Growing half an inch of micro algae every week, HELP!

[Fishguru]

Ive been in a terrible cycle of having to pull small sections of "hair algae" every week. This last week it became bad enough that I had to refrag half my zoas. Everything is surviving but only due to my ongoing efforts. Ive tested the perameters of the tank and found these results

tank stats:

90 gallon drilled with 15 gallon refugium( chaeto and razer kelp) sump led left on 24/7 for ph)
reef octopus 110 skimmer( runs 24/7)
filter sock and phosphate pad, changed weekly
2 black box led, 9 hours blue(75%) and 1 hour white(25%)
hydor 90 gallon canister filter with carbon and polishing pads
3 hydor power heads, 2 are on wave maker timers every 10 seconds. great flow


PH- 7.1(low)
GH-12
calcium- 420
specific gravity- 1.025
ammonia-o
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
phosphate-0

I use crystal geyser non additive spring water to top off

livestock includes:

one melanarus wrasse( do not feed)
15 blue/red leg hermits fully grown, size of a dime
150 small cerith snails
mixture of all softie corals, mostly top end zoas

I feed reef roids once a week, turn off skimmer for an hour, I feed nothing else

 

[Fishguru]

Ive been in a terrible cycle of having to pull small sections of "hair algae" every week. This last week it became bad enough that I had to refrag half my zoas. Everything is surviving but only due to my ongoing efforts. Ive tested the perameters of the tank and found these results

tank stats:

90 gallon drilled with 15 gallon refugium( chaeto and razer kelp) sump led left on 24/7 for ph)
reef octopus 110 skimmer( runs 24/7)
filter sock and phosphate pad, changed weekly
2 black box led, 9 hours blue(75%) and 1 hour white(25%)
hydor 90 gallon canister filter with carbon and polishing pads
3 hydor power heads, 2 are on wave maker timers every 10 seconds. great flow


PH- 7.1(low)
GH-12
calcium- 420
specific gravity- 1.025
ammonia-o
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
phosphate-0

I use crystal geyser non additive spring water to top off

livestock includes:

one melanarus wrasse( do not feed)
15 blue/red leg hermits fully grown, size of a dime
150 small cerith snails
mixture of all softie corals, mostly top end zoas

I feed reef roids once a week, turn off skimmer for an hour, I feed nothing else

I don't have dust algae either. Only have to use my mag float every other week

 

[Retro Reefer]

It’s most likely your top off water causing the issues.. RO or distilled would be better

FYI.. Walmart has their house brand of distilled for 84 cents a gallon near me and I used it for a couple years before buying a RO system and never had a problem with it.

 

[Lasse]

pH 7.1 sounds wrong - are you sure?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Fishguru]

It’s most likely your top off water causing the issues.. RO or distilled would be better

FYI.. Walmart has their house brand of distilled for 84 cents a gallon near me and I used it for a couple years before buying a RO system and never had a problem with it.

I've thought about that being the issue and switched between 4 different brands to have similar results. However, sadly, I haven't tested the top off water for phosphates. Ill test it today and post the results.

 

[Fishguru]

pH 7.1 sounds wrong - are you sure?

Sincerely Lasse

oops, I meant 8.0 in the morning and 8.1 at the end of lighting cycle.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What Lasse said. Because of the way that seawater is buffered, it's almost impossible to actually make pH 7.1 without dosing a concentrated acid or CO2 directly to the tank. EDIT: saw your post clarifying that the pH is actually 8.0 - 8.1. This is not low at all. Many reefers spend hundreds of dollars setting up CO2 scrubbers and outside airlines to get the pH that you have.

Testing purified water for phosphates is difficult because of how low the levels of phosphate are that we're trying to test. Regardless of test results, if you have algae, you have nitrates and phosphates. Try getting a cleaner source of water. Also try to clean your sandbed and rockwork a bit more.

If you're going to be in the hobby for the long haul, consider purchasing a RO/DI unit. The upfront cost might be intimidating, but the cost pays for itself pretty quickly. After you've made a thousand gallons of RO water, the cost per gallon averages out to be $0.25. After 5,000 gallons, your cost per gallon is just barely 5 cents. That doesn't include the cost of filters, but still, the savings add up the more water you make.

 

[Fishguru]

What Lasse said. Because of the way that seawater is buffered, it's almost impossible to actually make pH 7.1 without dosing a concentrated acid or CO2 directly to the tank. EDIT: saw your post clarifying that the pH is actually 8.0 - 8.1. This is not low at all. Many reefers spend hundreds of dollars setting up CO2 scrubbers and outside airlines to get the pH that you have.

Testing purified water for phosphates is difficult because of how low the levels of phosphate are that we're trying to test. Regardless of test results, if you have algae, you have nitrates and phosphates. Try getting a cleaner source of water. Also try to clean your sandbed and rockwork a bit more.

If you're going to be in the hobby for the long haul, consider purchasing a RO/DI unit. The upfront cost might be intimidating, but the cost pays for itself pretty quickly. After you've made a thousand gallons of RO water, the cost per gallon averages out to be $0.25. After 5,000 gallons, your cost per gallon is just barely 5 cents. That doesn't include the cost of filters, but still, the savings add up the more water you make.

Ive been in the hobby for over a decade and maintained 2,000 gallons of livestock as dept. manager of my lfs. With low nutrients going in, my lfs( different store) suggested maybe macro die off, but its all growing healthy. As to the sand bed, its basically bare bottom with a quarter inch of crushed coral. the tanks been up and running over a year and I haven't had diatoms in 8-10 months. posting pics momentarily

 

[Fishguru]

My flowerpot is getting the worst of it

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I am not seeing a herbivore fish in your livestock list. Tangs and rabbitfish are some of the greatest additions I have made to any tank. It is not abnormal to have algae in your DT, we all do, but our fish usually take care of most of it. There is always a chance your rock/substrate is leaching phosphate, which is leading to algae growing on those areas but not registering on your test kits. If it was my tank I would start with adding 1 or 2 herbivores and see what happens.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

My flowerpot is getting the worst of it

Oooh okay. From what I pictured, you had hair algae everywhere. This looks like tiny patches, and it doesn't look like hair algae, it looks like bryopsis.

 

[Lasse]

The low nutrient levels is probably because your micro, macro and zooxanthelae consume your nutrient faster than you can add them. According to your micro hair algae, one or two long spin urchin maybe can do your work of harvesting. However - maybe move the zoas from the bottom before. My experiences is that small long spin urchin can works - when the getting older - there is often other foods than algae. Just be aware of the refugium -chaeto can crash because of nutrient defiency rather fast

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Fishguru]

I am not seeing a herbivore fish in your livestock list. Tangs and rabbitfish are some of the greatest additions I have made to any tank. It is not abnormal to have algae in your DT, we all do, but our fish usually take care of most of it. There is always a chance your rock/substrate is leaching phosphate, which is leading to algae growing on those areas but not registering on your test kits. If it was my tank I would start with adding 1 or 2 herbivores and see what happens.

I had a 4 inch yellow and a scribbled rabbit for quite awhile, however, they wouldn't eat any of the algae or chaeto.

 

[Fishguru]

Ive been in a terrible cycle of having to pull small sections of "hair algae" every week. This last week it became bad enough that I had to refrag half my zoas. Everything is surviving but only due to my ongoing efforts. Ive tested the perameters of the tank and found these results

tank stats:

90 gallon drilled with 15 gallon refugium( chaeto and razer kelp) sump led left on 24/7 for ph)
reef octopus 110 skimmer( runs 24/7)
filter sock and phosphate pad, changed weekly
2 black box led, 9 hours blue(75%) and 1 hour white(25%)
hydor 90 gallon canister filter with carbon and polishing pads
3 hydor power heads, 2 are on wave maker timers every 10 seconds. great flow


PH- 7.1(low)
GH-12
calcium- 420
specific gravity- 1.025
ammonia-o
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
phosphate-0

I use crystal geyser non additive spring water to top off

livestock includes:

one melanarus wrasse( do not feed)
15 blue/red leg hermits fully grown, size of a dime
150 small cerith snails
mixture of all softie corals, mostly top end zoas

I feed reef roids once a week, turn off skimmer for an hour, I feed nothing else

Ive been in a terrible cycle of having to pull small sections of "hair algae" every week. This last week it became bad enough that I had to refrag half my zoas. Everything is surviving but only due to my ongoing efforts. Ive tested the perameters of the tank and found these results

tank stats:

90 gallon drilled with 15 gallon refugium( chaeto and razer kelp) sump led left on 24/7 for ph)
reef octopus 110 skimmer( runs 24/7)
filter sock and phosphate pad, changed weekly
2 black box led, 9 hours blue(75%) and 1 hour white(25%)
hydor 90 gallon canister filter with carbon and polishing pads
3 hydor power heads, 2 are on wave maker timers every 10 seconds. great flow


PH- 7.1(low)
GH-12
calcium- 420
specific gravity- 1.025
ammonia-o
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
phosphate-0

I use crystal geyser non additive spring water to top off

livestock includes:

one melanarus wrasse( do not feed)
15 blue/red leg hermits fully grown, size of a dime
150 small cerith snails
mixture of all softie corals, mostly top end zoas

I feed reef roids once a week, turn off skimmer for an hour, I feed nothing else

I just tested my expensive top off water ($3 a gallon at vegan food market....$1 at the dollar tree) and the phosphates are .5!!!!! Shows that my belief that price doesn't always dictate quality. I feel like a fool for not checking it sooner. Ill be doing a 30 gallon water change with r/o water from my lsf every week for the next month and as anything changes i'll post results. yall are awesome for the quick replies, im glad to be a member of this community.