Am i still in the ugly phase??

[Spookyyyy]

Still have ugly rocks its been months? I tried lowering my lightng schedule. I do weekly water changes, always testing low on nutrients, and i add bacteria every week. I see some coraline alge starting to grow on frag plugs.

-10 gallon IM all in one
-Ice cap nano protein skimmer
-Using chemi pure blue with filter floss( which i change weekly)
-Feeding every other day very little ( frozen Misis shrimp )
-Using turkey bastor everyday to blow off rocks
-been doing microbactor clean as directed on bottle

Still some hair alge growth, and the rocks look horrible under white light. Any ideas or tips? Am i doing something wrong? Corals seem happy and healthy, and i havent noticed any major pest problems other then spaghetti worms. Which i am not too worried about. So my question is, is this still the ugly phase or alge outbreak? How can i get my rocks looking cleaner?

Please help?

Thank you reefers

 

[vetteguy53081]

Reduce white light intensity or white lights altogether for 5 days. I don’t see any snails in the pics
Add snails:
Astrea
Turbo grazer
Cerith
nerite
About 6 carribean blue leg hermits

is tank at or near a window?

 

[Spookyyyy]

Reduce white light intensity or white lights altogether for 5 days. I don’t see any snails in the pics
Add die:
Astrea
Turbo grazer
Cerith nerite
About 6 carribean blue leg hermits

is tank at or near a window?

I currently have a knoch and 3 nasarasus snails? Should i still add all the above mentioned? I will say the snails never climb onto the rocks ans stay in the sand bed most of the time. I will try the white light idea.

 

[Spare time]

You need algae eaters. Nassarius don't eat algae and conchs usually stick on the sand bed. Add some turbos, ceriths, etc. and maybe some blue leg hermits. All tanks should be able to grow algae. You just need something to eat it

 

[Spookyyyy]

You need algae eaters. Nassarius don't eat algae and conchs usually stick on the sand bed. Add some turbos, ceriths, etc. and maybe some blue leg hermits. All tanks should be able to grow algae. You just need something to eat it

I will pick some up tomorrow thank you

 

[bnord]

agree with all the above and a smallish lawnmower or bi-color blenny - corals seem ok, and so more grazers, less white and a little more patience....

 

[SlugSnorter]

Still have ugly rocks its been months? I tried lowering my lightng schedule. I do weekly water changes, always testing low on nutrients, and i add bacteria every week. I see some coraline alge starting to grow on frag plugs.

-10 gallon IM all in one
-Ice cap nano protein skimmer
-Using chemi pure blue with filter floss( which i change weekly)
-Feeding every other day very little ( frozen Misis shrimp )
-Using turkey bastor everyday to blow off rocks
-been doing microbactor clean as directed on bottle

Still some hair alge growth, and the rocks look horrible under white light. Any ideas or tips? Am i doing something wrong? Corals seem happy and healthy, and i havent noticed any major pest problems other then spaghetti worms. Which i am not too worried about. So my question is, is this still the ugly phase or alge outbreak? How can i get my rocks looking cleaner?

Please help?

Thank you reefers

Not really Ugly phase IMO, tank is just young and coraline takes time.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I will pick some up tomorrow thank you

remember to get some shells for hermits if you go with them

 

[Spare time]

I will pick some up tomorrow thank you

You can also manually brush off hair algae with a tooth brush.

 

[Spare time]

The only other advice I'd recommend would be to swap filter floss out bi weekly or get a filter pad and rinse it in the sink biweekly. However, this doesn't seem to be an issue right now. Do you know your phosphate level in the tank? Phosphate is one thing I didn't see you list

 

[Spookyyyy]

The only other advice I'd recommend would be to swap filter floss out bi weekly or get a filter pad and rinse it in the sink biweekly. However, this doesn't seem to be an issue right now. Do you know your phosphate level in the tank? Phosphate is one thing I didn't see you list

That is the one test i do not have, i planned on picking a test kit up tomorrow at my LFS. Its actually like a floss pad, that i use sizors to cut out little pieces and i replace once a week

 

[Spare time]

That is the one test i do not have, i planned on picking a test kit up tomorrow at my LFS. Its actually like a floss pad, that i use sizors to cut out little pieces and i replace once a week

When you get a phosphate test, male sure you can distinguish the colors between 0.1 and 0.00. Some are very difficult to read and some like api don't go that low.

 

[Spookyyyy]

When you get a phosphate test, male sure you can distinguish the colors between 0.1 and 0.00. Some are very difficult to read and some like api don't go that low.

What test would you recommend?

 

[bnord]

title almost sounds like a Rodney Dangerfield joke...

 

[Spookyyyy]

Thank you all for the tips and help, ill be going to top shelf aquatics tomorrow for some clean up crew thats eat alge and ill keep you up too date

 

[Spare time]

What test would you recommend?

The best are the hanna ulr phosphate and ulr phosphorus. I am colorblind so it's really hard for me to read a lot of them. Salifert is the cheapest and is ok but not ideal, red sea pro is similar in price to hanna. Nyos can work but I can't read it personally. Outside the Hanna ones, you have to see the color cards for yourself

 

[Flameback Pair]

@Spookyyyy I agree with @Spare time . You need to test for Phosphate daily until this is over. Hanna is about $50 but worth it. Also what is the units for Ammonia? Parts per million? Since the slime is green it's probably not Cyano-bacteria. You should brush off the slime and siphon it out along with siphoning of the sand bed. Sand beds are detritus traps and need constant cleaning. Good luck !!!!!

 

[Spookyyyy]

@Spookyyyy I agree with @Spare time . You need to test for Phosphate daily until this is over. Hanna is about $50 but worth it. Also what is the units for Ammonia? Parts per million? Since the slime is green it's probably not Cyano-bacteria. You should brush off the slime and siphon it out along with siphoning of the sand bed. Sand beds are detritus traps and need constant cleaning. Good luck !!!!!

What should i be aiming for for my phosphates??

 

[Lavey29]

What should i be aiming for for my phosphates??

.05 to .1 for phosphate and 10ppm nitrates for an LPS corals tank. You show 0 nitrates so you are starving your corals and bottom out numbers like that will lead to dinos and or other algae issues.

 

[Spare time]

What should i be aiming for for my phosphates??

0.03-0.1ppm (this leaves from for test error and margins of error). This a common successful range