Algae keep growing on my Digi, need to fix the overall problem

[cdw79]

Tank- Reefer 300XL, been set up for about 6 months. I've had your standard algae on the glass, but also some slightly thicker brown is algae when I leave the glass unscraped for a few days.
Flow- two NERo 5's at ~80% intensity, random pattern
Lights- two Hydra 32's, running 8 hrs a day at ~80% intensity
Fuge- Small standard fuge for the tank with a fuge light with red and purple spectrum which runs about 10 hours or so overnight. Chaeto has had basically no growth over 4-5 months but have seen GHA growing in the sump and even on the chaeto...
Dosing- via trident / apex
Fish stock- pair of clowns, Bangaii, Leopard Wrasse, yellow assessor, Lyretail Anthias, tiny shrimp goby + shrimp, tiny biota mandarin, bluespotted jawfish.

Parameters:
pH- 8.0 give or take .01
Calcium- 467
Alkalinity- 9.17
Magnesium- 1282
Nitrate- ~10 ppm if my sense of color is right
Phosphate- .11 (Hanna checker)

The obvious concern is the nitrate and phosphate- I got an ICP about a month ago and did not have either issue, so the issue has come up semi recent seemingly. I get green algae across my scape (see pic, not sure why it looks rainbow-y) and have noticed brownish algae on the Digi and on the rocks toward the top of the tank (also see pic). I have fed a little more than usual in the past week and a half or so to try to wean the jawfish and anthias onto pellets, but I'd doubt the marginal increase would cause this.

Maybe the chaeto needs to be replaced or something? I'd think this is where having the fuge should come into play. Should I get some GFO?

Any ideas on where the problem might be coming from / what to do in the short and long term?



TLDR: High nitrate and phosphate seem to be causing algae growth on my digi, what is likely causing it and what should I do to fix it?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Phosphate up a little which is promoting algae
Also add slight more flow which should prevent the algae from adhering
Increasing mag slightly usually deters algae also

 

[cdw79]

@vetteguy53081 Thanks so much for your reply, this has been stumping me

I've upped the flow where that area is- the Digi is slightly off to the side of where the flow is highest, but hopefully should get some increased flow still.

As far as phosphate, that's part of what I'm not sure about- the source isn't clear to me. And I was under the impression that the Chaeto infuge should help mitigate this, but it still hasn't really grown much over the months. Would the solution be to get new Chaeto / try a different macro in there? Maybe get some GFO?

I've had an annoying issue where I've been totally unable to raise Mag and for the life of e don't know why. I was adding Mag supplements like crazy for awhile yet both my apex and the LFS test showed single digit changes, so I gave up and just let it stay where it wanted to stay with water changes, honestly.

 

[Lavey29]

I have the same tank and similar problems over the months. I used a cheap fuge light with no results. Switched to Neptune Gro light and chaeto grows huge now. I put 4 trochus snails in there to deal with any residual algae. Your tank is still maturing. Your parameters aren't bad so give it time. Keep a diverse clean up crew. I'm getting good coraline growth now and it is over taking my nuisance algae. I have resisted using chemicals mainly to allow a more natural maturing process.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081 Thanks so much for your reply, this has been stumping me

I've upped the flow where that area is- the Digi is slightly off to the side of where the flow is highest, but hopefully should get some increased flow still.

As far as phosphate, that's part of what I'm not sure about- the source isn't clear to me. And I was under the impression that the Chaeto infuge should help mitigate this, but it still hasn't really grown much over the months. Would the solution be to get new Chaeto / try a different macro in there? Maybe get some GFO?

I've had an annoying issue where I've been totally unable to raise Mag and for the life of e don't know why. I was adding Mag supplements like crazy for awhile yet both my apex and the LFS test showed single digit changes, so I gave up and just let it stay where it wanted to stay with water changes, honestly.

Chaeto will impact nitrates rather than phosphate
Water source, heavy feeding, feeding reef roids can elevate phosphate

 

[cdw79]

Trochus snails in the fuge do sound like a good idea, I'll add some for sure.

Interesting about the light- I feel like I've seen threads where people have used everything from high tech Fuge-specific lights to incandescent light bulbs and gotten good results. I'm pretty sure I both this light (https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/chaetomax-2-in-1-refugium-led-light-9-watt-innovative-marine/) so I'm confused why it would grow GHA fine but not Chaeto? Is there anything cheaper than a Neptune GRO at $150 that could help with the fuge, especially given it's so small (16' x 16' or so)?

 

[cdw79]

Chaeto will impact nitrates rather than phosphate
Water source, heavy feeding, feeding reef roids can elevate phosphate

Interesting, I have started using reef roids per my LFS' recommendation to feed my corals, but I do a targeted current-off feed 1-2x a week and use less than the recommended amount for the tank volume- could that be the issue? Any recommendations for a substitute coral food that might be better for the water quality?

I'm sure my slightly increased feeding to get the new fish arrivals to take to pellets is at least some part of it, but it's not been a massive increase or anything. I use RO/DI from my sink (apartment living ftw) which has served me well, but now that I think of it I haven't replaced the cartridges yet. Albeit I don't make a ton of water, but I'm going to go hook it up and measure my TDS again if I can find my TDS meter to see if it's time to replace those

 

[vetteguy53081]

Interesting, I have started using reef roids per my LFS' recommendation to feed my corals, but I do a targeted current-off feed 1-2x a week and use less than the recommended amount for the tank volume- could that be the issue? Any recommendations for a substitute coral food that might be better for the water quality?

I'm sure my slightly increased feeding to get the new fish arrivals to take to pellets is at least some part of it, but it's not been a massive increase or anything. I use RO/DI from my sink (apartment living ftw) which has served me well, but now that I think of it I haven't replaced the cartridges yet. Albeit I don't make a ton of water, but I'm going to go hook it up and measure my TDS again if I can find my TDS meter to see if it's time to replace those

Fish poop is excellent resource for coral feeding as is finer frozen blend, mysis shrimp, phyto.
Not saying don’t feed coral , mysis is excellent for softies with mouths.
I rarely feed my coral- I feed the tank and they get their share

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree on trochus as well as cerith

 

[Lavey29]

Trochus snails in the fuge do sound like a good idea, I'll add some for sure.

Interesting about the light- I feel like I've seen threads where people have used everything from high tech Fuge-specific lights to incandescent light bulbs and gotten good results. I'm pretty sure I both this light (https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/chaetomax-2-in-1-refugium-led-light-9-watt-innovative-marine/) so I'm confused why it would grow GHA fine but not Chaeto? Is there anything cheaper than a Neptune GRO at $150 that could help with the fuge, especially given it's so small (16' x 16' or so)?

It's more like $129 and what's nice about it is that it fits perfectly over the red sea 300 fuge area so there is no light spill and algae in other areas. I would also try dosing chaeto gro once a week to help your trace stay consistent to.

 

[cdw79]

It's more like $129 and what's nice about it is that it fits perfectly over the red sea 300 fuge area so there is no light spill and algae in other areas. I would also try dosing chaeto gro once a week to help your trace stay consistent to.

Interesting- I have my fuge where your skimmer is and vice versa. I'm sure it'll still fit though. What makes the Gro more effective? I'll post on my local forum to see if I can find a used one.

Will also look into getting Chaeto Gro, seems like a good addition to the dosing brigade. Does anything else seem notably off? Figured I may as well try and tackle everything in one go if I can

 

[Lavey29]

Interesting- I have my fuge where your skimmer is and vice versa. I'm sure it'll still fit though. What makes the Gro more effective? I'll post on my local forum to see if I can find a used one.

Will also look into getting Chaeto Gro, seems like a good addition to the dosing brigade. Does anything else seem notably off? Figured I may as well try and tackle everything in one go if I can

I would say because it's a 20w and the ability to place it directly over the top of the fuge. The mount and light are well constructed and perfect light spectrum for chaeto. I had nuisance algae when my chaeto was small but as it grew and the snails helped it out competed the nuisance algae in the sump.

Your numbers are pretty good and I would follow any suggestions from vetteguy. I would use roids sparingly because it raises phosphates huge and can feed your algae problems.

Overall you are about the same as I was at 6 months. Now I'm almost a year and things are much more stable. Still have patches of GHA but it is improving and no chemicals treatment. I prefer biodiversity and microfauna to solve my problems now.

 

[cdw79]

Ok I'm definitely going to cut back on the feeding- probably half as much as I used and about half as often too. Might just phase it out completely if it turns out corals will do alright without it.

Glad to hear things are smoother ahead, hopefully! I'll definitely go grab some extra CUC for the sump and probably for the DT while I'm at it. Is it normal to have overall pretty green rocks by this stage? My last from scratch build was well over a decade ago so I'm not as informed as I could be on what to be expecting at this stage!

 

[Lavey29]

Ok I'm definitely going to cut back on the feeding- probably half as much as I used and about half as often too. Might just phase it out completely if it turns out corals will do alright without it.

Glad to hear things are smoother ahead, hopefully! I'll definitely go grab some extra CUC for the sump and probably for the DT while I'm at it. Is it normal to have overall pretty green rocks by this stage? My last from scratch build was well over a decade ago so I'm not as informed as I could be on what to be expecting at this stage!

My rocks have a lot of green but it's on top mainly where the light hits them. I recently added a couple urchins and those dudes are mowing down the algae big time.

 

[Lavey29]

One thing that significantly helped my tank was PNS probio. It's a natural bacteria supplement and reduces nitrates and phosphate to. I use PNS yellow sno to feed my corals weekly too.

 

[cdw79]

Yup I used Pro Bio too when I was finishing my cycle, that stuff is awesome. Worth putting more in? I assumed it wouldn't do much but I wasn't sure.

I've also since tested my RODI water and I got 15 come up for TDS, so maybe that's part of the reason. Do I need to swap out all 4 stages or just some? This is my first time owning an RODI so I'm not familiar

 

[cdw79]

I've also gotten some responses on our local forum offering Kessils, not sure if they would do the job?

 

[Lavey29]

Yup I used Pro Bio too when I was finishing my cycle, that stuff is awesome. Worth putting more in? I assumed it wouldn't do much but I wasn't sure.

I've also since tested my RODI water and I got 15 come up for TDS, so maybe that's part of the reason. Do I need to swap out all 4 stages or just some? This is my first time owning an RODI so I'm not familiar

I dose probio twice a week just split full dose in half. BRS has a replacement kit for the 4 stage system. I just did mine and you replace 3 out of 4 stages. The last stage is good for several years.