On going algae problem... fixing it???

[Alexx17]

I’m not great with words, so I made pictures to explain.

 

[sawdonkey]

How long has the tank been running?
Do you know your parameters (NO3 &PO4)?
How much are you feeding.
Doing water changes?
Is your skimmer producing?
Does light from that window shine on the tank?

 

[Alexx17]

How long has the tank been running?
Do you know your parameters (NO3 &PO4)?
How much are you feeding.
Doing water changes?
Is your skimmer producing?
Does light from that window shine on the tank?

Tanks been up since October 17 2017.
Checked yesterday and ph8, Amo 0, Nirite0,Nirate0, pho0.
I feed once a day small amount pinch of pellets and sometime frozen food.
Auto-water change setup 3 days ago, doing 2702 ml every morning at 8:00am.
As for the skimmer goo around the lip of where bubbles come up, but water in cup is mostly clear.
I pull that left side blackout curtain to block the left window.

 

[Alexx17]

Bump

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would bring down that powerhead an inch or two. That is enough indirect sunlight to contribute to issue ( not necessarily causing it). You have your ammunition for water quality I see.
If you do not already have, I recommend about 4 Turbo grazer snails, 3 nassarus and 3 cerith snails and a few blue leg hermits to keep the sand loosened.

 

[Alexx17]

I have 2 Nassaurus, 2 red leg hermit, 1 blue leg hermit, 2 bee snails, 2 trochus snails. Details on any others to add?
Goal is to have 4 clowns (have 3 now.)
Cleaner shrimp
Pepper shrimp
Soft corals
And bta

 

[nhlives]

What are you using to test PO4? I’m assuming it isn’t a Hanna ULR. A zero reading would be too low for a healthy system but would get rid of the hair algae. I’m at .1 ppm on the ULR and no algae. I’m trying to keep NO4 at .25 ppm. Just saying keeping PO4 low using the ULR has been great. It takes awhile to get there though. Initially a combination of NOPOX and GFO but now just NOPOX.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have 2 Nassaurus, 2 red leg hermit, 1 blue leg hermit, 2 bee snails, 2 trochus snails. Details on any others to add?
Goal is to have 4 clowns (have 3 now.)
Cleaner shrimp
Pepper shrimp
Soft corals
And bta

Turbo snails and Cerith snails...... They are Algae destroyers

 

[nhlives]

Oh, I do do have a fair share of snails. No turbos as I find they just don’t live long.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oh, I do do have a fair share of snails. No turbos as I find they just don’t live long.

snails especially turbo should be acclimated at least 1-2 hrs with drip method into a container OR adding a 1/2 cup of water to container every 20 mins for 6 times

 

[Alexx17]

snails especially turbo should be acclimated at least 1-2 hrs with drip method into a container OR adding a 1/2 cup of water to container every 20 mins for 6 times

I must say I temp float and let them go. Not right I know.

What are you using to test PO4? I’m assuming it isn’t a Hanna ULR. A zero reading would be too low for a healthy system but would get rid of the hair algae. I’m at .1 ppm on the ULR and no algae. I’m trying to keep NO4 at .25 ppm. Just saying keeping PO4 low using the ULR has been great. It takes awhile to get there though. Initially a combination of NOPOX and GFO but now just NOPOX.

I’m using nopox 1 ml every night.

 

[Alexx17]

This is what it looked like on Aug 13 2018. I’ll take a new picture tomorrow off the improvements so far.

 

[nhlives]

That's pretty ugly. IMHO, it just takes time. I would work to get the PO4 around 30 ppb. The Red Sea Pro goes down to .02 ppm. I have had good success with the Hanna ULR even though it can be a bit tricky to use. I found that NOPOX needed help at first to get down to low levels within a reasonable time so I supplemented with GFO for six months or until no signs of hair algae. And be careful of over dosing NOPOX which could be your red slime problem. It's tricky this aquarium chemistry.

 

[Alexx17]

It looks a lot better than that now. Picture tomorrow. I wasn’t using nopox in that picture.

 

[Mystical_Knight]

I’ve had that happen to me twice when I filled my first two saltwater tanks with tap water to start out. not judging but want to make sure everything gets ruled out. That is a lot of algae for what sounds like relatively light feeding

 

[Alexx17]

I’ve had that happen to me twice when I filled my first two saltwater tanks with tap water to start out. not judging but want to make sure everything gets ruled out. That is a lot of algae for what sounds like relatively light feeding

I didn’t use to pull the Blackout curtain.

 

[Alexx17]

Here it is today.

 

[Alexx17]

My plan tomorrow is to get:
2 bee snails
1 zombie snail
1 trochus snail
1 blue leg hermit
1 peppermint shrimp( atipsta) can’t spell for crap.
1 Emerald crab (bubble algae)
Maybe 1 turbo( they die quickly)
New ChemPure elite.(had 50gallon volume, gonna get 25 gallon volume if they have it)

The bubble algae is still growing. Will it continue to grow till even if the levels are low till it’s complete gone??

Any other media I should put in the tank to control levels?
And does the cuc sound good?

 

[Elementalj]

I’d skip the bumble bee snails. They eat the micro fauna in the sand bed. Just my opinion.

 

[Alexx17]

I’d skip the bumble bee snails. They eat the micro fauna in the sand bed. Just my opinion.

I have 2 and they stay in the rocks? Thanks I did t know that. 2 cierth snail in place then.