Consistent low iron issue

[prsnlty]

My green moniticap was turning yellow and other greens were getting lighter in color. Since i know what affects colors i tested for iron defientcy. Sure enough it read 0. So i begin dosing red sea coral colors iron (C) and slowly the greens are coming back. However, I can not get the iron to the proper level and do not want to overdose. I'm thinking I need to find the culprit. I know iron affects color and also aides in the growth of algae. I do have a weird green non hairy algae in the tank alsothat won't go away. It's on the sb and lr only in shadowed areas. Could this algae be sucking the iron up? The algae was here before dosing iron btw.

I have never seen this type of algae before so not only don't i know the name but don't know how to get rid of it either. I can't stop dosing iron or risk losing the monticap 1st then the others to follow.

Any ideas? I'm attaching a couple pics of the algae. Thanks

 

[Triggreef]

Need more info. parameters etc. Are you dosing a carbon source at all? That could be the cause of the green algae as it looks like cyano to me. Cyano comes in all colors. If you run Alk higher than 9 and dose a carbon source that could also be the problem with the corals decline. But I would assume by your post count you would be aware of such issues.

I've become a big advocate of triton's testing, and you should look into it if you haven't. As should anyone in the hobby with issues or not, IMO. I would venture a guess that iron is not an issue (even if low or none) but having little knowledge of your tank doesn't help. My tank was very heavy stocked for a long time, tons of monti, and my iron was undetectable on the triton test. All my monti is still growing and has fantastic color though.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Iron should ALWAYS be undetectable. There is no hobbyist method than can detect anywhere near the natural surface seawater level, including Triton.

I regularly dose iron as it is likely depleted in reef tanks, and even Triton detected none in my tank.

So do not worry that you cannot detect it and do not dose enough so that you can.

I dose iron primarily for macroalgae,. I'm not convinced that specific ions effect specific colors the way some folks claim.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, iron in the near surface regions of the ocean is typically on the order of 0.000006 ppm. Unless you are below that, the tank isn't deficient relative to the ocean.

When I dose, I add quite a bit more than that, which appears to be no problem, but I do not add enough to detect with any kit.

Iron can have drawbacks as well (possibly encouraging cyano and problem algae), so excessive dosing may not be desirable.

 

[prsnlty]

parameters last night

Sa 1.025
Ph 7.9 (night) (daytime avgs 8.2-8.3)
Temp 77
Ca 440
Mg 1320
Kh 9.5
P04 0
No3 0
Fe .o5 (today)
K 410
I2 .06

Upon dosing the iron green coloration has returned to the monticap in about a week. It was a very pale yellow when I started the iron. Originally it was a dark green.

My tank was not imbalanced until about 3 months ago until i attempted to change over to a different salt. It's now back to RC and getting better.

I was running biopellets up until 6 days ago. I quit because I'm trying to get a small amount of nitrates to help the corals out. (still none are detectable ) Acros are finally doing well and growing in this tank except a millipora that doesn't have PE yet has color. (not sure why and it's been this way for months) I have few SPS all were nearly dead and have returned or returning beautifully. Monti digis and the red cap also are great, all LPS are great except out of nowhere lost a 50head duncan 2 weeks ago. All palys are great and most zoas. A few of the very tiny polyp zoas have melted adjusting the tank for SPS. The parameters are pretty stable these days

As far as carbon... The algae got worse when I turned off the biopellet reactor.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What level iron are you trying to maintain?

People do not seem to lose corals for lack of iron supplements. Macroalgae can certainly grow better with it, however.

I would not assume the effect of green you observe is necessarily from the iron. The product you are dosing also contains manganese, cobalt, copper, aluminum, zinc, chrome and nickel.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

As to that algae, I'm not sure what it is.

Is it hard?

Can it be easily scraped from the rock or sand?

 

[prsnlty]

This acro had nearly no tissue and was a thin stick. Very little branches. It has groen a bunch...

This one was all white

Also back in good shape and growing as are a hydnopora, piclopora, mysitc sunset and garf bonsai

But this is the milli

 

[prsnlty]

As to that algae, I'm not sure what it is.

Is it hard?

Can it be easily scraped from the rock or sand?

It is soft but not slimy nor hairy, and it does come off. It starts as a mustard color and turns deep green eventually.

 

[prsnlty]

What level iron are you trying to maintain?

People do not seem to lose corals for lack of iron supplements. Macroalgae can certainly grow better with it, however.

I would not assume the effect of green you observe is necessarily from the iron. The product you are dosing also contains manganese, cobalt, copper, aluminum, zinc, chrome and nickel.

Just detectable at .05. But though it is there today it probably won't be tomorrow. In light of what you said maybe i shouldn't worry about it? My chaeto is also growing better now since dosing. Before it wasn't.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I wouldn't focus on the number, and I wouldn't dose it again especially soon (unless you see the color fade). Once a week should be more than enough.

So then I'd focus on dealing with the algae.

The part on the rocks doesn't look especially unattractive in the photo, but it may look different in person.

Is it also on the sand? Might it be a green cyano?

 

[prsnlty]

Ok

Yes, it's on the sand also.

 

[jeremy]

I had the same algae in my 120. I am pretty sure it's from higher nutrients. Mine was same Coleridge and brushed off easily with a tooth brush. When mine first showed I was just starting to remove my sand bed little bits at a time over the course of 2 months. I was amazed at the amount of crap that I sucked out. After I removed the sand bed a friend came over and helped me re do my rock work. Added probably 20 pounds of different rock and removed some peices of my original rock. All that was removed was placed in my sump.
Like a cryptic zone. After that the algae really took off. I was doing 30 gallon water changes 2 times a week and running almost 2 cups of gfo and carbon to my reactors. I also ha e run bio pellets since I started the tank about 4 years ago. I run a little less than recommended dose. I finally got fed up and add a bag of chemi-pure along with everything else.
I ****** off all my acros stripping the water that fast but algae is gone for now. And all my corals are looking way better now. Some browned out a bit but are coloring back up.
Before the out break I was dosing iron but only once a week. Now I am back to 2 10% water changes a week. So far no algae. Hopefully it stays that way.
I have no idea what the cause was for sure cause so much was going on in my tank at the time, but my guess is phosphates were bound up in my rock and sand. That's my guess. Hope this helps.

 

[jeremy]

And I haven't dosed anything but calcium, alkalinity, magnesium supplements since the algae issue. I used to add potassium, iron & manganese and fuel once a week. I may start dosing every couple weeks to see what happens.

 

[prsnlty]

This tank has never had a No3 reading except after cycling at .05. The tank is 4 months old with new sand bed, most rock in new agrocrete previously cycled, and some live rock from my previous 125. This 180 is very clean, too clean actually. This is why I'm asking about why I have it

 

[prsnlty]

Randy, A friend just found this thread and it describes pretty much what I was asking about You will recognize it lol. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177665

I too see better greens. But I am concerned it is either the culprit for more algae growth or stopping the biopellets is. Maybe it's something else entirely. But... my tank is not heavily stocked nor fed fish wise, I show zero po4 salifert and zero no3 red sea. Even so many days after stopping biopellets. Another thing tha i do is feed homemade sushi to my fish and lps every other night. No flake or pellets. I feed nori 1 - 1/2 (5"x10") sheet per day. On the nights I don't feed fish sushi i feed reef chili and coral frenzy. 3 tiny measuring spoons each. Brightwells coral amino 18 drops 2x per week.

Maybe some of this algae issue is part of new tank syndrome maybe not but i am seriously neusense algae paranoid lol. Been there long ago and what a nightmare it was. Similar to Chris (skinz78). What would you suggest in my situation to rid this tank of that algae?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is this the only algae? No sign of green hair algae?

How long does it take the glass to get coated with algae?

Not all algae can be dealt with by reducing nutrients, and if they are low, some other approach may be needed.

Perhaps manual removal for a while.

 

[prsnlty]

Is this the only algae? No sign of green hair algae?

How long does it take the glass to get coated with algae?

Not all algae can be dealt with by reducing nutrients, and if they are low, some other approach may be needed.

Perhaps manual removal for a while.

There is a very small amound of red cyano in the fuge part of the sump only. It shows up when the light is on by the last couple of light hours then it's gone. The film on the glass takes a whole day and can't be seen looking directly at it only from the end down the side of the glass I'd say all in all it isn't much. This pic i just took, pardon the photo bomber... no HA at all.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, I do recognize the thread.

Adding iron or other trace elements can certainly contribute to some algae problems in the sense that iron may be limiting to algae or cyano growth in some tanks. For example, those where nutrients are high but there is no algae growth. In that case, it may be that iron is limiting, as it is in some parts of the ocean for phytoplankton. This article discusses it:

Reefs Magazine - Skeptical Reefkeeping IX: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

But that is less likely to reflect your situation if nutrients really are low. Still, the trace elements may be part of the picture, and backing off for a while and trying to strike a balance between what the corals need and what the algae needs might be helpful.

 

[prsnlty]

Thank you Randy for all your help I guess at my next water change I will vacuum out what I can and I'm going to stop dosing iron for a while unless I see the greens lightening again. I may even lower my lighting schedule a bit. Worse comes to worse it can be treated with chemiclean though this would be my very last resort. I'd prefer to find the cause first and fix whatever it is.