Help ID Algae

[Brew12]

It’s actually really stuck to the rocks, I have to scrub the rocks hard. It comes back with in a week. As far a filter socks go I change them out about every 3 days. I don’t know if it’s related but I also noticed my skimmer stopped producing dark skim mate

Hmm.. that surprises me. Was hoping it would blow off easily.

It sounds as if this stuff is consuming the DOC's (Dissolved Organic Carbon) in the tank and using it as fuel so it isn't getting to the skimmer.

What would be the best approach to dealing with that?

No good way. A blackout might be a temporary help but it isn't a long term solution.

What do you have in the way of a CuC?

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

I'm pretty sure I have the same thing. I'm currently trying to increase my nitrates by dosing KNO3 as I have 0 nitrates. After that I am going to try a 3 day black out period.

 

[rgodoy22]

Let me know how it works out for you my nitrates read 0 on an api kit but I need to purchase a different brand to compare

 

[rgodoy22]

Hmm.. that surprises me. Was hoping it would blow off easily.

It sounds as if this stuff is consuming the DOC's (Dissolved Organic Carbon) in the tank and using it as fuel so it isn't getting to the skimmer.


No good way. A blackout might be a temporary help but it isn't a long term solution.

What do you have in the way of a CuC?

As far as clean up crew goes I have a small variety (blue leg hermits, cerith, nassairus,conch) the tanks only 50 gallons

 

[Idoc]

Could it be Chrysophytes? Looks similar to something i had in my coral QT that was suffering from zero nutrients...

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

Let me know how it works out for you my nitrates read 0 on an api kit but I need to purchase a different brand to compare

Will do. I have a thread on here where I am getting help from someone who had a similar issue.

After dosing nitrates it seems like the algae blows off the rocks easier with a turkey baster. I have noticed more bubbles though [emoji848]

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

Could it be Chrysophytes? Looks similar to something i had in my coral QT that was suffering from zero nutrients...

That is what I was told I had

 

[Idoc]

That is what I was told I had

If that's the case, then I was able to get rid of them. I vigorously scrubbed them off the rocks (and frag plugs in my case), siphoned out as much as i could, then ran gfo for 24hrs, then performed a large water change. I think i had to manually remove them once more time as well. My coral qt was starving for nutrients, so i started dosing nitrates and haven't noticed them return.

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

If that's the case, then I was able to get rid of them. I vigorously scrubbed them off the rocks (and frag plugs in my case), siphoned out as much as i could, then ran gfo for 24hrs, then performed a large water change. I think i had to manually remove them once more time as well. My coral qt was starving for nutrients, so i started dosing nitrates and haven't noticed them return.

Yes this was one way that I was told I could get rid of them. The only issue was that sometimes apparently you can get a really bad cyano outbreak using this method.

What level do you keep your phosphates and nitrates at now?

 

[rgodoy22]

If that's the case, then I was able to get rid of them. I vigorously scrubbed them off the rocks (and frag plugs in my case), siphoned out as much as i could, then ran gfo for 24hrs, then performed a large water change. I think i had to manually remove them once more time as well. My coral qt was starving for nutrients, so i started dosing nitrates and haven't noticed them return.

Thanks for the info I will give that a shot

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

Thanks for the info I will give that a shot

I would recommend getting your nitrates up as well

 

[rgodoy22]

I would recommend getting your nitrates up as well

Thanks I will stop dosing nopox

 

[Idoc]

Yes this was one way that I was told I could get rid of them. The only issue was that sometimes apparently you can get a really bad cyano outbreak using this method.

What level do you keep your phosphates and nitrates at now?

I didn't have any cyano issues... but I didn't do a big jump all at once with the nitrate dosing. I started dosing nitrates to around 2ppm for about 2 months, just recently pushed it up to about 5ppm. At the time of the chrysophytes, i wasn't dosing phosphate... only recently started dosing Seachem Phosphorous. I'm attempting to get that to about .02. But, i haven't hit that yet...still dosing small amounts at a time to allow the system to equilibrate in order to minimize any sudden shock on the system.