"Causes" of Problem Algae

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 2, 2015

gcrawford said:
Cell pic of Bob the Blob.....

Nice. I like sea hares.

Deblack3 · Mar 2, 2015

Randy,
a quick question...On the algae control. I currently have a 90 gallon tank with a aprox 29 gallon refugium tied to it mostly stocked with a half pound of Chaeto. It also houses a Magus Curve 5 Protein Skimmer. My tank is holding about 140 lbs of live rock. So that is my basic setup which is basically standard. Now for the question :wink: I am planning on adding a Aqua FX dual Media Reactor to the return pump area using Chemi-pure Blue and some Purigen. Is it possible to scrub nitrate and phosphates to much? To where you make the Chaeto start starving and the phosphate to low that corals get a bit unhappy. Is there a such thing as over filtering when trying to control the algae issue? :neutral:

Thanks...

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 2, 2015

Yes, you can drive nutrients too low, both for macroalgae and for corals.

That said, I use GFO and organic carbon dosing and macroalgae at the same time, and my nutrients are not especially low.

Deblack3 · Mar 2, 2015

Yes I was vodka dosing using a 2 to 1 Vodka Vinegar mixture with a few teaspoons of organic sugar added.. .5 ml twice daily of that and had pretty good results but what direction I was thinking of going is to use a dual media reactor with Chemi-Pure Blue and Purigen and just regulate the return flow based on testing and visual feedback. I am hoping to extend my water change time, keep the algae down and still keep everything in happy mode. Thanks for the reply though, I had a hunch that if I cycled to much water thru the Media Reactor I could start going nutrient deficient and starve things that are depending on some of that.