Looking For Advice

[stepho725]

Question RE my 40B "mixed reef" (I only have 6 small coral currently) that is 6 months old.
Ammonia: actually I got a small reading of ammonia for the first time since the cycle, will do a water change but this has little to do with current issue and more to do with overfeeding but I'm also overskimming although the intake is currently covered in algae.
Nitrite/Nitrates: Both 0
Phosphate: 0
PH: 8.3
KH: 9
Calcium: 420
I don't test for Mag but I dose Reef Fusion 1 & 2 - I think Mag is included in those?
Anywho the problem is actually with algae. So, I have several different species growing and I'm not really sure what my options are. A couple are Marco and then of course I have the other kinds. Also, my coraline algae on the glass never turned purple. It was green and now it is white (dead apparently?) Most of the interior surfaces remain purple but some have turned white. I regret my light choice. It doesnt have ramp up/down options and I think it might be a bit too strong on one setting and too weak on the next setting and I'm just not able to control it on enough of a schedule to ensure it is giving the same amount of light at the same time each day.
My zoas were multiplying like crazy but now the algae seems to have stopped any more from popping up. My leathers seem okay but the algae is beginning to surround them and my Duncan seems offended but the ammonia makes that make sense now. My mushrooms seem poofy the past month (they've never multiplied...odd) but I'm most concerned for my Hammer & attached a photo. Somedays it is extended other days it will not - should I remove those feather dusters?
Honestly if I cannot clean up the tank soon then I'd rather rehome the coral and let the fish enjoy their home in lower light and see if the algae goes away. I was allowing the new tank syndrome to kind of find it's way but now it is getting worse. I havent introduced anything new and suddenly a new macroalgae started growing and has really blown up lol
Anywho: there is some that looks like fur and it is growing on my islands excessively. This is easily pulled off but it is tedious Would a lawnmower blenny eat this maybe?? I assume this is Hair algae.
Then I have an algae that is almost bushy like it reminds me of a shrub. Grows very low to the rock and is not easily removed by hand...any ideas what that might be??
I know the other 3 are macroalgaes.
I'm going to go in and clean things up a bit tonight but I thought I might ask if anyone knew whether a blenny might eat some of this crap??
I only have a cleaner shrimp, royal gramma and 2 clowns and then a couple odds and ends CUC.
Sorry for the long story.
Guess I should mention I overfeed NC my Royal Gramma attacks my clowns when it is hungry! I guess with this new ammo reading I'm going to have to cut back!! Also may have to buy a new light if I ever want to gain control of this mess...ugh! Hateeeee this light!

 

[stepho725]

 

[ubasu]

What are you doing for filtration?

 

[galantra]

So yes you have hair algae I am assuming you have some real live rock cause of the other algae that’s been growing?

So few questions:

What type of lights?
What type of salt?
What’s your light period? 8hr? 12hr? Or longer?
How often do you do water changes?
What test kits are you using?

 

[stepho725]

Reef2Reef isn't sending me notifications. Sorry for the delay.
Filtration: Eshopps Psk-100 HOB skimmer
What type of lights? Nicrew HyperReef 100 I keep the blues at 60 and the whites at 40
What type of salt? I just get Petco pacific ocean water currently.
What’s your light period? 8hr? 12hr? Or longer? Lighting period is 9.5 or 10hrs
How often do you do water changes? Water changes are monthly now.
What test kits are you using? Using API tests and I know these aren't great tests but I was reading much lower PH & Calcium & Kh before I started dosing and now everything is looking much better so I know they aren't completely useless.
Definitely slowing down on my overfeeding. I only have the 3 fish and some snails and I feed entirely too much to try to keep my Royal Gramma from being a jerk but, I can definitely lessen the amount I've been using. Just a small pinch of flakes a day and then maybe some frozen food twice a week should be plenty I think instead of 3 large pinches of flakes a day?

 

[ubasu]

What are you using for top-off water? Do you have a RO/DI system?

 

[stepho725]

What are you using for top-off water? Do you have a RO/DI system?

I'm using distilled water. I will say that I used distilled water in my old tank (a biocube 29 back from 2012 - 2016 I believe) & never had any algae besides the beginning diatoms. I had great coral growth. I mean, I did have a rough first year of course with diatoms and such but after I got LED lighting I had a moderate amount of success with a softie/LPS tank. Definitely the softies took over like crazy - i had no skimmer so they flourished in all the nutrients. Mushrooms grew like crazy, ricordias covered rocks, a rock nem, sun coral, hammer with 3 heads.
I do have an RO system but I just haven't figured out how to set it up LOL. I have considered starting to buy RODI from the LFS instead of distilled bc obviously it couldn't hurt!
My boyfriend was supposed to help me set up the RO system and then never came through for me so it has been sitting in my second bedroom (i.e. storage room) since I bought it. Maybe I can google it and see if I can figure it out. I'm not very mechanically/plumber/electric/technically etc. inclined. HA!
Either way you make a good point and silly of me to not even consider the fact that I should be using a better topping off water. I may see a difference, who knows.
Still I fear the algae is here to stay as a war has begun and I wonder besides the RO wonder (and I do plan to switch) what else I can do? Especially for the shrubby algae - I don't know what that is??
There are also a couple of aipstasia who I have tried to jab with a needle with lemon juice but I just cannot seem to get in the mouth. How quickly does it take until they really grow and take over? I plan to continue to try to keep getting them but, I never dealt with them before so I'm just curious. Literally I only have two small ones currently (or that I've seen any way).
I should search through the forums a bit and see if I can't get some answers out there also but I figured I'd first seek them close to home!
Thanks folks!! I appreciate any and all insight!

 

[Heres_doe_]

Reef2Reef isn't sending me notifications. Sorry for the delay.
Filtration: Eshopps Psk-100 HOB skimmer
What type of lights? Nicrew HyperReef 100 I keep the blues at 60 and the whites at 40
What type of salt? I just get Petco pacific ocean water currently.
What’s your light period? 8hr? 12hr? Or longer? Lighting period is 9.5 or 10hrs
How often do you do water changes? Water changes are monthly now.
What test kits are you using? Using API tests and I know these aren't great tests but I was reading much lower PH & Calcium & Kh before I started dosing and now everything is looking much better so I know they aren't completely useless.
Definitely slowing down on my overfeeding. I only have the 3 fish and some snails and I feed entirely too much to try to keep my Royal Gramma from being a jerk but, I can definitely lessen the amount I've been using. Just a small pinch of flakes a day and then maybe some frozen food twice a week should be plenty I think instead of 3 large pinches of flakes a day?

Don't use API. I used it just to compare to Hanna checker and I keep reading 0 when i actually had over 40 ppm. With all them nutrients in the water algae is going to grow.

 

[stepho725]

Don't use API. I used it just to compare to Hanna checker and I keep reading 0 when i actually had over 40 ppm. With all them nutrients in the water algae is going to grow.

Of course. I will bring a sample to be tested to the LFS & see what their tests say instead - maybe tomorrow actually. Thank you
I cut back some of the algae on the 27th and it has come back. One macro grows FAST. Coral looks happy besides one leather - but they're dramatic. I will keep cutting back the algae for now I guess - maybe grab a blenny and see if it helps with the algae growth. I just used the last of my distilled water so I will be grabbing some RO at worst and RODI at best - hopefully that will put a little dent into the hair algae mess. I assume it will at least some.
I realized that while distilled is what I used to top off my biocube and I never had an algae problem...ever, I also did not need to use the amount that I do with this tank. I'm running an extra 11ish gallons and probably topping off nearly 2 gallons a week rather than 1/2 to 1. That is a lot more distilled water in there.
I have also cut down feeding drastically. I feed them every other day and only a couple of smaller pinches of flakes that are more directly fed to the fish rather than just 3 huge pinches hoping everyone gets their fill and if not there will be plenty left over for them to pick at or scavengers to feed on. *shame*
Anywho - now if only I could get some coralline algae on my snails and my glass again. We'll see what time brings. I understand this fight will take some time to say the least.

 

[Dburr1014]

I would have the lfs test mag along with everything else. The coraline could be dyeing because of this or could be low calcium. One picture you posted looks like cualerpa algae. I uploaded a pic.
You can you peroxide in small doses to kill off some algae. Just rip out most manually. Looks like you can take out some of the rock and hit it with peroxide. Do a search on the forum and read up on it before actually doing it.
Maybe you could post some pics of your ro/di setup. Pic of the parts you confused on and we can help.

Good luck.

 

[stepho725]

Oh wow, yeah that tank is pretty much unrecognizable at this point. I have been manually removing the algae and it grows back 3x as thick and in different areas (I assume because I lose track of it) and I'm killing my few coral at this point so I'm heavily considering tapping out again for a while. I should at least probably rehome my coral because they aren't going to hang on much longer, and maybe the shrimp so I can use the peroxide without killing him. I will make a post once i make a decision!