Diatoms ?

[petarvolf]

Hi everyone! Im having a little issue with algae. My tank is three months old, and for about two weeks, I've been having issues with algae that have been getting worse.
For the past couple days. When i come home from work the front glass looks like this everyday!
I have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphate.
Most of my corals are doing good and growing. I tried some acros and died fast but besides those my gsp and zoanthids look a bit unhappy.

I tried to remove silica, but i use rodi, so that went nowhere. Turned off the protein skimmer since it runs very lean. And have a refugium; nothing gets rid of the algae. Please help!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

This is 100% normal. Clean off the glass. You will get all kinds of algae in the next 4-8 months.

 

[Lavey29]

0 nitrates and 0 phosphate means your corals are starving to death and opens the door for dinos to invade your tank.

 

[petarvolf]

0 nitrates and 0 phosphate means your corals are starving to death and opens the door for dinos to invade your tank.

I add amino acids bi weekly for this reason, i try to over feed the fish, but they levels wont rise

 

[Birdman Broham]

Welcome to saltwater! This is the ugliest before the beautiful. This is very common. Keep your glass cleaned and keep up with water changes

 

[saltienewb]

Just wait for the gha, it will make you wish for a return of the diatoms haha.

Pods, trochus, and a conch will make short work of it.

 

[petarvolf]

This is 100% normal. Clean off the glass. You will get all kinds of algae in the next 4-8 months.

I see, do you think raising nutrients would help ? I was going to try nitrogen dosing, thanknyou for the input!

 

[petarvolf]

Welcome to saltwater! This is the ugliest before the beautiful. This is very common. Keep your glass cleaned and keep up with water changes

Thank you! I tried to avoid the ugly stage so much but I guess it was futile

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thank you! I tried to avoid the ugly stage so much but I guess it was futile

There is no avoiding it.

 

[Lavey29]

I add amino acids bi weekly for this reason, i try to over feed the fish, but they levels wont rise

Very common in a new tank system. I had to double dose neophos and neonitro for multiple months before I got measurable numbers.

 

[Birdman Broham]

Thank you! I tried to avoid the ugly stage so much but I guess it was futile

Nothing you can do but wait it out

 

[petarvolf]

Very common in a new tank system. I had to double dose neophos and neonitro for multiple months before I got measurable numbers.

I was actually thinking of neonitro, do you think is wise to dose it while having this algae bloom ?

 

[Lavey29]

I was actually thinking of neonitro, do you think is wise to dose it while having this algae bloom ?

Diatoms consume silicate. They disappear in a few weeks on their own. Film algae on the glass is normal and just needs to be scraped off weekly. This will always be a tank task. It's your corals that need nitrates and phosphate. Corals decline from the inside out so it might be weeks or months before you see them go down hill suddenly due to lack of nutrients. Maintaining proper parameters and weekly water changes are the key to success in a new tank.