algae, don't know what to do

[tepelus]

i have had an explosion of algae growth in my tank lately and i can't get rid of the stuff. it started about two months ago i noticed hair algae beginning to grow, so i started doing more aggressive water changes. well, the water changes don't seem to be working, added rowaphos cause it had worked for me before in the past, but its not helping either, cleaned my filters and everything. only thing i can think of is perhaps its the water i've been using. I've been using ro water from the pet shop, and since i've started using that instead of the distilled, cause it was cheaper and supposedly better, i've been getting more algae. if i switch back to distilled do you think it might help more? i don't know what the phosphate levels are, but my ammonia is 0, nitrite 0 and my nitrate at 10ppm, and my ph keeps dropping to 8 so i add buffer to raise it to 8.2. i may have to resort to taking the rocks out and scrubbing them all to get the hair algae off. and not only is it hair algae, but cyano and green film as well. what kind of snails and hermits are good for eating this stuff? any help is appreciated.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Actually, taking the rocks out and scrubbing them would be a great idea. Next time you do a water change, save the tank water in two separate buckets. Scrub the rocks in one, then rinse in the other before placing them back in the tank.

The water that you are using may be the culprit. It really depends on how often the LFS changes out the filters and such in their RO unit. If left unmaintained, the water quality will be compromised. I'd suggest picking up a phosphate test kit and checking your tanks phosphate level and also testing the water from the LFS.

Another culprit can be overfeeding. Some marine foods tend to have a pretty noticeable phosphate level and can cause problems if you are a heavy handed feeder. Try cutting back on your feedings. You could also soak whatever food you happen to be using in some RO water, then test the water you soaked the food in to see if the food is causing problems. (just a thought)

As far as what you can add to eat the algae, Mexican turbos will mow down hair algae and the green film. I don't recommend a fish, since it's really hit or miss with lawnmower blennies and such. Fighting conchs will eat cyano, at least mine does.

Lastly, incorporating a refugium into your system will really help with excess nutrient export. Aquafuge makes some great HOB fuges.