Algae help

[AlexR]

Can anyone please help me identify this algae type and give me some recommendations on getting rid of it?
I know there is bubble algae in there too, and I have some emerald crabs in there to hopefully help with it.
I also pick some out at times when I feel brave enough.

The algae on the rocks looks brownish to me and it’s nearly impossible to clean by hand.
I do have a phosban reactor running and phosphates are reading at negligible basically at 0 or close it to. Maybe .01 to .04 it’s so hard to tell with the test kit color charts.
I also have another reactor running with NPX bioplastics.

[AlexR]

Another pic

[RioReefr]

Do some research on Fluconazole and NoPoX.
For me, strong dosing of NoPoX worked for me on GHA.

Personally, since switching over to a MarinePure Brick I get very little algae except the occasional green glass algae that just wipes off with the magnet-cleaner.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by RioReefr

Do some research on Fluconazole and NoPoX.
For me, strong dosing of NoPoX worked for me on GHA.

Personally, since switching over to a MarinePure Brick I get very little algae except the occasional green glass algae that just wipes off with the magnet-cleaner.

So this looks like GHA to you?
I've never been a huge fan of dosing (even without corals). But may have no choice until i get this under control

Where did you place the brick?

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by RioReefr

Do some research on Fluconazole and NoPoX.
For me, strong dosing of NoPoX worked for me on GHA.

Personally, since switching over to a MarinePure Brick I get very little algae except the occasional green glass algae that just wipes off with the magnet-cleaner.

I just ordered the 4” brick. Worth a try. This is really starting to drive me crazy... I have been super patient with my aquarium and I’m at a point where this needs to get better quick...

My fish are all super healthy and that’s great. Looks amazing. But my tank is empty with a crap load of LR and no color from corals.

[Michael Hoaster]

That looks like a mix of turf algae, coated in dinoflagellates. Do you see the tell-tale oxygen bubbles in the golden brown stuff, later in the day? Aggressive manual removal, combined with a diverse clean up crew should help. I've had luck running UV as well, if it's dinos.

[homer1475]

Looks like GHA with dino's to me also.



PO4 up, and 0 NO3 is a sure way to get dino's. A positive ID on the type of dino under a microscope would help with suggestion on how to clean it up.



FWIW, UV only works on one type of Dino's.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

That looks like a mix of turf algae, coated in dinoflagellates. Do you see the tell-tale oxygen bubbles in the golden brown stuff, later in the day? Aggressive manual removal, combined with a diverse clean up crew should help. I've had luck running UV as well, if it's dinos.

I am not seeing any large bubbles. Maybe some micro bubbles clinging on after I do a water change from the surface agitation.
The algae is not slimy and really can not be pulled off by hand.

Maybe it is Dino. I hope not. This is covering portions of my tank not the entire thing.
I have been doing weekly water changes to try and get this under control.
Will keep trying without using any drastic measures for now.

Adding in a pincushion sea urchin this weekend to help.

[AlexR]

Here is another picture.
I really don’t see the air bubbles that are on Dinos.

It’s definitely GHA there and something on top of it. I definitely need better flow. My main return pump seems to have slowed down over time and only gets its speed when I shut it off/on.
I have a jebao DCP 15000 coming in tomorrow.

[JoeTSI]

Originally Posted by AlexR

Here is another picture.
I really don’t see the air bubbles that are on Dinos.

It’s definitely GHA there and something on top of it. I definitely need better flow. My main return pump seems to have slowed down over time and only gets its speed when I shut it off/on.
I have a jebao DCP 15000 coming in tomorrow.

Are you only using the return pump for tank flow?

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by JoeTSI

Are you only using the return pump for tank flow?

I have 4 jebao rw4’s spread in the tank. Also am waiting on a rw8 to come in soon.

Had several stronger AC pumps which made way too much noise.

The main return pump is for circulation which is not sufficient right now I think.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great! Not having to deal with the dino-mystery of what type and what treatment is huge.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

That's great! Not having to deal with the dino-mystery of what type and what treatment is huge.

I hope it’s not what it is. I can’t rule it out completely yet. I don’t see the bubbles and it’s not slimey looking like I’ve seen in other pictures.

I’m thinking it may beat bad case of diatom on top of the GHA. Maybe due to insufficient water circulation.

[AlexR]

So I also decided on top of everything else I will do a Flucon treatment.

I suppose it’s ok to add one capsule per day on my 125g (plus ~40g refugium/sump)?

I’m going to try everything I can before I just take out the rocks one by one and scrub them.

[Four drachma]

If you can afford a sulfur reactor, you should get one.... I’ve always struggled with different kinds of algae at different stages of my tank, but nothing since I got an AquaMaxx T3! Worth every penny.


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[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Four drachma

If you can afford a sulfur reactor, you should get one.... I’ve always struggled with different kinds of algae at different stages of my tank, but nothing since I got an AquaMaxx T3! Worth every penny.


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I will need to research that. Just doing a quick check they aren’t too expensive.

[Four drachma]

Originally Posted by AlexR

I will need to research that. Just doing a quick check they aren’t too expensive.

I’ve tried everything, phosphate reactors, GFO, UV sterilizers, huge clean up crews...some have helped, but only the sulfur reactor actually illuminated it. I read it takes about 6 weeks to get going and see any benefit, but I noticed a marked algae retreat after two weeks.


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[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Four drachma

I’ve tried everything, phosphate reactors, GFO, UV sterilizers, huge clean up crews...some have helped, but only the sulfur reactor actually illuminated it. I read it takes about 6 weeks to get going and see any benefit, but I noticed a marked algae retreat after two weeks.


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Looks like they cost about $500 new. Definitely worth it.

I already have a bunch of stuff on order to try and get my tank back to normal.

It’s been basically running as a refugium for about 5 years Ever since moving into my new house and setting up a new tank.
Hardly any bio load during that time and no real clean up crew. It was overwhelmed with bristleworms and copepods.

There was also a period of time in there (about 8 months) I was using tap water because my RODI broke and I just wasn’t into the tank at the time.
I’m suffering for that now. And have been doing weekly water changes with pure salt water for a couple months.

Just a couple months ago I decided I’m going to get it right and have a nice reef tank again. All the live rock and sand is as live as can be and I don’t want to start over with that.
I have just added a decent fish and invert bio load a few weeks ago. Everything is doing really good and I don’t want to effect that.
I have yet to add any corals. I have some zoas and a leather from years ago that have somehow hung on to life and that’s it.

This is something I will most likely end up getting soon. But will give the other methods a try first.

[Tastee]

I recently dosed Fluconazole (Reef Flux) in my tank and it has worked a treat. Initially I was still dosing NoPoX and NO3 and PO4 were at 0 (as I was thinking that keeping nutrients low until the GHA was under control was a good idea), but I found either the GHA or another algae was continuing to grow, possibly fed by the NoPoX itself. So I stopped dosing NoPoX 10 days after the Fluconazole (after a suggestion by another forum member here) and allowed them to rise naturally. That is when things started to really improve and the GHA and whatever else I had started to melt away.

It has now been 7 weeks since I dosed the Fluc. NO3 is 1.5 ppm, PO4 is 0.04 ppm, as tested by Red Sea Pro kits. I don’t plan to start dosing NoPoX until they get a fair bit higher than this. I am cleaning mesh socks every few days and skimmer at least weekly to keep nutrient spikes from the decaying GHA to a minimum.




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[wildman926]

Algae is a result of excessive nutrients. Get an ATS, and never look back. Grow algae where YOU want to, to remove the excess nutrients from your display tank.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by wildman926

Algae is a result of excessive nutrients. Get an ATS, and never look back. Grow algae where YOU want to, to remove the excess nutrients from your display tank.

I think I will go ahead and make a ATS myself just to have a good size to put over my refugium.
After I do the dosing of Flucon.

So far it has slowly improved a bit. But nowhere near gone.

I put in a rose pincushion urchin yesterday. He hasn’t moved a bit since being placed in the DT. Although his color is all there and no spines have fallen off.

[wildman926]

Here is my proof that is all you need, an ATS, good lighting, and a good skimmer. Here is my 150g. I don't dose anything, change water about once a year. When salinity drops off, I put fresh sw in the ato.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by wildman926

Here is my proof that is all you need, an ATS, good lighting, and a good skimmer. Here is my 150g. I don't dose anything, change water about once a year. When salinity drops off, I put fresh sw in the ato.

Looks really nice! Thanks for sharing.

My tank has been running for years and needs a treatment before I start adding corals.

After I get everything under control with the treatments I have running then I will put in a ATS to keep it under control. I found some good DIY ATS videos. It’s way more affordable then other solutions.

First things first tho. I really need to get the algae under control and make sure all my levels are where they need to be.

[AlexR]

At this point this is what I have in:

The ceramic bio filter brick.
Phosban reactor running GFO
Phosban reactor running bio-pellets
Protein skimmer
Refugium filled with colourpa
Large cleanup crew and a urchin

Starting next week Flucon treatment With skimmer off for 3 days, will keep bio-pellets and GFO running.

After i see algae gone and levels under control I will add a ATS running on a 18hr light-on schedule.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by AlexR

First things first tho. I really need to get the algae under control and make sure all my levels are where they need to be.

Originally Posted by AlexR

After i see algae gone and levels under control I will add a ATS running on a 18hr light-on schedule.

Thanks for the compliments. With all due respect, this is where I see you making your big mistake.

Short term - use API's Algaefix marine. HERE is a thread on Reef Central about it. I have done this first when I lost control of my tank, and algae took over killing all of my corals. After you see the algae die off, do a 25% water change.

Long term - Make or buy an ATS. Be ready to deploy it after your treatment of Algae Fix marine, and then BE PATIENT. The ATS's screen will need time to mature, but it will come into it's own. Just let it do it's thing. Running about 16-18 hours a day of light.

My ATS is from a member here, Floyd R Turbo. It is worth EVERY penny.

This has been my experience, and I can testify to this that this is the method to get your tank back to where it was, or where you want it.