Problem or new tank syndrome

[oscar14]

Hey reefers, I am in a situation where I don’t know if I have a problem or it’s something normal. My Nuvo 10 has been up for 3 months now. All parameters are in check. I have 6 acroporas in there for about a month now. They are growing and full of color. Recently I’m running into an alarga issue. At first it was a red slimmey algae that would stick on the rocks and on some of my corals. Air bubbles would start to appear and first thing I thought of was dinos. I tested my water again and my PO4 was .03(tested with hanna UL) and my nitrates are at 10(Salifert) today I started to see green hair algae. Bubbles did start to go away so I’m thinking it was some type of new tank algae. Any opinions will help, thanks in advanced.

 

[WIReefer]

The red algae you stared early was most likely cyano. By chance could you upload a photo? Also what is your nutrient export?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would look at your phosphate level which contributes to these issues and are you using RO water or tap water from faucet?
Reduce white light intensity a few days and test your water

 

[oscar14]

The red algae you stared early was most likely cyano. By chance could you upload a photo? Also what is your nutrient export?

Picture was taken with a yellow filter, but my export is weekly water changes, gfo through chemipure.

 

[oscar14]

I would look at your phosphate level which contributes to these issues and are you using RO water or tap water from faucet?
Reduce white light intensity a few days and test your water

I am using RO water. My phosphates are currently .03

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am using RO water. My phosphates are currently .03

ChemiPure Elite would absorb Phos and nitrate and help reduce this issue which is mild as far as im concerned. Adding some nerite, astrea and trochus snails will help control it also

 

[WIReefer]

Picture was taken with a yellow filter, but my export is weekly water changes, gfo through chemipure.

Does not look bad at all I have more algae in my tank than that. Wouldn’t worry about it.

 

[oscar14]

ChemiPure Elite would absorb Phos and nitrate and help reduce this issue which is mild as far as im concerned. Adding some nerite, astrea and trochus snails will help control it also

At the beginning I thought it was dinos due to chemipure blue. I had thought chemi had worked too good and clean out my phosphates to zero, but tested today and phosphates were good. So I’m thinking it’s just normal algae

 

[oscar14]

Does not look bad at all I have more algae in my tank than that. Wouldn’t worry about it.

I know it’s not a lot but if it’s something that can get out of hand I would rather work on it now. I though it was dinos but I’m starting to think it’s normal algae.

 

[oscar14]

ChemiPure Elite would absorb Phos and nitrate and help reduce this issue which is mild as far as im concerned. Adding some nerite, astrea and trochus snails will help control it also

Also I don’t think I would want to absorb more phosphates... correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

Bubbles don’t always mean dinos. Everyone assumes that. Sometimes it’s on other algae. Tanks is young. You will get all kinds of things. You will think you are in the clear and 7 months later. BOOM. GHA. Just relax and enjoy. Your parameters are good.

 

[oscar14]

Bubbles don’t always mean dinos. Everyone assumes that. Sometimes it’s on other algae. Tanks is young. You will get all kinds of things. You will think you are in the clear and 7 months later. BOOM. GHA. Just relax and enjoy. Your parameters are good.

Thanks man, I was planning to do a blackout for 3 days and dose microbacter 7, but Like you said. Tanks is young and is normal or at least I hope so

 

[Tankkeepers]

Id agree make sure you have an good cuc and keep up the good work looks like a normal tank for that age

 

[oscar14]

Id agree make sure you have an good cuc and keep up the good work looks like a normal tank for that age

Thanks man I’m going to add some tomorrow. Any suggestions for green hair algae.

 

[oscar14]

Id agree make sure you have an good cuc and keep up the good work looks like a normal tank for that age

this is it right now

 

[oscar14]

 

[WIReefer]

Great looking tank man! Be happy your acros are doing great in a 3 month old tank!

 

[92Miata]

People get hung up on phosphate. It's not your problem. .03 is great. You can't fix this with water quality changes because it's not a water quality issue.

The problem with young tanks like this is lack of coraline and other nitrogen and phosphate consuming biomass - which leads to tons of opportunity for pest algaes to colonize surfaces.

Be aggressive physically removing algae. Siphon out cyano, pull out hair. There really aren't any good herbivores for hair in these size tanks. Just keep on it manually and it'll fix itself as your corals grow/corraline grows/etc.

Stuff like vibrant/nopox/etc will just move around what the niche organism is - you vibrant the hair algae and the cyano will get worse. Hit it with nopox and you'll end up with dinos.

 

[oscar14]

People get hung up on phosphate. It's not your problem. .03 is great. You can't fix this with water quality changes because it's not a water quality issue.

The problem with young tanks like this is lack of coraline and other nitrogen and phosphate consuming biomass - which leads to tons of opportunity for pest algaes to colonize surfaces.

Be aggressive physically removing algae. Siphon out cyano, pull out hair. There really aren't any good herbivores for hair in these size tanks. Just keep on it manually and it'll fix itself as your corals grow/corraline grows/etc.

Stuff like vibrant/nopox/etc will just move around what the niche organism is - you vibrant the hair algae and the cyano will get worse. Hit it with nopox and you'll end up with dinos.

So you recommend just manually removing it and clean up crew? This is what I’m determinating doing because like you said, either one becomes worse. Would you recommend adding a source of corraline algae? Like fritz corraline?

 

[92Miata]

So you recommend just manually removing it and clean up crew? This is what I’m determinating doing because like you said, either one becomes worse. Would you recommend adding a source of corraline algae? Like fritz corraline?

Is there any coraline in the tank now? If not, I would. I used Arc Helix on mine.

My 40 is about a month ahead of you and I've got pretty good coverage on the glass and starboard - but still almost nothing on the rocks. No hair algae on the starboard at all - but fighting some on my rocks (which were dry).