Minimizing Algae in a nano tank

[HippoMonstrosity]

I've recently noticed a good amount of algae growing on my sand/sand line, as well as my rocks. my tank is in a room with minimal sunlight (curtains drawn) and I try to only leave the tank light on for 10 hours a day, but I can't keep up with it. I do my best to scrub the glass where possible, and my Astraea snails do a decent job, but does anyone have any recommendations for products to minimize algae in nano tanks. It's a 13.5G only so the more gentle the better I feel. Also, should I be turning my sand if the top layer gets kinda brown/green looking or just let my Nassarius snails do that?

Thanks

 

[robocop1906]

How old is your tank, what are your nutrient levels? Phosphate, Nitrates? Either one or a combination of both will cause breakouts assuming you're tank has been cycled for a while. Is it red, green, brown algae? Astraea Snails would be a good addition but wouldn't solve the root issue.

 

[HippoMonstrosity]

It's not that old, only a month or 2 (though all my live rock came from an established tank and I used live sand). my nitrates are minimal, but I don't have a phosphate test. most my the algae is green. and the algae in sand doesn't seem like it would have roots. I only have 2 small clownfish and I do my best not to overfeed them, so there shouldn't be much waste in my system (so you'd think).

 

[robocop1906]

Glass scraping will be forever maintenance. Sounds like given it's a fairly new tank it's still getting established. Just keep up with regular water changes and your levels should come into balance. I'd invest in a Phosphate checker so you know your number for sure but not required. Do you plan to keep corals? If so you'll need a Phosphate checker so that you at a minimum know they are not sitting at zero. The Astraea Snails again would be a good addition or maybe a turbo snail. Turbo's are big and can rearrange your rock work if it's not tightly secured. Don't get a blenny until you have a very established system and see consistent visible signs of hair algae grother otherwise it will starve.

 

[Tamberav]

Its a nano...all you have to do is clean your sand bed and use a turkey baster to blast debris out of your rock ....scrape the glass then suck all that crud up when you do your water change and run disposable floss to take care of the rest.

 

[HippoMonstrosity]

ok. I also tested my phosphates and they were very high so I go some packets recommended to me at my trusted fish store to help with that too.

 

[brandon429]

Im going to relay a trick to you that the oldest nano reefs in the world use. its dated info, old school nano reef trick... disregard as 98% do lol but if you want the secret-

from the longest living nanos you could possibly source: tank cleaning beats anything you could ever dose, add, or purchase for this or future issues

it handles all phosphate imbalance

not that a doser wont scrub it back out of the water too

In cleaning I don’t mean the common fare:

The white glove, every two weeks, partial water be careful not to hurt the system type cleaning.

We mean flipping clean Sir. This sandbed is clean, other sandbeds are cess filth comparatively lol. Cleaned rocks, not rocks full of cyano and growths that impede water exchange within the pores, clean. The tank is 13 yrs old but looks new because I keep resetting it clean, infinitely.

Any happy medium is ok


How would my sandbed above be a source of nitrate or phosphate imbalance (clouding detritus) if it runs that clear?

It’s not. It’s neutral. Over time it fills with waste, and good stuff too like pods...we need to export occasionally or just produce the $ offset dosers and equipment to compensate. Large tanks can’t access and clean so cheatingly. But nano keepers can, and that means you can make your nano live forever by just occasionally cleaning it vs letting it compound to a fail point even if years off.

Apply skip cycle cleaning biology to take your tank apart and clean it, buy nothing.