Help algae

[Grim Reefer]

Can anyone please help me I have a fluval osaka 260 i have been running this tank for about 10 months. It is at the moment fish only really only one soft coral that is not very well. Last week i can home to find i could not see the fish in my tank the water had turned brown and the glass rocks everything was covered in this bron stuff, it brushes off easilly enough. So i imediately took a water sample and tested it my LFS confirmed my results as follows PH 8.4-8.8, NH3 0, N02 0, NO3 15, Po4 0-trace, DKH 8.8, Ca 320 Mg 870 i know that the ph is a bit high and the Magnesium and calcium are low for corals The Sg is 1.019 but i am trying to raise that currently.
I did a water change of around 20% but this has not solved the problem the only thing i have changed recntly is i have purchased some Mh lamps with the thought of moving to corals more i started running them about 12 hours a day but i have sinced reduced this to 6 i still have the T5's running. I have even bought anti algae resin for my filter and water polishing pads but the algae wont go. I have a red sea prizm protein skimmer and a fluval 305 external power filter running live rock and as mentioned before resin and buffer pads i also have about 20Kg of fiji live rock a seio m620 and a cheap ebay special koralia type flow pump. I will upload a piccie soon just dont have one at the mo sorry:)http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq133/Grim_Reefer_2008/tank2.jpghttp://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq133/Grim_Reefer_2008/tank1.jpg

[jackass]

now then mate i have that in my tank not as bad as u but geting there how old is ya set up

[Londonreef]

Hi Grim if it were me I would tackle this the following way -

a) Increase the flow within the tank to 30x tank volume.
b) Remove the live rock and srub it with a brush and rinse under RO heated to tank temprature.
c) Syphon what you can out.
d)) Add a bit more CUC (clean up crew) which is difficult in your case as I see you have a Piccaso trigger and a puffer .... maybe add an urchin then (maybe someone else can advise better on this one)

Note that the trigger and puffer will outgrow you tank soon.

HTH

Mike

[Tangman]

Hi as Londonreef has pointed out you have a puffer and trigger fish, these will add to the algae problem as the bio load will be bigger than the tank can cope with. You need to work your stocking out at 1 inch of fully grown fish to 6 gallons of water in your tank, ie a 100 gallon tank can about 15 inch of fully grown adult fish, which is like having 4 Coral Beauties or similar sized fish. When you have your stocking levels right your problem will sort its self out with good tank maintainance ie water changes etc. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[Gaters]

Also, if i were you i'd bin the prism skimmer and have a look for a 2nd hand aqua medic or deltec. Imo the am multi sl 1000 takes a lot of beating..,

[moorish]

would agree get a decent skimmer that will remove most of the nutrients then you should get a lot of improvement in water quality.do a couple of big water changes over a couple of weeks this will help as well.derek

[Grim Reefer]

The Set up is around 10 months old

[Grim Reefer]

Hi again i got home tonight and the problem has all but gone no algae on glass or rocks or substrate weird.
I am aware that the puffer and trigger will get large i am looking at selling the trigger also because he is a nuisence he nips the other fish and just eats rock all day. I cant sell the puffer however he is the girlfriends and she loves him. I was wondering about the size he will get to doyou think a remote sump would benefitt this set up as i am limited for space length and height.


Thankyou all for your comments and help