Please can somebody help me identify this?

[oliviasmith]

I have to dose phosphate I am using brightwell neophos now and my nitrate is good. You can also try feeding the tank more and stop water changes. Those are the things I did to get my Dino’s under control. Oh yes I also added a up sterilizer

Okay! I’ll have a look at getting some stuff Thank yiy.

 

[Miller535]

Don’t judge me!! But yes I was.

I am not judging you (did the same thing in my first tank), just trying to ascertain what may be in your tank. I can tell you with almost certainty that your algae is a combination of new tank and tap water.

 

[oliviasmith]

Are you cleaning your glass daily? Algae will build up if you arent cleaning it regularly. The glass looks 10x worse than the sand. The sand doesnt look that bad to me. Do some water changes and vacuum the sand. Then cut feeding and/or light for a bit and keep the sand bed stirred either manually or with cuc.

TDS should be zero out of your RODI. Check your DI resin etc...

Hello Cell, I am a noob, I didn’t even think i’d have to clean it daily, I will start from now on though, Thank you

 

[oliviasmith]

I am not judging you (did the same thing in my first tank), just trying to ascertain what may be in your tank. I can tell you with almost certainty that your algae is a combination of new tank and tap water.

Thank you very much! Will this just eventually go away?

 

[Miller535]

A rodi unit takes out a whole lot of things that are now in your tank that cause algae. The only thing that is really going to stop it is time, and regular water changes with your rodi. But it will eventually go away.

manual cleaning as @Cell said will help this too

 

[Webslinger]

keep using RODI. don't dose unless you have a testkit for what your dosing. it's a bandaid. You will got through the ugly algae stages for about a year. slow and steady

 

[Cell]

Okay! I’ll have a look at getting some stuff Thank yiy.

Full stop on that train.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its algae and diatoms associated with silicates, possible phosphates and a new tank.
Are you using Tap or RO water ? Also is Tank at or near a window?
To clean, simply use a magic eraser sponge (ORIGINAL, NOT SCENTED) And reduce white light intensity.

 

[oliviasmith]

Are you cleaning your glass daily? Algae will build up if you arent cleaning it regularly. The glass looks 10x worse than the sand. The sand doesnt look that bad to me. Do some water changes and vacuum the sand. Then cut feeding and/or light for a bit and keep the sand bed stirred either manually or with cuc.

TDS should be zero out of your RODI. Check your DI resin etc...

Also, I have 3 red legged hermit crabs, but they’re usless, I only ever see one at a time, can you recommend any cuc?

 

[Cell]

This isnt dinos, you dont need to dose for nitrates, you dont need a UV, and dont feed more unless your creatures are starving.

 

[Marc2952]

Thats just film algae hows you CUC? Lots of snails eat that

 

[Cell]

Many options for sand sifters. Some of my fave:

Snails: Nassarius snails, tongan nassarius, fighting conch

Fish: diamond watchman goby

Invert: tiger tail sea cucumber

 

[jimc40]

Okay! I’ll have a look at getting some stuff Thank yiy.

Check your parameters before doing anything I read further down. You will need to clean glass daily. You may just be going through the ugly phases still but if you find it’s Dino’s and you have no nutrient in tank try what I suggested

 

[Cell]

Most snails will clean glass: cerith, astrea, trochus etc..

Watch Melevs Reef video on CUC. Marc goes thru all the different types and what they are good for.

 

[Cell]

Get a Clean Up Crew (CUC) for your reef | Melev's Reef

When you set up a saltwater system, within mere months you will encounter nuisance algae. What is that? It's stuff that grows and annoys you to no end. While a few people may like seeing green hair algae swaying back and forth displaying movement, the majority of hobbyists abhor it. The main...

www.melevsreef.com

 

[Cell]

Get yourself on a basic maintenance routine that is sustainable for you. To reef is to battle algae. Everyone has it, even the cleanest of tanks, it's just hidden elsewhere in the system.

Daily cleaning of glass as necessary
Weekly or bi-weekly 10% water changes
stirring the sand bed absent critters to do it for you
blow off rocks with turkey baster or coral feeder

 

[oliviasmith]

Get yourself on a basic maintenance routine that is sustainable for you. To reef is to battle algae. Everyone has it, even the cleanest of tanks, it's just hidden elsewhere in the system.

Daily cleaning of glass as necessary
Weekly or bi-weekly 10% water changes
stirring the sand bed absent critters to do it for you
blow off rocks with turkey baster or coral feeder

Thank you so much for all your help!

 

[Brew12]

Is it possible my salt has high silicates?

It is possible, especially if you don't use a mainstream brand salt.

Okay, i’ll check the water again later, how do I raise phosphate and nitrates? And keep them where they need to be?

I would worry about this as a last step and only if dino's are confirmed. It's possible they are dino's but normally they release gas bubbles and are stringy.

Do silicates still get through the RODI system? If so how do I prevent this?

They can, but they are normally removed by the ion resin. If your resin isn't packed tight enough some could get through even brand new resin. I would expect 0TDS from a brand new RODI system. Even 1 TDS doesn't sound right to me.

If you aren't using a food grade storage container it can also cause chemicals to leach into your freshly made RODI.

Food can also be a source, but if your tank sitter used the same food you did without the problem, that can be eliminated.

Don’t judge me!! But yes I was.

Nothing wrong with tap water. Many of us have tap water clean enough to use in reef tanks. RODI provides a little peace of mind and eliminates a variable so it gives us less to worry about.
My tap water has low enough levels of copper, nitrate and chloramine that I could use it in a bind.

 

[Brew12]

Get yourself on a basic maintenance routine that is sustainable for you. To reef is to battle algae. Everyone has it, even the cleanest of tanks, it's just hidden elsewhere in the system.

Daily cleaning of glass as necessary
Weekly or bi-weekly 10% water changes
stirring the sand bed absent critters to do it for you
blow off rocks with turkey baster or coral feeder

I agree with all of this. I would only add that the only algae that should be battled is stuff we can't get a CuC member for.
If you want a healthy reef tank it needs to grow algae. A healthy reef would be overrun with algae if you remove the CuC from it. Our tanks should be no different imo.

 

[Webslinger]

It is possible, especially if you don't use a mainstream brand salt.


I would worry about this as a last step and only if dino's are confirmed. It's possible they are dino's but normally they release gas bubbles and are stringy.


They can, but they are normally removed by the ion resin. If your resin isn't packed tight enough some could get through even brand new resin. I would expect 0TDS from a brand new RODI system. Even 1 TDS doesn't sound right to me.

If you aren't using a food grade storage container it can also cause chemicals to leach into your freshly made RODI.

Food can also be a source, but if your tank sitter used the same food you did without the problem, that can be eliminated.


Nothing wrong with tap water. Many of us have tap water clean enough to use in reef tanks. RODI provides a little peace of mind and eliminates a variable so it gives us less to worry about.
My tap water has low enough levels of copper, nitrate and chloramine that I could use it in a bind.

RODI only, I don't know anyone with a successful tank that uses city tap water.