Trying a new battle axe against algae

[crock921]

SO I started out with a nano about 18 months ago, and battled cyano, gha, and detritus with no success.
I have since upgraded to a 150g with sump, and am already seeing cyano, detritus, and some random algaes.

I could attribute this round to the uglies from changing the sand and going with 120 lbs of new sand, but I am starting to think it is me.

I picked up some of the Red Sea Phosphate remover and a hanna phosphate tester, along with a red sea nitrate tester to replace my unreadable PITA API nitrate tester.

Has anyone had luck with this stuff? I have read good things. I chose it over a dual media reactor because I was reading that a reactor is better for maintenance and this product is better for reduction and elimination of NO3 and PO4.

Thoughts?

Im really tired of always having an algae ridden tank!

I am running a filter sock, changed weekly, and a skimmer, which is emptied every couple days. It was pulling light water, but I have it dialed in and is not pulling black sludge.

I have also slowed down on feeding algae sheets from every other day to 1-2x per week, with mysis shrimp blocks now being fed more often.

 

[reef208]

Three possible causes:
1) Water quality - which it looks like you are reviewing with the phosphate and nitrate test, as well as, potential use of a phosphate remover
2) The sand - what kind of sand are you using? what grain size? If you were using beach sand or playground sand for example, which some people do, it could be full of contaminates. Also if it's a really fine sand, it makes it hard to have good circulation in the tank without the sand storm effect.
3) Circulation - There may not be enough water flow to keep debris from settling on the sand bed or rock. Cyano hates strong water flow, so if you increase the flow in areas that you see if popping up, that will help get rid of it. All the debris needs to get knocked up so it can go into the filter sock.

Also, are you growing any macro algae in your sump to help absorb nutrients?

 

[crock921]

Water quality is something I am working on. My nitrates were around 10-20 on an API kit, but deciphering shades of orange is tough.

Sand: 80lbs of caribsea crushed coral and topped off with 40lbs of special grade. The sand may be cycling, but the rocks have been up and running for years. When we moved the tank, I replaced all the sand.

Flow: the return is a Rio 32 and I have a RW15 in the tank. I will try lowering it to scrape the vs and more. I was going for surface agitation

 

[crock921]

Also, I want to set up a fuge, but have not yet. I don't have much space under my stand and I think my sump has too much flow

 

[Reefing Madness]

No such thing as to much flow in your sump for a fuge, the flow actually helps grow the plants you have.
Your phosphates are a big problem, especially if your Nitrates are only 20, those won't be causing you any trouble at that point.
Flow is a big issues with Cyano, ya gotta have enough in the tank so as not to have any dead spots, you of course want some surface agitation, but don' twnat the tank to suffer for it.

 

[zemuss]

How often do you do a water change and what percentage of water?

I would try fighting algae with algae. ATS are a start and a good macro like cheato.

 

[crock921]

I'm going to add another rw15 on the other side, and aim it low. Hopefully that helps. I was always told you want the water going through the fuge slowly. Maybe I will post a pic of my sump and you guys can suggest an option for placing macro.

Would a gfo reactor help or is it better to do it naturally?

 

[reef208]

I'd start with the additional flow and see how that goes.

 

[crock921]

Maybe I should change my wave maker placement to stir the water more.

 

[Pete polyp]

I'm going to add another rw15 on the other side, and aim it low. Hopefully that helps. I was always told you want the water going through the fuge slowly. Maybe I will post a pic of my sump and you guys can suggest an option for placing macro.

Would a gfo reactor help or is it better to do it naturally?

You want the tank turnover rate through the sump slow so it has time for the macroalgae to absorb what's coming through. But you also want to put some powerheads inside the sump to increase the flow to help the algae grow. I hope this makes sense to you.

 

[zemuss]

Yes turnover and flow are two different things.

Flow in the Display can be 5000gph but the flow through the sump /fuge can be 10X total volume.. However the fuge flow could then be 10X Total FUGE volume.

 

[Wilsoni]

IME Red Sea Phosphate remover was the ONLY thing that resolved my algae issues in my IM Fusion 20g. I tried multiple methods to eliminate all of the contributing factors to problem algae in my nano. Then I gave NO3O4-X a try and within 5 days my algae problems had completely disappeared and my sand bed was nice and white again.

My main issue was BHA and GHA along with this bright yellow/green algae which covered most of my sandbed. I tried heavy water changes, upping my cleanup crew, introducing a seahare, maintaining proper parameters, reducing feeding, increasing flow with an MP10WQD and even adjusting my light cycle. This was a continuous battle for nearly 4 months prior to dosing NO3O4-X.

I understand that the instructions state running a skimmer is a MUST. However with my tank being a nano and a lack of effective in sump skimmer options available, I chose to take a leap of faith and dosed the NO3O4-X followed by two large water changes during the dosing period. Call me crazy for doing so but it worked for me and I haven't had any algae problems since.

 

[crock921]

That is very much what I'm hoping to hear Wilson. Do you still dose or did you stop once the algae went away?

I moved my wave maker to stir the water more, but still have two dead spots I can't get to

 

[kidzaac87]

Following, I have used the RedSea NO3PO4 has brought my nitrates and phosphates down and I now maintain it low with refugium, dosing the redsea and water changes but I still have GHA and Bubble Algae.

 

[crock921]

I really need to get the fuge figured out. I would ultimately like to grow mangroves.

SO I have a 150 with about a 20g sump. I dosed for 150g since I have no idea how to figure out how much water the LR displaces. Hopefully it isnt too much of an overdose if it is in fact less water.

I dont have a dosing pump, so I am doing 9ml in the am and 9 in the pm. What has your successful dosing schedule looked like?

 

[zemuss]

why do you want to grow mangroves? there are other algae that you can grow which would be much more effective than mangroves. Just throwing it out there.. Unless you are going to grow mangroves and something else..

 

[crock921]

why do you want to grow mangroves? there are other algae that you can grow which would be much more effective than mangroves. Just throwing it out there.. Unless you are going to grow mangroves and something else..

The only reason I said mangroves is because a successful reefer I know suggested them as the best. I'm completely open to whatever is the most effective at nutrient removal. If I can get successful macro and avoid reactors, I would be ecstatic

 

[zemuss]

Tumble some cheato with a light schedule which is some what opposite of your light schedule for starters. Mangroves are ok at exporting but not the best. I would try some mangroves but would do a combination of things. I am a big fan of the ATS but might be giving cheato a go again because I want to suck out all the nutrients.

My ATS light schedule is 12 am to 6 pm, so it is a 18 on and 6 off. The opposite cycle helps keeping the ph swings from being so drastic.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

First off, welcome to the hobby. Congrats on your new 150 and I'm looking forward to seeing pics of your build and as the tank starts growing. Sorry to hear about the algae frustration, but it is a big part of starting a new tank. I don't have a definitive answer to the issues that are happening, but a few suggestions. save your money before you start buying this and that chemical or additive. Yes they do work, sometimes..
But the issue will keep returning if you don't figure out the problem in the first place.
Water: what are you using for top off? Do you use a TDS meter on your top off water? Are there silicates? What is your skimmer rated for? Wet or dry skim? What are you feeding and how much? How many fish?
Flow: you can just never have enough.my flow rate in my 190 is about 12-13000 gph (inside the tank). That's not all in one direction, and it doesn't move the sand to much. How is your rock stacked? Can you open it up a bit? What kind of rock? Maybe look into some powerheads. I bought a gyre system that I love. Where I felt like sand was moving to much I added some crushed coral or live rock rubble to break up the flow.
Sump: I'll be honest, 20g sump seems a bit small for a 150 display and not much room to play with. Skimmer, return pump and heater probably eats up the whole thing. Are you running any reactors? Socks or filter pads? And how often , if you do use either, do you change or clean them? A fuge is great, but would need to be pretty big to help with any nutrient export. Could add another tank as a display fuge..?
My tank is just a year and a half old, the first year was hell with algae, bryopsis, fish and coral losses. I was at a point of just going FOWLR. I had tried everything (chemically) under the sun to try and fix it. finally I just decided going simple and old school. Water changes, watching my feeding, rowaphos in a reactor, and flow. I found that I could feed the same amount a day, but split it into multiple feedings that there was less waste. Changing pads and socks twice a week stopped any build up. Turkey baster blasting my rocks a couple times a week really helped. Instead of dry skimming, I started making it a bit wetter. Finally the algae just kinda burned itself out. There are still trace amount of po4 and nitrates in my tank, but it's in what I consider an acceptable level, and my corals are starting to explode with growth and color. I feel my husbandry skills have improved tremendously because of the situation, and I have more money in my pocket for frags instead of a closet full of chemicals.

 

[crock921]

That is a lot of info! Thanks! I don't know wet vs dry skimming. I have an rw15 on else, which is really moving a lot of water. Everything in the tank has been established for a few years except the sand. When we moved the tank, u replaced the sand. Feeding was an algae sheet 3x times a week, but now I do a mysis cube every other day. I top off with ro from the store, but don't have a tds meter. I have a filter sock, and change it weekly. I need to start with a turkey baster.
I have about 6 fish: 3 tangs, a flame angel, a hawkfish, and a melanarus wrasse. Two gobies and two shrimp. Some nassarius snails.