Phosphate always measures 0 but...

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok, pardon my ignorance but what does FTS stand for?

Sorry , Full Tank Shot.

No worries at all.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Ahh, now that makes sense. Thank you...

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ahh, now that makes sense. Thank you...

Your welcome !

 

[nigelmansell]

Here we go...
In the freshwater world, there's a similar nuissance algae named 'green spot'.

The rock is Caribsea Liferock which used to look like this:

Snail shell came from a mates tank, must have been in there years. Stayed pretty much white. Couple of months in my tank, green.

Also if I don't manually turn the sand over, that goes green as well.

 

[FlyinBryan]

I had the same issue with a relatively new tank and not too much overfeeding or fish. Lighted sufficiently. However, that green slime/algae was just everywhere.
I added a good size CUC and it really helped keep them in line.
Also increased the flow with internal pumps and that helped out quite a bit.
That’s what worked for me.
Good luck!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Here we go...
In the freshwater world, there's a similar nuissance algae named 'green spot'.

The rock is Caribsea Liferock which used to look like this:

Snail shell came from a mates tank, must have been in there years. Stayed pretty much white. Couple of months in my tank, green.

Also if I don't manually turn the sand over, that goes green as well.

Wow. That is wild.
May I ask what light you use ?

Are you dosing anything ?

Can you remind me what your cal and alk mag are ?

It's rodi?

And let's #reefsquad too for more eyes. And hopefully some experience with it.

 

[Brew12]

I had that from month 1 through month 3 and it went away on its own. It never really bothered me so I didn't try to treat it.

 

[Maritimer]

Green film algae is common enough ... and lots of things eat it. In my tank, that includes Trochus snails, starry and orange-spot blennies and a Quoy's parrotfish. I suspect, though, that as your bacteria and corals mature, and begin to uptake a higher percentage of your available nutrients, that algae will fade back. It'll never be completely gone, and that's probably OK.

~Bruce

 

[Mical]

Test your magnesium levels - my guess mag is low

 

[Hans-Werner]

Yes I understand and agree, but I thought phosphate was generally considered the best candidate to control algae growth (since corals prefer a very low but non-zero amount of it)?

I am sorry that I have not read the whole thread. My experience: Phosphate is the best candidate to control coral growth and survival. If you want to control alge take nitrate or maybe iron (low iron, no iron dosing, no GFO, 0 nitrate). Extremely low phosphate concentrations will kill corals. The result is what you see. There even is some phosphate in the fresh coral skeletons but nevertheless the corals died from phosphate starvation. Now endolithic (living in rocks) cyanobacteria take over the skeletons to make use of the phosphate in the skeleton.

 

[nigelmansell]

Wow. That is wild.
May I ask what light you use ?

Are you dosing anything ?

Can you remind me what your cal and alk mag are ?

It's rodi?

And let's #reefsquad too for more eyes. And hopefully some experience with it.

Cheers @saltyfilmfolks


Levels
Ammonia/nitrite 0 (API)
Nitrate 2.5 ppm (Salifert)
Phosphate 0 ppm (Elos)
Cal 405 ppm (salifert)
Mag 1290 ppm (salifert)
Alk 8.1 dkh (salifert)
Salinity 35 PPT (D-D refrac, calibrated with TLF accurasea)
temp: 26.5c (calibrated thermometer)

Make up water is RO/DI (0 tds), all zeros on ATI RO ICP test so I assume it's good.

Lights Mars Aqua 165w, PAR 280 umol (top), 100-150 (bottom). Had the the same problem with an AI Prime prior to fitting the Mars.

Filtration
Skimmer: Tunze 9004, quite nice dark skimmate
Carbon: Fluval

I think that's all okay, so I can't really understand what's going on. I guess by some miracle I have avoided hair algae etc and this stuff has filled the niche instead.

Oh, I forgot. I also have an algae light reactor fitted for the last two months or so, but the chaeto in it doesn't really grow. Green rock problem appeared before this was fitted so it's not the cause (idea was to try and outcompete the microalgae)

 

[nigelmansell]

I am sorry that I have not read the whole thread. My experience: Phosphate is the best candidate to control coral growth and survival. If you want to control alge take nitrate or maybe iron (low iron, no iron dosing, no GFO, 0 nitrate). Extremely low phosphate concentrations will kill corals. The result is what you see. There even is some phosphate in the fresh coral skeletons but nevertheless the corals died from phosphate starvation. Now endolithic (living in rocks) cyanobacteria take over the skeletons to make use of the phosphate in the skeleton.

Do you suggest that I dose it?

 

[Acro maniac]

Sorry if I missed it but how old is this system?

 

[nigelmansell]

Sorry if I missed it but how old is this system?

About a year

 

[Stevesreef225]

How are your nitrates ?

 

[nigelmansell]

How are your nitrates ?

2.5ppm currently, but pretty stable between 4 and 1. This is from salifert's NO3 kit so looking through the side of the container, fairly error prone.

Just noticed that I said yesterday it was between 0-1ppm but I must have been having a brainfart.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thing is, you you don't have zero Po4 in this case. Those coral wild be shriveled and dead, so is phosphate in the system. Yea, you could feed more but....
It would be an interesting experiment just to see what happens and if you can make the rest of the microfauna bloom.

The alge is what's blowing my mind.
Looks just like the precursor to
Corraline. So I have to belive it's just an alge invasion.


Did I miss the part in what and how much you feed?

 

[Brew12]

2.5ppm currently, but pretty stable between 4 and 1. This is from salifert's NO3 kit so looking through the side of the container, fairly error prone.

Just noticed that I said yesterday it was between 0-1ppm but I must have been having a brainfart.

Do you test it at the same time each day? Nitrate content will fluctuate over the day based on lighting cycles.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Do you test it at the same time each day? Nitrate content will fluctuate over the day based on lighting cycles.

Phosphate spikes when the fish poo.

 

[nigelmansell]

Must say I'm kinda glad nobody has come along with an easy answer in a way. At least my puzzlement has been legit!

Thing is, you you don't have zero Po4 in this case. Those coral wild be shriveled and dead, so is phosphate in the system. Yea, you could feed more but....
It would be an interesting experiment just to see what happens and if you can make the rest of the microfauna bloom.

The alge is what's blowing my mind.
Looks just like the precursor to
Corraline. So I have to belive it's just an alge invasion.


Did I miss the part in what and how much you feed?

I feed 1 - 2 times a day. Either a small pinch of crushed flake (I have various brands, Hikari, Ocean Nutrition etc) or a third to a half cube of frozen. Basically enough to take a couple of mins to eat without leaving much waste.

Do you test it at the same time each day? Nitrate content will fluctuate over the day based on lighting cycles.

Can't say I do with the exception of alk, which I always test at the same time due to the doser schedule. That probably explains the fluctuation a little bit, thanks.