New brown stringy algae in sand

[rsumner]

I added 12oz of Reef Dr Tim's One and Only last night, pulled my socks, turned off my ROX carbon reactor, and turned off the skimmer. Water parameters last night showed that Nitrates were back up to 3ppm, but Phosphates were down to 0ppm. I dosed Phosphorus to get me up to 0.06 ppm Phosphates and Nitrogen to get me up to 5ppm Nitrates. I'll work my way up to higher nutrients over the next few days. I didn't dose any Biofuel (carbon) last night.

My UV is still offline, but I have all the plumb fittings finally to get my return rebuilt. Right now, I'm running my return pump directly to the RedSea return pipe via a 1" Silicone tube vs any hard plumbing at all -- I gotta say I love the simplicity of it.

 

[rsumner]

I got my manifold rebuilt this past weekend and was able to finally get my new UV up and running. I'm able to happily say that 100% of the turn over between my display and sump is going through the UV now at a rate of about 475GPH. As I mentioned before, according to the Aqua Ultraviolet documentation, at this flow rate, I'm getting a UV exposure of just under 45,000 uw/cm2 which should help kill algae in the water column while still playing nicely with plankton and good bacteria.

It's important to note that ever since I added the Dr Tim's One and Only bacterial strands, I've been unable to maintain phosphate levels above 0ppb (yes, that's PPB). Last nite, I doubled my phosphorus dose to equal 0.05-0.06ppm with the hopes that it will stabilize again. Nitrate will usually drop to 1ppm every day and I pump nitrogen in to get it back up to 3-5ppm. I had to order another 500mL of Brightwell NeoNitro given that my daily dose for my 135G of total system volume is around 100mL.

If I have to continue with this level of dosing, I'm going to need to find an alternative to NeoNitro for my Nitrogen source since it costs around $0.03/mL (delivered to my door) which translates to about $3 per dose. I did some pricing of the 2L size of NeoNitro and I believe I can get it delivered for around $0.02/mL, but that doesn't help much. I may have to consider something like raw Potassium Nitrate, but I'll cross that bridge if this patten continues.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I may have to consider something like raw Potassium Nitrate

That is what I use.

 

[rsumner]

I'm sorry I've been less than active in this thread recently. My moral in the fight against these algae species has been pretty low lately as they seem to be on the rise once again. I spent about 2 hours yesterday syphoning algae from the sand surface (trying not to disturb too much sand) and using the turkey baster to blow off the rocks and coral. There are a few things that I think I need to stay regularly consistent with:

• Make sure skimming is dialed in perfectly. I'm horrible about making too many drastic changes to my skimmer water/air levels which can cause the skimmer to go nuts sometimes. I need to set it and forget it.
• I've been changing to different sock types (mesh vs felt) which also introduce enough small changes in the flow through the sump to cause my skim production to fluctuate. I've found that the plastic mesh socks don't hold on to the algae as well as the felt socks. They are the same micron, but the felt just does a better job. I'm going to stop using the mesh ones (even though I love how easy they are to clean).
• Make sure I clean the sand surface and blow the rocks off at least once every other day. If I let this go for a week, I feel like I'm giving the algae colonies too much time to find home in the display tank.
• Be sure to keep organics under control. I'm now running ROX carbon and Purigen in Spyglass reactors with the hopes of not touching my Nitrate and Phosphate levels, but keeping organics and algae toxins under control.
• Removed my moonlight phase from my lighting so I can force to the Dino's to become active at night and flushing them out of the display.
• Test Phosphate and Nitrate levels two to three times a week and dose accordingly.
• Continue to suppliment with various bacterial strains to fight the Dino strains and keep organics under control.

I believe I'm finally in a position where I can stop making any changes to my system for a long time with the exception of my desire to want to get Chaetomorpha and other macro algae running in my fuge. Right now, I don't have any in the fuge and I'm not running any light on the fuge. The only thing in it is a 1" layer of Seachem Matrix lining the bottom of the fuge with about 100GPH running through the 4.5 gallon fuge (20-25x turnover). I'm skittish to add Chaeto and lighting to the fuge, but I'll likely bight the bullet within the next week or two. My main goal for the fuge is to increase my copepod population.

In any case, that's the update. I'm still in the fight!

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm sorry I've been less than active in this thread recently. My moral in the fight against these algae species has been pretty low lately as they seem to be on the rise once again. I spent about 2 hours yesterday syphoning algae from the sand surface (trying not to disturb too much sand) and using the turkey baster to blow off the rocks and coral. There are a few things that I think I need to stay regularly consistent with:

• Make sure skimming is dialed in perfectly. I'm horrible about making too many drastic changes to my skimmer water/air levels which can cause the skimmer to go nuts sometimes. I need to set it and forget it.
• I've been changing to different sock types (mesh vs felt) which also introduce enough small changes in the flow through the sump to cause my skim production to fluctuate. I've found that the plastic mesh socks don't hold on to the algae as well as the felt socks. They are the same micron, but the felt just does a better job. I'm going to stop using the mesh ones (even though I love how easy they are to clean).
• Make sure I clean the sand surface and blow the rocks off at least once every other day. If I let this go for a week, I feel like I'm giving the algae colonies too much time to find home in the display tank.
• Be sure to keep organics under control. I'm now running ROX carbon and Purigen in Spyglass reactors with the hopes of not touching my Nitrate and Phosphate levels, but keeping organics and algae toxins under control.
• Removed my moonlight phase from my lighting so I can force to the Dino's to become active at night and flushing them out of the display.
• Test Phosphate and Nitrate levels two to three times a week and dose accordingly.
• Continue to suppliment with various bacterial strains to fight the Dino strains and keep organics under control.

I believe I'm finally in a position where I can stop making any changes to my system for a long time with the exception of my desire to want to get Chaetomorpha and other macro algae running in my fuge. Right now, I don't have any in the fuge and I'm not running any light on the fuge. The only thing in it is a 1" layer of Seachem Matrix lining the bottom of the fuge with about 100GPH running through the 4.5 gallon fuge (20-25x turnover). I'm skittish to add Chaeto and lighting to the fuge, but I'll likely bight the bullet within the next week or two. My main goal for the fuge is to increase my copepod population.

In any case, that's the update. I'm still in the fight!

I would hold off on the chaeto for a bit. Not only will you be fighting nutrient depletion but chaeto also requires a slight elevation in iron which dinos increase more with elevated iron.

 

[rsumner]

I would hold off on the chaeto for a bit. Not only will you be fighting nutrient depletion but chaeto also requires a slight elevation in iron which dinos increase more with elevated iron.

Great advice, @reeferfoxx. Have you heard of the addition of Copepods and/or Phytoplankton helping contribute (or harm) in the fighting of dinos?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Great advice, @reeferfoxx. Have you heard of the addition of Copepods and/or Phytoplankton helping contribute (or harm) in the fighting of dinos?

Its a sometimes yes and sometimes no sort of situation. A member here recently seeded pods and phyto and ended losing a couple fish. On the other hand, another member adding pods and phyto saw no effect.

I myself would wait. Once I had green hair algae growing in my tabk, I noticed little herbivore isopods thriving. At that point, I started seeding copepods, amphipods and phyto.

 

[rsumner]

I myself would wait. Once I had green hair algae growing in my tabk, I noticed little herbivore isopods thriving. At that point, I started seeding copepods, amphipods and phyto.

Thanks again for the quick reply. I have a population of pods in the tank already that my wrasse and dwarf angel love to snack on all day, so I'll wait to seed more when I crank up the chaeto. I can really tell they're present when I knock them off my back glass every 3 or 4 days (when I clean it). The wrasse and angel go nuts and love the algae scraper

 

[rsumner]

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last update, so I figured I would provide one. True to my form, I haven't been the best at limiting the number of changes I've been making, however I do feel like I have a good idea as to what my has made major improvement for me over the past few weeks.

• Steadily keep my Phosphates around 0.05ppm and my Nitrates at 2ppm with testing at least once every 3 to 4 days. This has certainly helped keep with the coloration and (what seems) the general health of my coral.
• 3 deep sand cleanings and found a **TON** of organics were being removed. I followed these up with water changes of about 15% after that.
• Dosing Dr. Tim's Eco-Balance and Re-Fresh a few times at half the prescribed dosage (just to play it safe with my inverts).
• Moved my Seachem Matrix biological media from the fuge into my bubble trap area of my sump and doubled the volume of material.
• Dropped a bag of Seachem Purigen in the bubble trap also with the intent of sucking up as much organics as possible.
• Been religious about keeping my skimmer running at the most efficient levels as possible. This includes adding some automation to my Apex to reduce the intake on the DC pump to lower levels after dosing Seachem Reef Plus (amino acids, etc)
• Increased my feeding to at least 3 times a day with my Apex AFS and leaving me an opportunity to feed once in the evening with frozen food if I'm around and able to. The fish seem to really love this idea.
• Added about 50 snails (combination of Trochus, Nassarius, and Cerith) and 20 hermits to help clean the rock and sand bed.
• Removed any Phosphate removal media (and their reactors) since my goal is to increase Phosphorus right now.
• Added 5 additional fish and 7 additional coral frags.
• Added a small bundle of Chaeto to the fuge, but running the lights on the fuge during the day rather than at night to prevent it from getting clobbered by any Dino's raveling through the water
• Reduced the power on my return pump to increase the UV exposure and set it to only run at night rather than 24x7.
• Changing the activated carbon in my reactor once every 4 days -- two times a week.
• Changing my filter socks every 2 to 3 days.

While I'm not completely algae free, I feel the drastic reduction of organics, promoting and building bacterial populations, keeping Nitrate and Phosphates at the correct levels, and the addition of the clean up crew is really helping. The struggle continues, but I'm generally happy with my tank again supported by me willing to invest in adding to my livestock -- I still have a ton of empty rock in this 5 ft tank.

 

[buruskeee]

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last update, so I figured I would provide one. True to my form, I haven't been the best at limiting the number of changes I've been making, however I do feel like I have a good idea as to what my has made major improvement for me over the past few weeks.

• Steadily keep my Phosphates around 0.05ppm and my Nitrates at 2ppm with testing at least once every 3 to 4 days. This has certainly helped keep with the coloration and (what seems) the general health of my coral.
• 3 deep sand cleanings and found a **TON** of organics were being removed. I followed these up with water changes of about 15% after that.
• Dosing Dr. Tim's Eco-Balance and Re-Fresh a few times at half the prescribed dosage (just to play it safe with my inverts).
• Moved my Seachem Matrix biological media from the fuge into my bubble trap area of my sump and doubled the volume of material.
• Dropped a bag of Seachem Purigen in the bubble trap also with the intent of sucking up as much organics as possible.
• Been religious about keeping my skimmer running at the most efficient levels as possible. This includes adding some automation to my Apex to reduce the intake on the DC pump to lower levels after dosing Seachem Reef Plus (amino acids, etc)
• Increased my feeding to at least 3 times a day with my Apex AFS and leaving me an opportunity to feed once in the evening with frozen food if I'm around and able to. The fish seem to really love this idea.
• Added about 50 snails (combination of Trochus, Nassarius, and Cerith) and 20 hermits to help clean the rock and sand bed.
• Removed any Phosphate removal media (and their reactors) since my goal is to increase Phosphorus right now.
• Added 5 additional fish and 7 additional coral frags.
• Added a small bundle of Chaeto to the fuge, but running the lights on the fuge during the day rather than at night to prevent it from getting clobbered by any Dino's raveling through the water
• Reduced the power on my return pump to increase the UV exposure and set it to only run at night rather than 24x7.
• Changing the activated carbon in my reactor once every 4 days -- two times a week.
• Changing my filter socks every 2 to 3 days.

While I'm not completely algae free, I feel the drastic reduction of organics, promoting and building bacterial populations, keeping Nitrate and Phosphates at the correct levels, and the addition of the clean up crew is really helping. The struggle continues, but I'm generally happy with my tank again supported by me willing to invest in adding to my livestock -- I still have a ton of empty rock in this 5 ft tank.

Did you end up beating it?

 

[rsumner]

@buruskeee This was 5 years ago, but I did beat it. The battle with cyano is never fun, but increasing nitrate and boosting the cleanup crew solved my problems.

 

[buruskeee]

@buruskeee This was 5 years ago, but I did beat it. The battle with cyano is never fun, but increasing nitrate and boosting the cleanup crew solved my problems.

Ah so it was cyano and not Coolia Dino? I’ve already beat cyano but I had Coolia under the cyano that has now taken over.