Algae bloom gone Crrazy
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TheBackAndForth
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I'm going to learn to love these lol
https://www.liveaquaria.com/product...rofessional-reef-salt?pcatid=3912&c=3756+3912
Live aquaria actually very recently branded fritz's and sells it cheaper.
I use both of those salts. RC for small water changes, fritz's for large because it mixes at very ideal coral parameters. my dKH is 9ish
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
I'd manually clean the rocks a hard bristled toothbrush one by one when you have a few hours, then acclimate a ton of large urchins. they truly do work.
It will take a few months to turn this around, and your long term solution is to get your nutrients to zero or very close. I get algae blooms when my nitrate is > 5ppm
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
JUst use the RC for your changes. it mixes high in everything. its good to replenish. I only dose manually as neededI'm wondering if on my last water change I didn't shake the bucket well enough and got a poor mix. I didn't check ph before throwing it in the tank. Short cuts cause pain
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
fritz mixes at pretty much exactly what you need to keep a successful reef. I've thought about buying more expensive mixes, but ive had plenty of success with SPS and RC,and more recently fritzs and minimal dosing
I love the coralline algae so much, but ultimately reefing is what I want to get to. Urchins have such voracious appetites that they concern me a bit. Although on a tank this size 3 shouldn't be able to get it all ate... do they stray towards the bigger algaes?
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
if you get pencil urchins, you will literally see white lines in the rock where they went through. after you get the algae under control, you can bring them to LFS.
Your tank wont be devoid of coralline, itll come back when the urchins go
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
Being in the center of Kansas I can only dream of having a real LFSlol but I'm definitely about to order me some urchins!
definitely the most successful algae tool ive tried, and ive tried them all.
sea hares have voracious appetites as well, but simply dont live long
cooltowncorals
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I would 2nd the opinion of pulling rocks one by one and scrubbing them. Take a bucket or large container put water in if from water change scrub with a plastic kitchen brush from dollar store (new unused rinsed in RODI) then after you have scrubbed the rocks dip to dislodge algae then spray the rocks directly with 3% hydrogen poroxide then dip one more time in the tank water and put them back in you will have a few weeks at least until the algae grows back and in that time frame you need to figure out what’s causing it either nitrates or phospates dirty area in sump and then fix it or it will come back.
cooltowncorals
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If it comes back repeat and then try again. Everything in your tank will be fine I had issues like yours I cleaned out a bioball area of my sump started carbon dosing to control nutrients and have since been good and have just done minor hydrogen peroxide spot treatment a few times.
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Everyone Loves Vibrant These Days.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-discussion-thread.271428/
Have you Tried that?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-discussion-thread.271428/
Have you Tried that?
Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
My thoughts...
* your tank is still young and the algae is a normal part of the process to maturity it will eventually pass but you can help it along with proper maintenance
* make sure your RO/DI is sufficient for your source water and properly maintained, call your water authority see what’s in your water then match your RO system to that.. ie. High Chloramines? You need multiple high performance carbon block pre filters before membrane to remove it.
* do smaller water changes (10%) weekly and suck as much algae out as you can.. I use my finger over the end of hose and pinch and pull algae as it’s being sucked into the hose.
* if you want to scrub your rock just do a piece or two at a time in a bucket of water from your water changes it’s easier to manage that way versus pulling all your rock.
* blowing your rock with high pressure is not going to accomplish anything
* I don’t buy phosphates leeching from your rock causing algae issues
* you won’t get Palytoxin from a tank without paly’s
* looks like you have way to much of the wrong type lighting, you want more like 20-30% whites with 70-80% blues.. turn them down, change color spectrum and reduce photo period to 8hr or less
* skip the urchins and add more hermits and snails of different species 1-2 per gallon until algae is under control
* the deep sand bed will most likely be problematic down the road I would consider removing it
* save any chemicals for the absolute last option
* RC is just fine, been using it for 30 years
* your tank is still young and the algae is a normal part of the process to maturity it will eventually pass but you can help it along with proper maintenance
* make sure your RO/DI is sufficient for your source water and properly maintained, call your water authority see what’s in your water then match your RO system to that.. ie. High Chloramines? You need multiple high performance carbon block pre filters before membrane to remove it.
* do smaller water changes (10%) weekly and suck as much algae out as you can.. I use my finger over the end of hose and pinch and pull algae as it’s being sucked into the hose.
* if you want to scrub your rock just do a piece or two at a time in a bucket of water from your water changes it’s easier to manage that way versus pulling all your rock.
* blowing your rock with high pressure is not going to accomplish anything
* I don’t buy phosphates leeching from your rock causing algae issues
* you won’t get Palytoxin from a tank without paly’s
* looks like you have way to much of the wrong type lighting, you want more like 20-30% whites with 70-80% blues.. turn them down, change color spectrum and reduce photo period to 8hr or less
* skip the urchins and add more hermits and snails of different species 1-2 per gallon until algae is under control
* the deep sand bed will most likely be problematic down the road I would consider removing it
* save any chemicals for the absolute last option
* RC is just fine, been using it for 30 years
TheBackAndForth
Active Member
This is good advice, but I will say phosphorus absolutely can leach from rocks exposed to a high phosphorus environment. I see the effects of phosphorus in a large scale where I live in farm run off into lakes. the nitrogen restarts every year, but the PO4 accumulates and, while it can be bound temporarily, the only route to removal is through use in algae/plant growth. Any live rock exposed to decaying organics (aka dried out and reused) may contain large amounts of phosphorus... i also don't think his problem is PO4 though
Bacteria products are sham science. Send out a placebo product and it will do the same.
fixing you nitrogen cycle is the best thing to do. Truly, less food more water (i still like urchins, but Retro did give you the most sustainable answer)
Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
there can be phosphates on the surface of rock that may contribute to some initial algae growth but IMO rock that has been submerged in a tank for that long still leaching enough phosphates from its core to fuel that kind of algae growth is unlikely..
cooltowncorals
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Phosphates leaching from rocks is a pretty widely held belief I also recall a thread somewhere where someone was curing rocks for a display can’t remember live or dry and and they were testing and using phosphate media and they spent like three weeks and a replacement of media until phosphate levels went to 0 and stayed there.
cooltowncorals
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Phosphates leaching from rocks is a pretty widely held belief I also recall a thread somewhere where someone was curing rocks for a display can’t remember live or dry and and they were testing and using phosphate media and they spent like three weeks and a replacement of media until phosphate levels went to 0 and stayed there.
