low (zero) nitrate/phosphate with BIG algae problem

[marvin gardens]

I have zero nitrates and phosphates yet have
consistently had a red (burdundy color) slimy/hairy algae on top of live rock
and sand bed for 6 months.
I can not get it to go away.
Any ideas?
8
gallon bio cube.
16 watts of LED lighting (stays on for 8 hours per
day).
10 gallons of live rock, 1.5 inches of live sand.
Significant water
flow (2 seperate pumps).
Tank is 1 year old. Problem started 10 months ago.

For the first few months I was doing 1-2 gallon water changes every week.
Algae problem began at same time as these frequent water changes.
Have only used store bought RO water and saltwater pre mix.
6 months ago my local store said i needed to stop doing water changes for nitrates to go
above 0 for algae to die off.
I have not done a water change in 6 months and
nitrates/phosphates are still zero.
Only had 1 clown fish, 4 snails and 3
fidler crabs with hand full of small corals. 1 month ago I added a second clown
fish to try to add to the bio load and increase nitrates. I feed them a healthy
portion of krill shrimp, fish eggs and dried pellets once a day.
Red
(burgundy color) slimy/hariy algae completely covers sand bottom and top of live
rock. If I pull it off it takes 2-3 days to fully cover again.
Any ideas of
what I can do?
I greatly appreciate your help.

 

[scooterc268]

Red slime algae...but not an algae, it's called Cyanobacteria.

Caused from nutrients and bad RO/DI water.

Did you ever test the RO water that you buy. It should have a TDS of 0 not 1, 2, or etc.. 0
Cyano outbreaks occur is poor RO water.

Reason you do not have any measurable nutrients (nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates) is because the cyano is consuming it, ergo, it won't show up in the test.

Fixing it:

Get good RO/DI, 0 TDS water for top offs and mixes. If you are buying such, test the TDS of the freshwater. If the LFS is selling RO water and has measurable TDS 1or above, discontinue using them.

Next and a quick fix is Aquavision Cyano treatment. I used it when I forgot to test my RO/DO water and caught an outbreak. The TDS was only 2 to cause this on my system. Once this treatment is done, do water changes with GOOD QUALITY water and continue with proper maintenance, such as water changes.

Good luck



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[scooterc268]

Oh by the way, really stop using that LFS. Algae needs two things to survive in our closed environment. NUTRIENTS (NO2, NO3, & NH3) AND LIGHT!
Even the grass in your yard needs nutrients and light to grow, without one or the other, it dies.

Sounds like your LFS is completely ignorant or they want you to great said outbreak to sell you products to treat said outbreak


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[Aquaph8]

Dead spots where uneaten food and fish wastes accumulate are normally to blame for this, blow your rocks off with a turkey baster often to allow other forms of filtration to remove them. Also add flow in problem areas to avoid future issues. don't be afraid to use one of the many red slime remover products on the market to get your current case under control.

 

[beaslbob]

Kill the lights and stop adding food until the reds die off.

then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust to where corals/corraline algae thrive but the cyano does not return.


my .02

 

[kevin32]

If you have no coral in it yet, I would do 3 days lights off. that should kill most of the cyano. Then do water change with Good Water and continue to monitor it.

 

[Zack]

I had the same problem when i used to use my lfs's water, once i got an r.o.d.i. system, it went away. I bet it is the tds in the store.bought water your getting.

 

[marvin gardens]

The store I buy the water from (fresh and salt pre mix) is a salt water specialist store with 50+ reef tanks.
I went there yesterday to by a TDS test kit and told them what I was going to do.
They admited thier water was above 0 but said it was the same water all of thier reef tanks used.
How can I get water that has TDS of 0?

 

[Zack]

Get an RODI system. I have one from bulk reef and it's great. get the one with the tds meter.The r.o. unit gets mine down to 2or 3 tds but once it goes through the IO it is 0. You can test the water before and after the io with a flip of a switch

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[Chris155hp]

+1 brs ro/di are the best and a lot cheeper then buying water in the long run

Get an RODI system. I have one from bulk reef and it's great. get the one with the tds meter.The r.o. unit gets mine down to 2or 3 tds but once it goes through the IO it is 0. You can test the water before and after the io with a flip of a switch

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