My tank is a 120 mixed reef that has been up for 6 years. My maintenance schedule is good with 10gal weekly water changes, I have a roller mat so no sock changes needed and my measurable parameters are exactly where I want them. No phosphate and 1ppm NO3. I do dose 65ml vinegar daily so I would suspect this being the culprit. Problem is I back off carbon dosing then I start getting higher PO4/NO3. Would Dr Tim’s waste away or Micro Bacter 7 help shift the balance to bacteria vs diatoms? I have done the 3 day black out with results that only last for a month. I wouldn’t say my tank is infested, just a brown haze on glass and substrate that needs to be removed about every 3-4days. I feel this is a minor problem and really don’t want to do anything drastic as I don’t want to loose a couple grand worth of corals and 6 years of work over a minor inconvenience.
Diatoms/brown algae help
- Thread starter Ann Enomy
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SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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It might be worth looking into using 2 different methods to control the Nitrate and phosphate levels independently You could then control removel of nitrate and phosphate separately so there both were you want them.
For nitrate I use a combination of methods including Nopox, and massive bio filtration. For phosphate I use rhowaphos and it’s kept locked down very low with a 0.03 target. So both are kept were I want them by the 2 methods. Rhowaphos also removes silicates from the water which may be feeding any diatoms you have. And carbon dosing NoPox/Vinegar is not very effective for phosphate control.
Just check your RO is at or around 0 TDS as well.
For nitrate I use a combination of methods including Nopox, and massive bio filtration. For phosphate I use rhowaphos and it’s kept locked down very low with a 0.03 target. So both are kept were I want them by the 2 methods. Rhowaphos also removes silicates from the water which may be feeding any diatoms you have. And carbon dosing NoPox/Vinegar is not very effective for phosphate control.
Just check your RO is at or around 0 TDS as well.
I use an algae turf scrubber for phosphates which is why I believe I often can’t detect. I also have a 4” thick cermedia block along with about a gallon of the cermedia balls. I Do ICP testing 3 times a year and had excessive Fe back when I was running Rhowaphos which is why I switched to ATS. ICP testing also had silicates low in the green zone (normal) as well. I know I feed a lot (4 cubes plus 3 feedings of 1/2tsp pellets a day on automatic feeder) but I have a school of anthias that when I have tried to back off on feeding I have lost 2 fish. All of the food floating in the tank is usually consumed within 1-2 minutes. I should have gotten a larger ATS but am struggling for space.
Are you sure it is diatoms and not something like dinos? If it is diatoms, you must have a silica source coming into the tank or leeching considering your tank is so old. If you were to get rid of the silica source, it would get rid of the diatom problem (though it may result in a different algae taking hold). If it isn't diatoms and is cyano or dinos, you might have a completely different problem here.
SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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That’s quiet a lot of food, especially pellets although I appreciate the reason why, it might be worth looking into what it contains and the levels,
I have Anthias amongst other fish and they get fed twice a day, once frozen food, and then once a mix of ocean nutrition 1 and 2. The small pellet is probably 1/2 teaspoon.
Anthias also have a nasty habit of killing off the weakest, so reducing the feeding may or may not be the cause.
I have Anthias amongst other fish and they get fed twice a day, once frozen food, and then once a mix of ocean nutrition 1 and 2. The small pellet is probably 1/2 teaspoon.
Anthias also have a nasty habit of killing off the weakest, so reducing the feeding may or may not be the cause.
