Cleaning Live Rock

[Bella A.]

My LR Has A Lot Of Algae Is There A Way To Clean Them?
And Does This Kind Of Algae Make Nitrate In The Aquarium?

[SquidInk]

No one has touched this so I'll start it up. What kind of algae are you talking about In specific? Also, to help you figure out a solution, posting your water parameters is essential.

Typically though unwanted algae is commonly caused by your parameters being off (especially phosphate), depending on your lights this may be a sign that it is time to change the bulbs, over feeding and lack of nutrient export, the last one I can think of is having dead spots will no flow.

[xvCODY]

Depending on the type of algae there are different options that i've had success with.

Hair algae - Pull it by hand if it's thick only during a waterchange so you can syphon it out. if it's pretty thin you could add large turbo snails, emerald crabs or mexican red hermit crabs (i've had luck with)

If it's red slime (cyanobacteria) algae the only real solution is increased waterflow and syphoning your gravel/sand a lot. Cyano is really affected by excess nutrients in your water. You should be using Reverse osmosis water for topoffs or to mix your salt with as it contains no nutrients. I've heard that electric blue hermits also eat cyano but haven't tested it out.

With these 2 being the most common algaes i've come in contact with in my tank hopefully this has helped you.

To answer your question, no the algae won't CAUSE nitrates, but nitrates are the cause of the algae.

All in all just limit your nutrient input, get better water flow and you'll see all the algae go bye bye. (Also get a good cleanup crew!) =]

[sgtmyers88]

What about grey/brownish algae? I had an explosion of this when my brackish tank hit full marine conditions.

[xvCODY]

Once you go full marine there's a period deemed "the uglies". This is where your tank is stabilizing. You'll go through many different types of algaes that'll typically just go away on their own. Grey/brown is just diatoms and they'll burn themselves out after a while. They look unsightly but they'll be gone in no time.

The uglies can last anywhere from 3 to 6 months depending on your cycle.