I have been fighting algae for a long time now. I've read and read to try different things. Carbon, GFO, Chaeto. Only thing I haven't done is chemicals. Here's the thing. A year ago I was very neglectful to my tank unfortunately. I was battle mental disease (still am, but way more controlled) and really slacked on water changes, like bad. So I have been trying to do better. The last couple months I have been doing water changes weekly. I try and manually clean out the algae but it just builds back up. I decided a few weeks ago that I want to redo the tank, not tear it down, bleach everything etc. But take the substrate out, scrub the rocks really well, and redo the scape. I have been slowing removing the sand to not cause bacteria stir up and I am almost done. I'm waiting to be completely finished removing it before take the rocks out to scrub. With removing the sand, I feel like there is less buildup of algae on the glass, but its still happening.
I just now tested Nitrates and Phosphates: zero.
At first, from my reading, I thought it was because of the algae. I know it consumes those and i read that if there is a lot then it'll make the parameters 0 when in reality they are high hence the algae continuing to grow. Now that I'm removing the sand, clearly that was a source because of the detritus.
But it's also all over my powerheads, in my sump. Just everywhere. I have chaeto in there now but it has not grown at all, and now I have noticed a thick green slimy thing on the walls of the refugium itself. Did the looking up and saw maybe its blue-green cyano? I have no idea. I was reading on that and it mentioned bad lighting (it started growing where the light shines) something about it starts to show up when nutrients are low? Is that true? If so now I'm really confused and just need guidance on what to do. I have pictures of the stuff in my display that's on my rocks and whats in my sump. I don't have microscopic images though (if anyone has recommendations on what they use to get those images I would love to know).
One thing I should mention, I have a clown fish pair, royal gramma, and very few snails. Everything else I add to the tank will only last max a month before they die. Some even just over night. I drip acclimate everything, making sure the water stays warm during the process and everything, lights off, etc. The only thing that has survived is an anemone. I don't remember how long it's been but longer than everything else that I have tried.
Th pictures: The one of the sand and base of rocks is the algae that comes off the rocks after I finish my water change and once it all settles. It is very easy to knock off the rocks. The way I change my water I use a pump and the flow from the pump removes it. The picture of the rocks is what it looks like with the algae on it (not sure it's a good picture though). And then of course the green stuff from my refugium.
I just now tested Nitrates and Phosphates: zero.
At first, from my reading, I thought it was because of the algae. I know it consumes those and i read that if there is a lot then it'll make the parameters 0 when in reality they are high hence the algae continuing to grow. Now that I'm removing the sand, clearly that was a source because of the detritus.
But it's also all over my powerheads, in my sump. Just everywhere. I have chaeto in there now but it has not grown at all, and now I have noticed a thick green slimy thing on the walls of the refugium itself. Did the looking up and saw maybe its blue-green cyano? I have no idea. I was reading on that and it mentioned bad lighting (it started growing where the light shines) something about it starts to show up when nutrients are low? Is that true? If so now I'm really confused and just need guidance on what to do. I have pictures of the stuff in my display that's on my rocks and whats in my sump. I don't have microscopic images though (if anyone has recommendations on what they use to get those images I would love to know).
One thing I should mention, I have a clown fish pair, royal gramma, and very few snails. Everything else I add to the tank will only last max a month before they die. Some even just over night. I drip acclimate everything, making sure the water stays warm during the process and everything, lights off, etc. The only thing that has survived is an anemone. I don't remember how long it's been but longer than everything else that I have tried.
Th pictures: The one of the sand and base of rocks is the algae that comes off the rocks after I finish my water change and once it all settles. It is very easy to knock off the rocks. The way I change my water I use a pump and the flow from the pump removes it. The picture of the rocks is what it looks like with the algae on it (not sure it's a good picture though). And then of course the green stuff from my refugium.
