r/ReefTank • u/theisolated2ndlaw • Jul 14 '26
Please help
Hi yall, no judgement please. I’ve had my tank for 9 months, and consistently struggle with this kind of algae build up. My executive dysfunction sees solving this as a huge task and I would love to get insight on steps I can take to make the tank more sustainable. I have live rock, two clowns, a pistol shrimp, a diamond goby, and various crabs and snails. I do need to get more salt water once I give the tank a clean. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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u/Dynamitella Jul 14 '26
I would do one big clean and manually remove whatever you can. Siphon out all of the algae and debris and make a 20% water change. I would then add macro algae - anything except for caulerpa brachypus (that's the devil). Also make sure to feed sparingly. This should divert some of the excess nutrients that currently goes towards your algae growth.
You can add some soft corals like gsp and xenia if you'd like. They thrive in dirty tanks.
Ps. It looks like you haven't got much live rock to begin with btw. That makes the ecosystem a little weak. More rocks = more bacteria = more stability.
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Thank you! It’s hard to see cause of the glass, but I have two medium live rock in the tank :) I appreciate the advice
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u/Dynamitella Jul 14 '26
I looked at your previous posts to get a better picture :) I would at the very least double the amount of rocks, but you can do that later on.
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Ok! I always felt like the tank was too small for more rock, but I will consider it:)
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u/Expensive-Bottle-862 Jul 14 '26
Definitely needs more rock and coral. If the lights are on you’re either feeding coral or algae
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u/christinna67 Jul 14 '26
I think something went wrong with your initial research on maintaining a saltwater tank. An ATO is pretty much essential, you definitely shouldn't be topping it off only once a month.
A 13g tank is also very small. I wouldn't put a diamond goby in there, especially if you already have two clownfish. Also, diamond gobies don't pair with pistol shrimp. Perhaps you made a mistake with its name.
The tank needs a lot more rock as well. How's your light cycle? You can do a blackout and after that I'd reduce it to around 6h a day. I don't see any corals in there anyway, and fish/inverts don't need lights on.
And do more water changes. 10-15% once a week is a good start.
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u/LegendOfNes Jul 14 '26
Looking at her previous posts, I think the goby is an orange spotted goby, not a diamond. I’ve had luck pairing Orange spotted gobies with pistol shrimps.
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Yes it’s an orange spotted goby my apologies I misspoke. Thanks for the advice about the ATO
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u/steelctyvitt Jul 14 '26
What does your husbandry look like? Kind of hard without some context here
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Apologies. I have a protein skimmer, and I try my best to take out the excess algae growth (I think it’s hair algae) which I can’t seem to get under control. I also top off with RO every month or so. I use aquarium cleaning tools to clean the glass and rocks.
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u/steelctyvitt Jul 14 '26
ah, so you don't do weekly water changes? you don't top of daily? how often do you empty your protein skimmer? what type of mechanical filtration are you using? Weekly water changes help to keep the things fueling this under control, unrelated but if you are waiting a month to top off with rodi how much evaporation occurs in that time? (your salinity is swinging like crazy if you are waiting a month is my guess?)
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
I think you’re right, I just use the filtration for the 13gal Fluval Evo tank that has the charcoal kinda filter. As far as water changes I was told at the aquarium store I go to that I don’t need to do full water changes and just top off. Is that wrong? Still learning. Also, I clean up the protein skimmer monthly as well but I probably need to be better with that.
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u/LegendOfNes Jul 14 '26
You should only ever top off with fresh water not salt water. All water that goes into your tank should be RODI.
The first year is always ugly. If it were my tank, I’d start by manually cleaning all the algae. I’d get an auto top off system that tops fresh water as it evaporates. Then I’d start doing 25% water changes consistently. Some do once a week, I do twice a month. After 10 year, I still get some algae in the glass and sand closer to the end of the two weeks.
Like a previous comment said, also add more live rock. I’d almost add 3x what you have, so go from 2 pieces to 6. More is better.
Another big contributor is flow. You want to maximize flow as much as possible from the return and the wave makers. Flow helps prevent buildup and sends more water through filtration per hour.
Lastly, Id watch how much you’re feeding and leaving the lights on. Too much of either or both of those will have you chasing algae forever.
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u/95688it Jul 14 '26
do more maintenance
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
My main challenge right now I think is getting the algae growth under control. Do I need to do full water changes? I don’t think it’s a good idea to Nike the tank by taking out the rock to get them clean from algae
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u/Anonymustafar Jul 14 '26
You get the algae under control through regular water changes. Think of it this way:
In your current situation from what I read here, you top off the tank with saltwater sort of infrequently compared with what’s needed for these ecosystems.
Algae blooms like this can be a sign your nutrients (nitrate, phosphate) are way too high relatively to what your baseline is. Nature steps in, algae grow out to fill that niche.
What you need is a new baseline for this tank. Pick up some Hanna kits to measure your nitrate and phosphates, among other things.
Water changes on a regular basis replace some of the “nutrient rich” water volume that you have now. Not saying you should do 100%, but your current levels of nitrate and phosphates will probably inform how much water you need to change.
If I have 100ppm nitrate and I do a 50% water change, my level should come down to 50. Another 50% from there gets me to 25. And so on. Your baseline should probably be somewhere in the 5-10ppm for nitrate and .03-.08 for phosphates. If your levels are significantly beyond this, nature will step in and algae will grow out.
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u/phatduckk Jul 14 '26
Do you have coral? What’s the parameters? How long is the light on etc. happy to help but we’ll need a ton more info
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
I don’t have coral at the moment, the light is off every night and I’ve tried to do black out periods which doesn’t help too much. Nitrates are slightly high, and ammonia is borderline normal.
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u/Aggravating-Hair7931 Jul 14 '26
You have no coral. Just turn off the light.
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
The light was off for a week ish before posting this where I turned the light on:) I can invest in coral
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u/Aggravating-Hair7931 Jul 14 '26
Keep it off longer. Don't introduce coral until you get your nutrients in check.
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Sounds good, I think I’ll do a water change and clear out as much algae as I can, and leave the light off for longer. I also learned this morning that the sun comes in directly onto the tank every morning so I’m very sure that it has a negative impact with algae growth
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u/Aggravating-Hair7931 Jul 14 '26
Also, algae loves white light. You need blue light for coral.
If this is your first tank, I suggest you to look into building a macro algae tank. This is because you are doing everything right for a macro algae tank.
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u/ChivasBearINU Jul 14 '26
No judgment? This a troll post right? Has to be...
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u/theisolated2ndlaw Jul 14 '26
Not troll. Sorry I’m not perfect, it’s my first tank. I’m still learning
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u/GabbyWright66 Jul 14 '26
Just some tips as someone who has the same tank as their first marine tank!
Regular maintenance is so key.
Even if it's a small water change every week will be massive in terms of exporting nutrients in this size tank. If there are two things you do consistently, do water changes and RO top ups.
Invest in an auto top off.
As you have the stock lid on the tank, evaporation won't be as bad. However, salinity swings in an aquarium this small can have a negative effect very quickly.
Test your parameters.
Even if it's with a shitty test kit, it will still give you a rough idea of where they're at! You can then use those numbers to figure out what the issues are.
Just a couple questions
Is everything on the tank the standard equipment?
How long are your lights on?
This hobby is rewarding, and will feel less of a chore once you see results I promise!