Algae control/general advice

[HelpmeCT]

hey,
Im going to try this again with a little more info now. I've had a tank for a couple years now and have had little to no problems with it. Mainly coral and live rock a few small fish nothing big. Recently however i left it in the care of my father who has not really taken good care of it and i have lost most/all of my coral(except tree coral) i have lost most if not all of my crabs/snails and i only have one surviving fish. The levels are all well within reason and he has apparently kept the water changes up and everything seems fine to me. I'd like some more sets of eyes here though. Im going to try and be specific as to the whole set up

35 Gallon Bowfront.
Fluval 204 filter(oldish could possibly not be going a great job)
Coralife Actinic 03 blue lamp
55W 10000k lamp

it has LR/LS tree coral 1 damsel
(fish rarely survived in it not sure why)

levels are fine
temp has had a few fluctuations earlier on but it is now fairly steady around 78
PH is about 8.0
Nitrites and Nitrates both 0
Ammonia is 0

I have been considering putting in another load of snails hermits and i've heard about a slug or something called a Sea hare? supposedly eats big bits of green algae. or shrimps?
Any form of advice would be hugely appreciated. Im gonna keep diggin into past threads to see if i can get any advice from others threads but i figured i'd throw this up there to see if anyone has any words of wisdom.

[stephaniesquires]

Have you (or dad) been using tap water or RO/DI water? Tap water is a big culprit in algae issues.
My suggestions (keep in mind I'm pretty new), limit the lights for a few days.
If you have been using tap water STOP - get some good water from the store (and invest in an RO/DI system) and do a big water change (possibley several - but read past posts first). If you are using RO/DI check the filters or get it from a new source.
I think the clean up crew is a good idea. I have also heard of using sea hares.

I'm sure others will chime in and give you their experience.

[HelpmeCT]

I use DI water though i am considering buying a Mighty Mite which i have seen recommended for smaller aquariums. Im going to try cutting back the light considerably for a little while and see what happens. I threw in a hare or two and a few snails and hermits to see if they help....Wild though first hare went in and a rock crab that i didn't even know was in there hopped out and attacked him. He seems ok....frightened him off somehow hasn't buggged him since. Hope he doesn't kill him. Salt water aquariums are soo cool haha.

[emccullough1]

I think you are on the right track. Getting a good clean up crew is going to get the job done. Here is a link that may help you decide which you need. different ones eat different alga's and only you know what type of alga you are fighting . Also Keeping your nitrate low will go a long way at starving it out. I suspect your Father let them get out of control creating the problem to start with. I care for my mothers 75 gal tank 6 month's out of the year and have to clean up every time. ( she wont do water changes)

Reef Tank Janitors - Part 2 - Shrimps, True Crabs and Sea Urchins - Page 1 - About Shrimps

If you could get better pic's may be we could help you on identification of the alga

[emccullough1]

If you upload your pictures to photobucket the copy and paste the IMG code in your post you can get a lot better pic's up. Here is a link to it.

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

If you have any problem PM me and I will try to help. Here is a pic of some bubble alga I had to get rid of.



I got a emerald crab and in a week it was gone. Now I have to feed him alga wafers.

[noodles]

The hares will clean , but will do it very quickly. In days they will run out of food then you have to try and hand feed them or they will die. They are very hard to keep and can poison your tank when they do die. Run carbon in your filter just in case. Good luck

[noodles]

I would also get a skimer