Severe Algae Problem

[trockafella]

And then all your CuC will starve to death. Please consider that you should scale your CuC gradually and take into consideration their needs post-outbreak. I only have 3 hermits and 3 turbo snails in my 90g currently (plus an Algae Blenny and a Yellow Tang). I have very little unwanted algae growth and I don't use RO/DI water.

 

I will be adding more once I move, but not because the algae is so bad; I just like having hermits and am prepared to feed them.

 

I dont completely agree with this.. There should continue to be food for your CUC, although not the grand feast like now, but there will still be food as long as your feeding your tank. Ive always kept tons of snails and crabs and I never have algae outbreaks. And if starving is really a concern (not one I have) you can resell them in the club.... 3 snails and 3 crabs in a 90, might work for you somehow, but I would advise to others they will need more. I like getting 100 of the tiny blue legs and fresh batch of snails and watch them go to work. Ive seen them take out a lot of HA in a couple days.

[ridetheducati]

The size of a CUC is determined by the maturity level of the system. A young tank less than one year, will require more CUC compared to a three year old system.

 

The OP responded to my question of "are snails dying" and he confirmed. Dinos are toxic and IMHO are an indication of snail deaths. If dinos are present, I recommend removing the snails because they will die and continue to pollute the water.

[Jason Rhoads]

Good points. My "system" is around 4 years old (same stuff over 3 tank upgrades).

[ohaverd]

Assuming that your ammonia/nitrates/phosphates are all good... what is your PH at? I had a hard time with dynos and hair algae for the first 6 months of my first tank until I slowly raised my PH to 8.4-8.6 via kalk dosing. Then it all went away. Of course I am not doing SPS yet other than some hardy birds nest, so I dont know if the higher PH would be good for them.

[zygote2k]

manual removal first, check r/o filters & TDS, avoid nutrient input, make sure skimmer working correctly, do a good cleaning/vacuuming and w/c. try this first and report back.

KISS.