I am new to reefing and my tank has been set up since the end of January. It is a 75 gallon with a sump; I think around 75 gallons total water after displacement. I'm currently running a skimmer and UV sterilizer (AA Aquarium Green Killing Machine). My current light cycle is 10 hours of blue and 8 hours of white per day using 2 MarsAqua 165W black boxes.
For about a month now, I thought I was battling Dinos (might have come from a recent coral purchase) because my nitrates and phosphates are reading 0 and there were air bubbles attached to the algae. I'm testing nitrate with Nyos and phosphate with Hanna Checker ULR. But now that I'm seeing some other photos on here of diatoms and considering my tank is fairly new, I'm starting to think I may have identified them incorrectly. I'm concerned I'm taking the wrong approach to defeating the algae since getting rid of dinos is way different than diatoms.
I've been dosing Vibrant 7-8ml every week. I do weekly water changes 10g one week then 20g the next and repeat (with RODI water mixed with reef crystals). Recently, I've been scrubbing the rock to remove the algae in hopes that the filter sock and UV sterilizer will help the problem but they seem to reappear within a couple of days. I took the cup off of the skimmer so the water was still aerating but the nutrients aren't exported. There are 2 clowns, 2 firefish gobies, and a handful of corals in the tank being fed a half cube of frozen Mysis each day. (recently increased to 1 cube and pellets to increase nutrients).
Anyway, I hope I gave enough details of the tank. Can someone help me identify the algae and give pointers on how to battle it?
Thanks!
For about a month now, I thought I was battling Dinos (might have come from a recent coral purchase) because my nitrates and phosphates are reading 0 and there were air bubbles attached to the algae. I'm testing nitrate with Nyos and phosphate with Hanna Checker ULR. But now that I'm seeing some other photos on here of diatoms and considering my tank is fairly new, I'm starting to think I may have identified them incorrectly. I'm concerned I'm taking the wrong approach to defeating the algae since getting rid of dinos is way different than diatoms.
I've been dosing Vibrant 7-8ml every week. I do weekly water changes 10g one week then 20g the next and repeat (with RODI water mixed with reef crystals). Recently, I've been scrubbing the rock to remove the algae in hopes that the filter sock and UV sterilizer will help the problem but they seem to reappear within a couple of days. I took the cup off of the skimmer so the water was still aerating but the nutrients aren't exported. There are 2 clowns, 2 firefish gobies, and a handful of corals in the tank being fed a half cube of frozen Mysis each day. (recently increased to 1 cube and pellets to increase nutrients).
Anyway, I hope I gave enough details of the tank. Can someone help me identify the algae and give pointers on how to battle it?
Thanks!
