Shoot me.

[RichtheReefer21]

Tank: 125g 6ft
Parameters over the last month or two:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates < 10
Po4 < .2

Current cuc:
80ish nessarius
20ish astrea
16 turbos
Stomatella
Sea slug
Red star
2x coral banded shrimp
1x cleaner shrimp
Sea hare Nudi (4")
2x tiger conch
50ish hermits (blue, red, mixed)
Unknown population of micro bristle stars

Livestock:
Tiger goby
Zebra sailfin tang
Midas blenny
Damsel
2x designer clowns
6 line wrasse
1 chromis

Help. It's been 2 months I've been battling this stuff. What is it and I'm ready to give up on natural methods and begin dosing to be done with it.


Thanks in advance,
Rich

 

[Hitman]

You need to get your PO4 way down it should be 0.02 not 0.2 For the bubble algae I recommend a few emerald crabs they spent all day and night hunting down and eating it. For the cyno it looks to be in low flow areas so increase your flow in the tank to prevent any dead spots. The bushy green looks like possibly byropsis or GHA I found Vibrant tank cleaner took care of that in a matter of a few weeks or less.

 

[WVNed]

I used Vibrant. It worked for me. Also consider less white light.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

My whites run below 20%

Cant seem to keep emeralds alive in this tank for some undiscovered reason. I'll try to add a pair again.

Recommendation for lowering phosphates? Chemi-pure elite?

I will pick up some vibrant this week too.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

You need to get your PO4 way down it should be 0.02 not 0.2

I thought po4 that low was considered uln and predominantly for sps setups?

 

[WVNed]

Well you seem to have enough light to make the algae very happy.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Well I've got 48 species of coral, so ya, the hydra 26hds run 8 hrs, 1.5 hr ramp up and down. Blues and purples run 80% at peak, uv is around 35%. Green and red below 4%, white never goes over 22%. Idk..

 

[Heavymman]

How old is the tank? Did you use dry rock? Did you cure the dry rock? Do you have a QT process (corals/inverts)? Only reason I’m asking is because those can maybe better helps the situation and ppl more experienced then me can give better remedies....

 

[Hitman]

I thought po4 that low was considered uln and predominantly for sps setups?

Yes and No.
SPS like it .01-.02 for the most part LPS between .02 and .1 anything over 0.1 generally turns into a algae garden not always but more often then not.
Personally I’ve found that if I keep my NO3 under 15 ppm and my PO4 at 0.02 all my corals, Anemones, inverts, and fish are happy happy.
ULN are normally NO3 under 5 ppm PO4 0.01 which is great for SPS but to clean for most lps.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

How old is the tank? Did you use dry rock? Did you cure the dry rock? Do you have a QT process (corals/inverts)? Only reason I’m asking is because those can maybe better helps the situation and ppl more experienced then me can give better remedies....

The tank overall is 7 months old. All the rock started in a 55g. The rock was not cured. But yes, dry rock and dry live rock mixed. Yes I have a strict QT regiment, though I'm not sure how that matters here...

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Yes and No.
SPS like it .01-.02 for the most part LPS between .02 and .1 anything over 0.1 generally turns into a algae garden not always but more often then not.
Personally I’ve found that if I keep my NO3 under 15 ppm and my PO4 at 0.02 all my corals, Anemones, inverts, and fish are happy happy.
ULN are normally NO3 under 5 ppm PO4 0.01 which is great for SPS but to clean for most lps.

Alright... I'll grab some emeralds and try to keep them alive and give vibrant a shot.

Should I give chemi-pure a shot before vibrant or does vibrant strip po4 as well?

 

[cracker]

How long do you acclimate the crabs? I felll they require a slow,long acclimation. Are the snails croaking or just not eating anythings S
Sorry for all the questions.

 

[CCK_8814]

I shoot for 0.03-0.05 for phosphate. I do not run a ULNS. My understanding is that level phosphate goes for just about every tank regardless of if it’s ULN or not. Also when I ran radions my whites never went over 10% otherwise had serious algae issues like you’re experiencing. Phosgard May be a better option than chemipure unless you go with chemi pure blue which if memory serves me right also has GFO in it.

 

[Heavymman]

The tank overall is 7 months old. All the rock started in a 55g. The rock was not cured. But yes, dry rock and dry live rock mixed. Yes I have a strict QT regiment, though I'm not sure how that matters here...

Been reading the forums for months while I’m curing my dry rock to reduce the PO4, that’s why I asked..... I don’t think after reading a lot of the threads I would ever introduce dry rock without “curing”.... that being said imho you have a phosphate /nitrate issue... you may have to live with it for a while but I will let the experts answer

 

[Hitman]

Alright... I'll grab some emeralds and try to keep them alive and give vibrant a shot.

Should I give chemi-pure a shot before vibrant or does vibrant strip po4 as well?

I have no experience with chemi-pure so I can’t speak how well it works. Vibrant seems to strip it, at least in my case it did.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Been reading the forums for months while I’m curing my dry rock to reduce the PO4, that’s why I asked..... I don’t think after reading a lot of the threads I would ever introduce dry rock without “curing”.... that being said imho you have a phosphate /nitrate issue... you may have to live with it for a while but I will let the experts answer

My nitrates are steady and perfect.

 

[Heavymman]

My nitrates are steady and perfect.

What’s perfect?

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I shoot for 0.03-0.05 for phosphate. I do not run a ULNS. My understanding is that level phosphate goes for just about every tank regardless of if it’s ULN or not. Also when I ran radions my whites never went over 10% otherwise had serious algae issues like you’re experiencing. Phosgard May be a better option than chemipure unless you go with chemi pure blue which if memory serves me right also has GFO in it.

Thanks

 

[RichtheReefer21]

What’s perfect?

Appreciate ur input. Got my answer. I've been on these forums for months as well.

 

[Heavymman]

Appreciate ur input. Got my answer. I've been on these forums for months as well.

Good luck

Was just trying to help , glad you have it... there is proportion of phosphates and nitrates but sorry to hinder your help