Tank parameters gone wild.....need suggestions

[Reef Wrecker Joshua]

Are you sure that's algae? Never seen purple algae before

We have lots of green hair algae in the tank. I'm not really sure about the purple color on the sand. I was hoping someone here might know more about it.

 

[Reef Wrecker Joshua]

Is the purple stuff on the sand hard or slimy? Does it break apart easily?

It's not slimy at all

 

[thaitopher]

It's not slimy at all

It's possible that it's corraline although corraline doesn't typically grow on sand

 

[Reef Wrecker Joshua]

It's possible that it's corraline although corraline doesn't typically grow on sand

My wife thinks it's corraline, but I'm not so sure

 

[thaitopher]

I would strongly suggest doing 3 day total blackout. It may not completely get rid of the hair algae but if the purple stuff is in fact algae it will probably disappear. I just did a 3 day total blackout myself last week and my algae completely went away. It will obviously come back so I am off to the next step of figuring out nutrient control. I do 25% water change every week

 

[Reef Wrecker Joshua]

I would strongly suggest doing 3 day total blackout. It may not completely get rid of the hair algae but if the purple stuff is in fact algae it will probably disappear. I just did a 3 day total blackout myself last week and my algae completely went away. It will obviously come back so I am off to the next step of figuring out nutrient control. I do 25% water change every week

I love the blackout idea. We have another tank we could move some corals to temporarily if that's necessary. Thank you for the suggestion

 

[thaitopher]

My corals did fine after the blackout

 

[Reef Wrecker Joshua]

We did a 50% water change today with RO/DI water. Our nitrates dropped to around 80 and phosphates are down to 2 now.
We're gonna do another 50% change in a couple days with hopes of cutting the nitrate levels to 40.
Also, I think we are going to remove the bio wheel filter and see what that does. I have a hunch it might be contributing to the high nitrates. The live rock has been in the tank for years, so I hope it will help prevent any ammonia spikes (fingers crossed) We also added a small amount of chaeto to our sump, with hopes it might grow into a nice ball soon.
Anyone have any suggestions for us when we remove the bio wheel? I know we need to monitor ammonia levels closely. Anything other than that??
Thanks again for all the great suggestions so far.
Josh and Heather