I still can't get this under control!

[Andy G]

Can't really tell by three picture, but are these bubbles or more a living thing?

Google this: spirobid worms - looking closely are they similar?

 

[Orm Embar]

I'm going to go with the old standby "answer to everything" - minimize nutrient input (don't overfeed), maximize nutrient output (nitrate, phosphate, organics). Regardless of levels, that nuisance algae is growing off of something that you need to cut off. There are a variety of ways of doing this; some options (not necessarily in order of what I would do) would be rinsing your filter sock twice weekly or more (reduces nitrates and phosphates by 30% if you rinse at least that often per BulkReefSupply experiment video), skim (or skim adequately if your skimmer isn't suitably sized), do regular carbon dosing (vinegar/vodka/biopellets), increase the GFO, add macroalgae (in display, refugium, reactor, or algal turf scrubber with hair algae), or a combination of the above.

I'm a big macroalgae fan (I'm both lazy and cheap!), so I'd put some macro (chaeto) in a sump using a decent LED bulb on a reverse daylight timer and rinse the filter sock as those are relatively easy and not too expensive. If you don't have a sump, put some dragon's breath or gracilaria in the display (make sure the surface is agitated to allow for good gas exchange). Remember to prune your macroalgae from time to time, and sell the prunings for money! Or frags.

Reading:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium.10/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/phosphate-in-the-reef-aquarium.9/

LED bulb suggestions for sump:
https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Lights-Hydroponics-Organic-Applicable/dp/B01HPIPM70 or Mars Hydro's 24 watt grow bulb

 

[VJV]

tons of bubbles.. my initial though was bryopsis .. not so sure now

If it is more of a very soft green algae (without the more fern like structure of bryopsis) it is likely to be Derbesia. I have battled it for years and only now did I finally get rid of it.

I had this growing with zero PO4 and zero NO3. In fact, if you have zero NO3 your macro algae will probably just die, as happened to me.

Thing about micro algae is that it is extremely efficient at utilizing whatever is available for growth, besides Nitrates and phosphates.

You need to take it out of the system first, as much as you can. Than add a decent cleanup crew to keep new growth in check and be on top of your export methods (heavy skimming, gfo, carbon) to keep nutrients low.

I confess I even started dosing Nitrates (Seachem’s Nitrogen Flourish) because when these hot zero and PO4 is low but detectable I get Derbesia!

My first step was to take out all my rocks and sprayed them with with H2O2. Left them in air for 10 minutes and after that took a brush and scrubbed the algae, followed by a rinse in tank water. I did 1/3 each week and never had any ammonia or mini cycle.

In one week the rocks would be mostly algae free. I had to repeat this 2 times, each 4 months apart, but finally worked.

I keep my PO4 between 0,02 and 0,03 and rose NO3 to get to 1-2ppm. I always measure before dosing.

I am finally getting good growth and polio extension on my SPS so for now it has worked. It this was a very frustrating 3 year process...

 

[ebeez]

Thanks o al for the replies. Been in the hobby for 10 years and have never had this outbreak.. first time for everything i guess...

 

[brandon429]

Use test rocks imo

No matter what you choose, always have one test rock that models the full fix
This ends guessing.

Taking any tankwide action on a specific obligate hitchhiker target is a gamble

So make a test rock comply. Then scale up

Bio Modeling before testing a given action on your whole tank


People hate to tank full tank action...only to have it regrow (while VJV is in the elite group of hand guides who did not give up. 4x is short farming, that's awesome. Most give up on initial growback.)

Take a few test rocks out and treat them various ways in nano Mason jars for example

You can run dilution tests of peroxide, vibrant, any of them and use your old tank water to service them

It's a neat/simple way to account for and model unique variables tank to tank

on one of them, take a steak knife and score out all the algae off the rock then rinse in peroxide. Rinse again, reinstall the rock and watch how long it holds clean

Set your nutrient params to what corals want, all other uninvited hitchhikers can be knifed out + post peroxide rinse. I'm permanently algae free due to that bio cheat.

 

[lion king]

What test kit are you using for the po4; if you are not using the hanna ulr you could still be running po4 as a high as .1. Most of the other test kits are not that accurate in lower ranges; my red sea was showing 0 and my hanna ulr showed ,08. With nitrates as low as 5 you are likely getting an imbalance between po4 and no3.

Do the bubbles disappear after lights and out and appear and increase as the lights go on. Check your light spectrum to make sure your reds aren't too high, they really aren't necessary at all and usually cause more trouble than not. Nitrates at 5 i would cut back on the vibrant as well, that is likely a contributing factor as well.

Turbo snails will start to mow that algae down.

 

[ebeez]

What test kit are you using for the po4; if you are not using the hanna ulr you could still be running po4 as a high as .1. Most of the other test kits are not that accurate in lower ranges; my red sea was showing 0 and my hanna ulr showed ,08. With nitrates as low as 5 you are likely getting an imbalance between po4 and no3.

Do the bubbles disappear after lights and out and appear and increase as the lights go on. Check your light spectrum to make sure your reds aren't too high, they really aren't necessary at all and usually cause more trouble than not. Nitrates at 5 i would cut back on the vibrant as well, that is likely a contributing factor as well.

Turbo snails will start to mow that algae down.

Thanks for the reply! Yes the bubbles disappear once the lights go out.. and come back when the lights are on. I am using the hanna checker for PO4, cal and alk. They are the only ones I use as I have had good results with them. I have turned off one side of the tank with the radions and the other on with the deep water reef template. Bubbles on the half that the lights are on and nothing on the other side. See pic attached for a view of the bubbles that are present. I will cut out the reds as suggested and see if there is any improvement.

 

[Hersheyb]

you can try using hydrogen peroxide. It's a more popular method in fresh water but it works the same in reef. Some people have used it to combat a lot of different kind of algae. I have personally used for many different kind, even bubble algae. You can start out by spot treating a certain area and see if it does anything to the algae. I don't know if you have any fish but just becareful too much peroxide can burn their gills. Turn off the pumps and spot treat and area. Add a small amount slowly to the area until you see bubbling. 5-10 ml for a small area should do it. Let it buble for a few mins and you can turn your pump back on. It's not a miracle potion so you prob won't see the change right away. Do the same thing the next day. Usually after 1-3 treatments you should see either the algae dead or dying. If it worked against the algea than you can start dosing the tank with hydrogen peroxide. I kind of always winged the process but there's a plenty of writes ups on the dosing regime. Good luck with the battle..

 

[NavySquid]

I had this and was scrubbing to and it would come back. Went to my LFS and they told me to up my flow, so I added an MP10 and got some extra cuc and it is gone now!

 

[ebeez]

I had this and was scrubbing to and it would come back. Went to my LFS and they told me to up my flow, so I added an MP10 and got some extra cuc and it is gone now!

Just from extra flow? I have 2 MP40's (one on each side of the tank) so I don't think I have a flow issue.n I have emerald crabs in there now and 2 hermits...

 

[NavySquid]

Just from extra flow? I have 2 MP40's (one on each side of the tank) so I don't think I have a flow issue.n I have emerald crabs in there now and 2 hermits...

I am telling you that is what helped me and I also added a spotted goby and he has cleaned it up as well. They said it is the way the flow is directed and dead spots I was skeptical at first to but gave it a try.

 

[ebeez]

I am telling you that is what helped me and I also added a spotted goby and he has cleaned it up as well. They said it is the way the flow is directed and dead spots I was skeptical at first to but gave it a try.

ok will give it a shot.. thanks again!

 

[ebeez]

Just as a follow up/. I mentioned up top that I have oner Radion off and the other on. the video link below shows the difference on the side that has the light on versus off.

 

[Rakie]

So here's something anecdotal that I and other had noticed. Invasive algae take over and thrive in low po4 tanks. Bryopsis, Dinos (not algae), GHA, etc etc. Don't get me wrong -- They can absolutely grow in tanks with po4 as well, but so often you see people saying "I don't know where this algae is coming from, my po4 is zero!!!11!!".

I know when I had GHA I added phosphates. Sounds counter productive, right? Well it cause a bunch of green film algae on my glass. Then you know what happened? It outcompeted the GHA so hard, the GHA started dying off.

That singular test by me had made me really rethink how water chemistry works. How so many people with "No po4" end up with crazy algae's they can't get rid of.

Pouring in bottles of magic solutions doesn't always work, and more often than not, you just end up with a different invasive algae, or cyano, after those bottles.

First, I would say pickup an algae blenny, about a dozen trochus snails, about a dozen turbo snails (mine always loved turf algaes), and let them do their thing for a bit. See how you tank handles it, and go from there. Baby steps. Only bad things happen quickly. Any change you make deserves at least one month for observation.

New flow? Give it a month. New bulb combo? Give it a month. New CUC? Give it a month. One change per month.