Pseudo algae overgrowth (48 day old tank. )

[Ballyhoo]

This is humbling. My tank is overgrown by green, what I call pseudo algae, stringy stuff, on close inspection can appear brown. but looking through the tank looks green. If I pull on it it dissolves almost. IE it seems to have a very low mass. The worst thing is actual mechanical approach to removing it just harms the tank more, r I should say, the coral. when I go to remove it from the tank invariably some stringy material floats around and makes its way into the coral. Phosphates tested at LFS and at home @ zero. Nitrates/trites both low. I was told by a very reputable owner of a mostly coral shop (they sell some fish too) that my tank is low on nutrients and being out competed by the growth. The fish I have are all small and do not add much to the nutrient level. One approach I was provided was to buy a juvenile tang, a sailfin or purple, to help get the nutrient levels up in the tank, and that I would have to re-home the Tang soon, either with store credit or with a larger tank, since I only have a 42 gallon tank. Well next year I would like to buy a larger tank, 75g to 100G, but that is besides the point. I have also been advised to turn my LEDS as low as possible. I have them now at 2% blue and 1% white ( Red Sea LED system lights.) I had previously been water changing like crazy and having the skimmer work overtime. But now I turned off the skimmer waste cup so it just aerates. Ok I know my tank is young but I would like to get through this period and not have this be a chronic long standing issue. If this continues I will only have a fowler tank; but corals are more my interest. re paramaters:

Phospates: 0
Nitrates/rites less than 5ppm.
water temp was always above 81 degrees because I used two heaters and they would just be too high, now I unplugged the smaller heater and temp is 78F
Salinity 35/ 1.026
Mg, CA and KH all tested within normal limits ( CA , MG a little on the high side maybe because of all the water changes and blue-bucket. )
Any suggestions appreciated.
Maybe just wait it out?

 

[KrisReef]

I have had better luck with a Foxface for algae control, but it would also need to be moved to a larger tank as it grows.

Waiting it out is not easy and the timeframe is not always swift, ime. Still it’s a thing that generally works, eventually.

Some people add phytoplankton and pods to help with the maturation process.

No magic bullet that is reliable to secure the demise of the algae phase other than active work generally speeds up the process of healing.

With your goal of corals the work is worth the effort, ime.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I have had better luck with a Foxface for algae control, but it would also need to be moved to a larger tank as it grows.

Waiting it out is not easy and the timeframe is not always swift, ime. Still it’s a thing that generally works, eventually.

Some people add phytoplankton and pods to help with the maturation process.

No magic bullet that is reliable to secure the demise of the algae phase other than active work generally speeds up the process of healing.

With your goal of corals the work is worth the effort, ime.

When you refer to this as the "algae phase", that includes my pseudo algae? and what active work would one consider? Agitating the growth seems to just create more problems, as it causes the stringy material to get caught in coral. Maybe what I need to do is remove each rock, one by one, which is hard because they are built like a house of cards, and peroxide the rock. I am also wondering what might happen if I deny the tank of light for a while.

Or I could nuke the tank with chemiclean?

 

[Dan_P]

This is humbling. My tank is overgrown by green, what I call pseudo algae, stringy stuff, on close inspection can appear brown. but looking through the tank looks green. If I pull on it it dissolves almost. IE it seems to have a very low mass. The worst thing is actual mechanical approach to removing it just harms the tank more, r I should say, the coral. when I go to remove it from the tank invariably some stringy material floats around and makes its way into the coral. Phosphates tested at LFS and at home @ zero. Nitrates/trites both low. I was told by a very reputable owner of a mostly coral shop (they sell some fish too) that my tank is low on nutrients and being out competed by the growth. The fish I have are all small and do not add much to the nutrient level. One approach I was provided was to buy a juvenile tang, a sailfin or purple, to help get the nutrient levels up in the tank, and that I would have to re-home the Tang soon, either with store credit or with a larger tank, since I only have a 42 gallon tank. Well next year I would like to buy a larger tank, 75g to 100G, but that is besides the point. I have also been advised to turn my LEDS as low as possible. I have them now at 2% blue and 1% white ( Red Sea LED system lights.) I had previously been water changing like crazy and having the skimmer work overtime. But now I turned off the skimmer waste cup so it just aerates. Ok I know my tank is young but I would like to get through this period and not have this be a chronic long standing issue. If this continues I will only have a fowler tank; but corals are more my interest. re paramaters:

Phospates: 0
Nitrates/rites less than 5ppm.
water temp was always above 81 degrees because I used two heaters and they would just be too high, now I unplugged the smaller heater and temp is 78F
Salinity 35/ 1.026
Mg, CA and KH all tested within normal limits ( CA , MG a little on the high side maybe because of all the water changes and blue-bucket. )
Any suggestions appreciated.
Maybe just wait it out?

How about a closeup picture under white light of your algae problem?

 

[Ballyhoo]

here is the ugly

 

[Dan_P]

here is the ugly

Thanks!

Am I wrong thinking this growth is hair algae?

 

[Ballyhoo]

this stuff has no mass. if I try to pull on it, it disintegrates and get stringy and circulates in the tank.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Urchin
Reef safe urchin
Mexican turbo snails
No need to re home when it’s gone. Looks like hair algae.

 

[ryanjohn1]

You can search for
Brandon’s rip clean method also.

 

[Ballyhoo]

i'd rather just buy a new tank and do Brandon strip method.

 

[Rob&VC]

Looks to me like bryopsis with green cyano growing over it, hence the melting upon trying to remove it. The low nutrients are due to the quick consumption by the algae. Seeing your hitting the ugly stage you can wait it out and keep up with manual removal, watch you parameters and eventually it might clear up. Or...you can hit it with fluconizol to get rid of the bryopsis and once the tank settles down you can see what your real parameters are and tackle the cyano. A lot of folks don't like chemical treatments so it comes down to personal choice, but i had bryopsis that came with my live rock and blew up during the ugly stage. Nothing ate it and i could not get rid of it through nutrient control. Do some research on bryopsis and you can decide on what to do.
Cruise to long being low on nutrients and you'll be running the risk of dinos though.

 

[Ballyhoo]

and why is zero phosphate?

 

[Rob&VC]

Both nitrate and phosphate are consumed by algae...in what ratio?...better question for some of the biologist that are here but i had almost the same scenario you are encountering at around the same age. Be patient it'll resolve eventually.

 

[killer2001]

Green Cyano. I started to get patches of this for the first time and decided to nip it in the bud before it got out of hand. Bought some Chemiclean and increased my flow a bit more, haven't seen it come back since. Been about a month or so now.

 

[Lavey29]

You're going to be experiencing "pseudo algae" phases throughout the first year. You are only at the beginning. Get your hands wet.

 

[Dan_P]

this stuff has no mass. if I try to pull on it, it disintegrates and get stringy and circulates in the tank.

This is starting to sound like cyanobacteria, though it’s not a slimy looking film.. Do you access to a microscope?

 

[Ballyhoo]

This is starting to sound like cyanobacteria, though it’s not a slimy looking film.. Do you access to a microscope?

well I could bring it to my LFS. They seem to think it is hair algae but also said I could bring in a sample.

Also I ordered an algae kit from Algae farms. Galaxy something or another. Copepods, Phyto and a few different elixirs

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

here is the ugly

sorry but I do not think that blue linckia will make it.

 

[RockRash]

sorry but I do not think that blue linckia will make it.

It never stood a chance. Lol I believe he mentioned in a different thread it was fake. It's just there to add color.

 

[Ballyhoo]

well I could bring it to my LFS. They seem to think it is hair algae but also said I could bring in a sample.

more close up images