These are some green rocks

BeejReef · Dec 18, 2019

Don't let the fuzzy stuff get out of control. Snails don't do much when it starts getting longer. Go after it with a scrubby brush (like a small toilet brush) just before a water change.

bjc451 · Dec 18, 2019

Yeah I scrubbed the rocks 2 days ago. Yesterday I added a maintenance dose of bacteria and turned the skimmer off for 24 hours then today i did a 25 percent water change. Siphoned out the sand bed. Scrubbing did not do much tho. I also made a homeade poly fill polisher for the stuff accumulated in the bottom of the sumo. Hopefully everything combined will start to reduce the uglies.

bjc451 · Jan 8, 2020

I have really been fighting the ugly stage with manual removal. Especially over the holidays. I also added some pods and wanted to let them try to grow before another water change. I waited 3 weeks. With all my scrubbing there was beginning to build some algae. I did one last scrub with pumps off and and siphoned the entire sand bed today with a 20% change. Tests reading no nitrates or phosphates. Tank looks pretty good hopefully I can keep my hands out for awhile.

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

And now the brown fuzz is back should I keep scrubbing or let it go? I reduced the over all brightness on Radion g4 pro from 67% to 40% do you think this will help?

AquaBiomics · Jan 11, 2020

IMO this looks normal for a young dry rock tank. Got any hermits? They can help with hair algae.

If you really want to cleanup manual removal followed by 3 to 5 days blackout will do a lot.

Just noticed you have some fish. Got any grazers? IME a blenny and a tang can keep algae under control better than most inverts.

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

I have a Midas and very occasionally nips at it. And a clown. My tank is too small for a tang. I was thinking maybe next a rabbit fish. But there minimum tank size is all over the place.

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

I have a few hermits and he murdered my trochus yesterday

Hemmdog · Jan 11, 2020

Stop all the manual cleaning, stop the sand bed siphoning, you never want 0 nitrate or phosphate. Leave it alone. Why are you doing water changes if you have 0 nitrate and phosphate?

ScottB · Jan 11, 2020

Yeah with @Hemmdog no need for all the cleansing and WC. What month are you at right now? Algae blenny always a good add. Before buying from lfs watch to see if a/he grazes well.

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

I figured the algae was consuming them and giving false readings

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

Almost 3 months day 84

Hemmdog · Jan 11, 2020

bjc451 said:
Almost 3 months day 84

How many water changes have you done?

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

I changed out 100% a 50 a 40 and a 10 spaced out post cycle. Then I did 2 more of 20%

Hemmdog · Jan 11, 2020

bjc451 said:
I changed out 100% a 50 a 40 and a 10 spaced out post cycle. Then I did 2 more of 20%

What salt mix and you are using RODI water right? I wouldn’t do any more water changes for awhile. Wait until you have 50 nitrate, 0.1 phosphate to do one again.

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

Yeah RODI and coral pro salt red sea

bjc451 · Jan 11, 2020

I feed a very small sliver of Mysis once a day

Dragon174 · Jan 13, 2020

Reduce your light intensity. Are you running and red or green spectrum? If so, reduce those to zero. Agree with stopping the water changes. The stuff in your tank is consuming all of your nitrates. You might want to looking into Vibrant. Even raising your levels (which you will want to do) will only feed the algae growth.

BeejReef · Jan 13, 2020

You've been uber patient, even by reefer standards.

My 2c is, if you want the tank to grow coral and coraline, it's time to put some in there! In a previous response I mentioned scrubbing the algae before a wc. I still think it's better to scrub it up than let it grow like rapunzel's hair, but if your nitrate and phosphate are at zero, you can just siphon it into a filter sock.

Ofc, you're probly not gonna put in your "someday acros" for a while, but if you come up with a general plan for your corals and placement, you'll be able to tune your lights to give you the par you want for your sandbed, mid-rock, and top of scape. Then you have one less variable. You know you want to be able to run under this much light and this spectrum, and you see how much of a struggle algae might be at that level. Then you can dial in your CUC or worker fish.