help please

[reefsofty]

hi this is my first post so please be kind.
ive been fighting an algae for some time, not sure what kind I know its not cyano {not algae}
so prams are
cal 420
kh 9
mag 1395
nitrate 0
po4 .04
pot 460

ive been told its an imbalance of nitrate to po4 however I cant get nitrate to move.
the algae is orange in color grows mostly on the substrate and yes I also have hair algae and some diatoms the tank is 8 years old.
I cant keep cheatos alive.
in the sump there is nopox 1ml per day
carbon, chemi pure blue purigen, phosnet, pur phoslock and seagel I dose ca and alk any help would be wonderful
thank you
Mark

 

[Mikedawg]

hi this is my first post so please be kind.
ive been fighting an algae for some time, not sure what kind I know its not cyano {not algae}
so prams are
cal 420
kh 9
mag 1395
nitrate 0
po4 .04
pot 460

ive been told its an imbalance of nitrate to po4 however I cant get nitrate to move.
the algae is orange in color grows mostly on the substrate and yes I also have hair algae and some diatoms the tank is 8 years old.
I cant keep cheatos alive.
in the sump there is nopox 1ml per day
carbon, chemi pure blue purigen, phosnet, pur phoslock and seagel I dose ca and alk any help would be wonderful
thank you
Mark

Could you post a picture? Your parameters look pretty good, although most reefers would like to see some nitrate to "balance" with the phosphate. Sounds like it could be dinos but a picture will help confirm. Also, if I understand your post it seems like you are using a lot of different chemicals. What would you think about suspending their use long enough to determine what your "natural" water parameters are, and then consider which chemicals to add and retest parameters to measure their relative effect.
Good luck

 

[reefsofty]

Could you post a picture? Your parameters look pretty good, although most reefers would like to see some nitrate to "balance" with the phosphate. Sounds like it could be dinos but a picture will help confirm. Also, if I understand your post it seems like you are using a lot of different chemicals. What would you think about suspending their use long enough to determine what your "natural" water parameters are, and then consider which chemicals to add and retest parameters to measure their relative effect.
Good luck

I cant seem to get a picture one this link sorry. so what chemicals would you suggest I remove? I have dropped nopox to 1 mil I can stop all together
thanks for the response

 

[reefsofty]

Could you post a picture? Your parameters look pretty good, although most reefers would like to see some nitrate to "balance" with the phosphate. Sounds like it could be dinos but a picture will help confirm. Also, if I understand your post it seems like you are using a lot of different chemicals. What would you think about suspending their use long enough to determine what your "natural" water parameters are, and then consider which chemicals to add and retest parameters to measure their relative effect.
Good luck

sorry the pictures are not good

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

If you are trying to raise Nitrate, you need to stop the NOPOX completely. Very hard to tell what it is from those picture. Have you tried the test to determine if it may be Cyano or Dino's?

 

[reefsofty]

If you are trying to raise Nitrate, you need to stop the NOPOX completely. Very hard to tell what it is from those picture. Have you tried the test to determine if it may be Cyano or Dino's?

I have tested for
silicate 0
potassium is 430
nitrate is 0
what else can I test for?

 

[reefsofty]

If you are trying to raise Nitrate, you need to stop the NOPOX completely. Very hard to tell what it is from those picture. Have you tried the test to determine if it may be Cyano or Dino's?

its not cyano I treated the tank 3 different times it did nothing. but if I add toms aquatics waste away it goes away for a day or 2 im at a loss I have really tried many things

 

[Mikedawg]

Ok, so doesn't look like dinos,cyanos or red hair algae from what I can see; maybe diatoms yet your silicate tests at 0.

You might remove those chemical additives that function to reduce nitrate (e.g. Purigen) and search this forum for methods to increase its levels (add fish, feeding, dosing Brightwell, etc.) Do your corals have good color and do you have any CUC members which seem to be feeding on this? Could you describe husbandry - water changes, stir sand bed, etc.?

Not to ask questions for the heck of it, but I assume you have tried all of the usual recommendations and haven't yet found a workable solution

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Can you take a look at it under a microscope?

 

[reefsofty]

Ok, so doesn't look like dinos,cyanos or red hair algae from what I can see; maybe diatoms yet your silicate tests at 0.

You might remove those chemical additives that function to reduce nitrate (e.g. Purigen) and search this forum for methods to increase its levels (add fish, feeding, dosing Brightwell, etc.) Do your corals have good color and do you have any CUC members which seem to be feeding on this? Could you describe husbandry - water changes, stir sand bed, etc.?

Not to ask questions for the heck of it, but I assume you have tried all of the usual recommendations and haven't yet found a workable solution

I have a good cuc and keep adding on but they don't touch it. I have looked at it under a magnifying glass its algae. the only way to remove it is to remove the sand too. but it comes right back. it disappears at night and comes back during the day. I have my leds set with low lighting and no red or green.

I maintain the tank weekly water changes I do stir the sand and have micro bubbled the tank before. I use ro/di water all filters fresh and good salt redsea . I added gfo because the lfs said I had silicate, I have tested it and its 0. most of my corals look good Duncan's could be happier. I run a protein skimmer, change the filter pad 2 times a week. I have tried all kinds of chems. like tims aquatics waste away. it helps but I had to keep adding everyday.
I have tried algae fix it did nothing. non of the algae removers worked. I have this in the display tank and the 20 that has little to nothing in it. the only thing that shows wrong in my testing is no nitrates.
I have removed the denitrate media and will now remove the purigen and such I will leave the gfo to keep po4 down it was very high. now its .04 im as far as I know I have tried all the usual recommendations with no changes. so all suggestions are welcome

 

[reefsofty]

Can you take a look at it under a microscope?

I looked at it under a magnifying glass it looks like algae and its stuck to the substrate the only way to remove is remove the sand too.

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

Welcome to reef2reef @reefsofty.

 

[Oshengems]

Welcome to reef2reef @reefsofty.

lol that gif is hilarious lol

Try removing some of those filters but remember don’t do everything over night, if removing the extra filters don’t work try dosing nitrates directly I feel it’s much better than feeding more adding more fish theory

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

lol that gif is hilarious lol

It is my step son and his best friend. I took them to a University of Illinois hockey game and they showed off their awesome dance moves all night. I can't wait until they discover I have been plastering it all over the internet

 

[reefsofty]

lol that gif is hilarious lol

Try removing some of those filters but remember don’t do everything over night, if removing the extra filters don’t work try dosing nitrates directly I feel it’s much better than feeding more adding more fish theory

yes ive been at reefing long enough to know to move slow. so I tested today nitrates are .25 phosphate is 0.1 feeding more is not an option. I have sodium nitrate ordered

 

[reefsofty]

lol that gif is hilarious lol

Try removing some of those filters but remember don’t do everything over night, if removing the extra filters don’t work try dosing nitrates directly I feel it’s much better than feeding more adding more fish theory

I don't want to add fish, these fish have been together for too many years if I add another fish the will kill it.

 

[Oshengems]

I been started playing with sodium nitrates as well but stopped im doing a tank treatment but will continue after I’m done

 

[reefsofty]

what ratio of water to sodium nitrate did you use? how much did you dose ? thanks

 

[Oshengems]

I only did one batch a dosed for a few days before i started treatment in my tank but this was the post I was following they have a calculator for potassium nitrates which is very common to use in planted tanks You will just have to multiply your answer since the site only calculates for one, potassium in my tank is about 380 that’s why i chose sodium instead

Edit: forgot the link

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/calculating-sodium-nitrate-dosage.328408/

 

[Oshengems]

Also this was the brand I bough it was on sale on Etsy loudwolf sodoium nitrate

https://www.loudwolf.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=69