HELP! Confused….

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

Well it’s pretty obvious am having algae problem in my tank but I don’t know if it’s because my nutrients is high or low. I have a skimmer, refugium, bag of carbon and filter socks. When all of this is running my Phosphate & Nitrate are both zero. I’ve been trying to increase my nutrients slowly by no longer skimming and removing carbon. My nutrients does increase but the algae will not go away!! Am I having false readings and need to start cleaning up my water??

Screwgunner · Feb 5, 2022

How long has it been up and running

Pistondog · Feb 5, 2022

If that's sunlight filtering into the tank, that will also cause it.

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

Screwgunner said:
How long has it been up and running

November 2020

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

Pistondog said:
If that's sunlight filtering into the tank, that will also cause it.

No that’s my lights ReefLED’s

Screwgunner · Feb 5, 2022

I would dose 1ml for every 5 gallons you have twice a day of 3% drugstore hydrogen peroxide.

BostonReefer300 · Feb 5, 2022

Does that brown stuff on the sand disappear when the lights go down?

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

BostonReefer300 said:
Does that brown stuff on the sand disappear when the lights go down?

Yes it’s not as bad when the lights first come

Flux Capacitor · Feb 5, 2022

If it goes away after lights out, I’m gonna bet Dino’s. The good news is it sounds like one of the kinds that get into the water column so UV should be very effective against it. The only way to know for sure is take a look under a microscope.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 5, 2022

I was able to expand pics. Hard to confirm under blue lights but its not dino.
Looks like cyano or diatoms. If cyano, your Nitrate and/or phosphate will be elevated.
Diatoms will occur if inadequate water flow, new sand added, silicates in Expired di resin, even water source.
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

My guess is cyano which loves light

BostonReefer300 · Feb 5, 2022

I agree with vetteguy

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
I was able to expand pics. Hard to confirm under blue lights but its not dino.
Looks like cyano or diatoms. If cyano, your Nitrate and/or phosphate will be elevated.
Diatoms will occur if inadequate water flow, new sand added, silicates in Expired di resin, even water source.
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

My guess is cyano which loves light

My nitrates and phosphate are very low and I use A RODI for my water. Would you recommend lights out for a couple days.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 5, 2022

G’sReef said:
My nitrates and phosphate are very low and I use A RODI for my water. Would you recommend lights out for a couple days.

Lights out will help
Add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria during the day and 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons at night for 5 days

G’sReef · Feb 5, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Lights out will help
Add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria during the day and 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons at night for 5 days

Any Negative side effects to those treatments?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 5, 2022

G’sReef said:
Any Negative side effects to those treatments?

No. Peroxide is mainly h2o

Greg P · Feb 5, 2022

What I see in your pics in your first post looks like Cyanobacteria.

I found my best results in your situation is to raise NO3 and PO4 to 2-5ppm and 0.03-0.1
But this, in my situation, was with large amounts of corals to process nutrients.

With your small amount of corals I can't say what will happen but hope it will correct your issue.

bruno3047 · Feb 6, 2022

Sorry. Wrong thread.

G’sReef · Feb 6, 2022

Greg P said:
What I see in your pics in your first post looks like Cyanobacteria.

I found my best results in your situation is to raise NO3 and PO4 to 2-5ppm and 0.03-0.1
But this, in my situation, was with large amounts of corals to process nutrients.

With your small amount of corals I can't say what will happen but hope it will correct your issue.

Is it possible that am getting false readings on my test and my actually nitrates and phosphates are already high? Cause I have algae growing on my rocks and having to clean my glass everyday.

bruno3047 · Feb 6, 2022

G’sReef said:
Is it possible that am getting false readings on my test and my actually nitrates and phosphates are already high? Cause I have algae growing on my rocks and having to clean my glass everyday.

Clean that freaking sand bed thoroughly with a gravel washing tube. The crap that’s rotting in there won’t show up on your nitrate or phosphate tests.

Greg P · Feb 9, 2022

G’sReef said:
Is it possible that am getting false readings on my test and my actually nitrates and phosphates are already high? Cause I have algae growing on my rocks and having to clean my glass everyday.

Definitely. Don't get too excited about it. Our hobby test kits don't catch everything in our tanks. You may have nutrients in the tank, but not necessarily in the water column, so your kits may not show results.
Clean/scoop out the dirty sand and test your PO4 NO3. Keep an eye on things until your sandbed looks better.
Regular sand cleaning may be a necessity until things calm down.
Cleaning your glass frequently will be a future thing most of us are faced with so expect that to some extent whether every couple days or more/less. But the amounts on your rock will diminish when your system starts to balance.