ladyonyx]

When starting a new reef tank, especially if you're patient, just wait it out. When a tank is cycling, it is going to go through a heavy algal growth period and probably a diatom bloom as well. Just let is run it's course; it'll take a little while and it won't look very pretty, but if there's nothing in it other than live rock and substrate, it doesn't matter much. My tank took about 5-6 weeks to get through the "ugly" phase, and I've never had an algae issue since. Just let it do it's own thing for a while

 

[FishyFish]

so then what do you do if you're having algae problems and don't want to lose your coral? won't decreasing the lighting negatively affect the coral?

 

[phil_pl]

i just had a cyno outbreak in my tank about a week ago, caused by overfeeding my corals. i ran lights only when feeding my fish for 4 days, along with sucking out all the cyno off the sand that i could. doing this didnt affect my corals at all.
I know this doesnt tell you how to prevent it but petlover516 covered that pretty well