Another algae thread! Input please

AMEE · Dec 31, 2017

Hey guys I don’t know if it’s related but since I took my gfo offline I got a new kind of algae. The dinos are still there but very ligh, I have been vacuuming them out at the end of the day.

I haven’t checked yet can anybody off the top of their head tell me what this is?

I think I need another form of nutrient export. I want to ad a algae reactor, scrubber or refugium. With the sump and tank I have what do you guys recommend?

AMEE · Jan 1, 2018

So I did some cleaning. Vacuum the gravel and removed as much as I could manually. It was all pretty easy since it was only in the top of m rock work.

This is bryopsis right? I also noticed I was letting my mg get to low (1200). I raised it today but will need to get more (Kent m). I saw some people raise their mg to 1800 to get rid of it. There was also some bubble algae on a few places.

Checked my phosphate as is still at 16ppb. Will check nitrate tomorrow.

Can somebody give me some advice. I don’t think my tank is doing terrible but I deal with this before it becomes worst.

maroun.c · Jan 6, 2018

Hard to tell if it's bryopsis out of the water as the feather like distinctive shape of the bryopsis isn't clear

Jose Mayo · Jan 6, 2018

AMEE said:
So I did some cleaning. Vacuum the gravel and removed as much as I could manually. It was all pretty easy since it was only in the top of m rock work.

This is bryopsis right? I also noticed I was letting my mg get to low (1200). I raised it today but will need to get more (Kent m). I saw some people raise their mg to 1800 to get rid of it. There was also some bubble algae on a few places.

Checked my phosphate as is still at 16ppb. Will check nitrate tomorrow.

Can somebody give me some advice. I don’t think my tank is doing terrible but I deal with this before it becomes worst.

It seems Cladophora vagabunda, for me: https://www.reeflex.net/tiere/6009_Cladophora_vagabunda.htm

Best regards

cracker · Jan 6, 2018

I'm following, Don't feel alone on this issue . I get rid one one type & another pops up !

JonB · Jan 6, 2018

AMEE said:
So I did some cleaning. Vacuum the gravel and removed as much as I could manually. It was all pretty easy since it was only in the top of m rock work.

This is bryopsis right? I also noticed I was letting my mg get to low (1200). I raised it today but will need to get more (Kent m). I saw some people raise their mg to 1800 to get rid of it. There was also some bubble algae on a few places.

Checked my phosphate as is still at 16ppb. Will check nitrate tomorrow.

Can somebody give me some advice. I don’t think my tank is doing terrible but I deal with this before it becomes worst.

If interested, I would be happy to toss any and all your samples under the microscope and I will post pictures for members to take a look at and possibly give you a better idea of what it is. If interested, send me a pm.

AMEE · Jan 7, 2018

JonB said:
If interested, I would be happy to toss any and all your samples under the microscope and I will post pictures for members to take a look at and possibly give you a better idea of what it is. If interested, send me a pm.

Thanks for the offer I pretty much got rid of anything I could see. Went on a rampage. If I see any pop up I will take you on that offer if i don’t pm you is because I ended up getting my own since I have had others tell me I should get one.

Should I stop using gfo? Or start using just a small amount compared to what I was using before. ? My phosphates were at 16ppb will check nitrate today.

JonB · Jan 7, 2018

AMEE said:
Thanks for the offer I pretty much got rid of anything I could see. Went on a rampage. If I see any pop up I will take you on that offer if i don’t pm you is because I ended up getting my own since I have had others tell me I should get one.

Should I stop using gfo? Or start using just a small amount compared to what I was using before. ? My phosphates were at 16ppb will check nitrate today.

No problem!

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

Hey I’m back! I need some help. My phosphates are now through the roof. Which methods should o use to lower and control it? There’s so many options!

brandon429 · Feb 27, 2018

how have you verified that reading, and, if we reached in right now and grabbed a giant handful of sand and dropped it, would the system cloud or be cloud free? how clean is your sandbed?

before chasing po4, we need a verified reading, preferably same sample ran from a fully different kit.

make sure not to reef without verifying the param one is chasing, and, store no phosphate and nitrate in the bed as the most obvious location. then after that's taken care of, there are some simple binders that can help if po4 really is an issue and the bed is clean.

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

brandon429 said:
how have you verified that reading, and, if we reached in right now and grabbed a giant handful of sand and dropped it, would the system cloud or be cloud free? how clean is your sandbed?

before chasing po4, we need a verified reading, preferably same sample ran from a fully different kit.

make sure not to reef without verifying the param one is chasing, and, store no phosphate and nitrate in the bed as the most obvious location. then after that's taken care of, there are some simple binders that can help if po4 really is an issue and the bed is clean.

I did two Hanna test. One was 72ppb and the second was 70. I have a very shallow sandbed and I usually vacuum it. Sand bed is pretty clean will post a pic of how it currently looks.

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

Sandbed has been untouched for a while now at least two weeks. There is some algae. Mostly on the left side of the tank, the clown fish and piston shrimp keep the right aide pretty clean.

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

brandon429 · Feb 27, 2018

Happy for you! I would not do anything but enjoy, no binders. Leave it

Look at the balance

Small growths of algae are good sign, not bad, but continue killing them directly and hold course no gfo. Very improved since first pic happy for ya

Po4 is one you can judge impact off a good history of pics. several successful sps tanks show high po4

No real impact from the non compliant readings, I see this in your pics

It is not impacting your system in the current readings, we should feed well, keep the bed clean like you clearly have, spot kill algae and plant more corals. My reco is react nothing to the phosphate level until prompted by a lesser full tank shot. The minor rock algae you have is correct for the tank size and bioloading which isn’t centered on grazers, but fish, this is fine. Hand guide the rest don’t starve it. There are ways to spot kill it if you want to catch up, no need to alter params the corals clearly like

That nps coral up front wants your params to remain

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

brandon429 said:
Happy for you! I would not do anything but enjoy, no binders. Leave it

Look at the balance

Small growths of algae are good sign, not bad, but continue killing them directly and hold course no gfo. Very improved since first pic happy for ya

Po4 is one you can judge impact off a good history of pics. several successful sps tanks show high po4

No real impact from the non compliant readings, I see this in your pics

It is not impacting your system in the current readings, we should feed well, keep the bed clean like you clearly have, spot kill algae and plant more corals. My reco is react nothing to the phosphate level until prompted by a lesser full tank shot. The minor rock algae you have is correct for the tank size and bioloading which isn’t centered on grazers, but fish, this is fine. Hand guide the rest don’t starve it. There are ways to spot kill it if you want to catch up, no need to alter params the corals clearly like

That nps coral up front wants your params to remain

Well my issue is that I went away for 5 days the heads on one of my hammers bailed. So now I think that it’s becoming an issue? But you are correct I am trying to find the balance at this point. Wondering if I need another form of nutrient export and which one I should go for.

AMEE · Feb 27, 2018

AMEE said:
Well my issue is that I went away for 5 days the heads on one of my hammers bailed. So now I think that it’s becoming an issue? But you are correct I am trying to find the balance at this point. Wondering if I need another form of nutrient export and which one I should go for.

Edit. I’ve had this coral for two years and originally one or two heads.

Hans-Werner · Feb 28, 2018

70 ppb phosphorus (P) or phosphate (PO4)? 70 ppb phosphate would not be bad, 70 ppb phosphorus is quite high but still not terribly high. I am not sure whether the phosphate caused the polyp bail out of the Euphyllia. Where is your calcium concentration and alkalinity?

brandon429 · Feb 28, 2018

Agreed, and going from the other corals I’m still hesitant to make large changes to the system, your closeups don’t show algae issues from that phosphate and I’ve also had a bail before, a frogspawn in my system.

Though I can’t recall it all, I read years ago that bails aren’t always stress related they’re sometimes a method of relocation...not sure what current stuff says about it. This is a nice documentation thread you’ve got, well done

AMEE · Feb 28, 2018

brandon429 said:
Agreed, and going from the other corals I’m still hesitant to make large changes to the system, your closeups don’t show algae issues from that phosphate and I’ve also had a bail before, a frogspawn in my system.

Though I can’t recall it all, I read years ago that bails aren’t always stress related they’re sometimes a method of relocation...not sure what current stuff says about it. This is a nice documentation thread you’ve got, well done

Thank you. I like to see threads like this also which is why I’m doing it and at the same time learn and for others when they search. My alk is at 9.5 with the Hanna checker, I will check ca today but it’s with the Red Sea and I like to do during the day.