Turf algae and low nutrients

[ReefSlice]

I now need to dose over .1 ppm PO4 spread throughout the day to keep any nutrients in my water. I dose every 8 hours up to .04 and by the next dose it is basically bottomed out again. Nitrate only needs to be dosed every few days to keep it 3-5 ppm. If I don't dose, my zoas pale out and begin melting within a few days. How do I break this cycle? I feel like I'm just feeding the algae but if I stop my corals die on me.
Updated pics. Tomorrow is my weekly water change. Any input is appreciated!

 

[dana92]

Have you tried Reef BioFuel by Brightwell? By what I read, if your tank doesn’t register nitrates and phosphates when dosing NeoNitro or NeoPhos, your tank is carbon limited, so you dose with Reef Biofuel until phosphates or nitrates show up. It’s all on Brightwell’s website if you need more info with the details.

 

[Seansea]

How many fish do you have? Dont see alot cruising around in your pics. More fish more food more poo more nutrients. Then get algae scrubber and have the stuff grow in there. If you have alot of fish and feed heavily and your nutrients are 0 i dont know what is up.

 

[ReefSlice]

How many fish do you have? Dont see alot cruising around in your pics. More fish more food more poo more nutrients. Then get algae scrubber and have the stuff grow in there. If you have alot of fish and feed heavily and your nutrients are 0 i dont know what is up.

I've added another 2 since making this post, so I have 5 fish: 2 clowns, a PJ cardinal, carpenter's flasher and a chalk bass, the last 2 added just over a month ago. Not a heavy bioload but by no means too light, and they get fed 2-3 times a day heavily. I do want to add another 1-2 but don't have the time to QT myself so I am at the mercy of availability from trusted QT services. I'm currently dosing .12 ppm PO4 over 12 small doses a day just to keep it around .04.

Have you tried Reef BioFuel by Brightwell? By what I read, if your tank doesn’t register nitrates and phosphates when dosing NeoNitro or NeoPhos, your tank is carbon limited, so you dose with Reef Biofuel until phosphates or nitrates show up. It’s all on Brightwell’s website if you need more info with the details.

BioFuel is in essence just carbon dosing, which will further push my nutrients down. I have often wondered if carbon dosing may somehow outcompete the algae for ammonia, but I am not willing to carbon dose an already ULNS at this point.
I truly believe this algae just thrives in low nutrient situations and is extremely hard to eradicate once settled in. It's not your standard run of the mill hair algae by any means. I have added 3 emerald crabs and 2 pithos crabs as well as scrubbed down all of my rocks while siphoning the algae into a filter sock simultaneously. It's been a week and the turf is definitely still growing a bit, but the crabs are definitely helping and I have knocked out a huge biomass of this stuff. Hopefully picking/scrubbing it out once a week and maybe one or two more specialty CUC members will help me keep this stuff under control. I added 3 acros 2 weeks ago and they seem to be doing great thus far now that I have my PO4 and nitrate pegged at .04-.06 and 6. I'll keep this thread updated as I continue to battle this nasty stuff.

 

[Palegic]

I've added another 2 since making this post, so I have 5 fish: 2 clowns, a PJ cardinal, carpenter's flasher and a chalk bass, the last 2 added just over a month ago. Not a heavy bioload but by no means too light, and they get fed 2-3 times a day heavily. I do want to add another 1-2 but don't have the time to QT myself so I am at the mercy of availability from trusted QT services. I'm currently dosing .12 ppm PO4 over 12 small doses a day just to keep it around .04.

BioFuel is in essence just carbon dosing, which will further push my nutrients down. I have often wondered if carbon dosing may somehow outcompete the algae for ammonia, but I am not willing to carbon dose an already ULNS at this point.
I truly believe this algae just thrives in low nutrient situations and is extremely hard to eradicate once settled in. It's not your standard run of the mill hair algae by any means. I have added 3 emerald crabs and 2 pithos crabs as well as scrubbed down all of my rocks while siphoning the algae into a filter sock simultaneously. It's been a week and the turf is definitely still growing a bit, but the crabs are definitely helping and I have knocked out a huge biomass of this stuff. Hopefully picking/scrubbing it out once a week and maybe one or two more specialty CUC members will help me keep this stuff under control. I added 3 acros 2 weeks ago and they seem to be doing great thus far now that I have my PO4 and nitrate pegged at .04-.06 and 6. I'll keep this thread updated as I continue to battle this nasty stuff.

have you figured this out yet?

I am having similar issues. I ran a ULN system for years with soft corals and some LPS. 0 & 0 however I never had an issue with zoas, leathers or some LPS. Torches and Euphillia would die on me after many months of loosing color with the exception of pearl bubble.

Anyway, I recently started getting more into the acros and SPS and have been trying to up my nutrient levels to make them a bit easier to grow and keep. My nutrient levels have been a mess and very hard to keep in the right range. I have to dose daily but now algae has been growing which is screwing with my test results.

Cant really figure this one out

 

[ReefSlice]

have you figured this out yet?

I am having similar issues. I ran a ULN system for years with soft corals and some LPS. 0 & 0 however I never had an issue with zoas, leathers or some LPS. Torches and Euphillia would die on me after many months of loosing color with the exception of pearl bubble.

Anyway, I recently started getting more into the acros and SPS and have been trying to up my nutrient levels to make them a bit easier to grow and keep. My nutrient levels have been a mess and very hard to keep in the right range. I have to dose daily but now algae has been growing which is screwing with my test results.

Cant really figure this one out

I just finished my weekly water change and can cautiously say I have this stuff beat. The key in my case was adding some crabs after heavy manual removal and scrubbing. I added 2 emeralds and 2 pithos crabs and they went to town on the stuff. Even the larger chunks that they wouldn't eat they would rip off the rockwork and deep crevices and it would go down to the filter socks. I was very hesitant to try the crabs but they have really turned the tank around in just a few short weeks. I am still dosing nutrients and have them locked in at 6 no3 and .06-.08 po4. Once I changed to dosing po4 8 times a day and keeping it stable at or above .04 I think the algae weakened and corals began winning the battle for nutrients. The 3 acros I added a month ago are all encrusted, colored up and have great PE. Good luck with it and be patient!

 

[Palegic]

I just finished my weekly water change and can cautiously say I have this stuff beat. The key in my case was adding some crabs after heavy manual removal and scrubbing. I added 2 emeralds and 2 pithos crabs and they went to town on the stuff. Even the larger chunks that they wouldn't eat they would rip off the rockwork and deep crevices and it would go down to the filter socks. I was very hesitant to try the crabs but they have really turned the tank around in just a few short weeks. I am still dosing nutrients and have them locked in at 6 no3 and .06-.08 po4. Once I changed to dosing po4 8 times a day and keeping it stable at or above .04 I think the algae weakened and corals began winning the battle for nutrients. The 3 acros I added a month ago are all encrusted, colored up and have great PE. Good luck with it and be patient!

Dosing Po4 8 times a day? Do you have a separate dosing pump?

 

[ReefSlice]

Dosing Po4 8 times a day? Do you have a separate dosing pump?

Yes, I dose about .12 ppm/day spread out over 8 doses (every 3 hours) on an x1 pump. Dosing only once or twice a day would bottom out my po4 between doses. Insane how fast this tank eats po4. Hopefully it won't last forever.

 

[Palegic]

Yes, I dose about .12 ppm/day spread out over 8 doses (every 3 hours) on an x1 pump. Dosing only once or twice a day would bottom out my po4 between doses. Insane how fast this tank eats po4. Hopefully it won't last forever.

thats what im afraid of. I already dose 2part. i have a spare pump but not one for both nitrate and phosphate

 

[Palegic]

Dosed .03 phosphates and 5ppm of Nitrates last night. This morning I was back down to 0 Po4 and 1.7 No3

Corals are starting to loose vibrant colors and become more pale.

I have been feeding PE mysis in my autofeeder 3x per day. And usually a bit of some type of frozen (polyp poppers, or reef frenzy) once every day or two. Reef roids target only once per week.

Hair algae still present but now I am more worried about keeping nutirents up for the corals.

 

[ReefSlice]

Dosed .03 phosphates and 5ppm of Nitrates last night. This morning I was back down to 0 Po4 and 1.7 No3

Corals are starting to loose vibrant colors and become more pale.

I have been feeding PE mysis in my autofeeder 3x per day. And usually a bit of some type of frozen (polyp poppers, or reef frenzy) once every day or two. Reef roids target only once per week.

Hair algae still present but now I am more worried about keeping nutirents up for the corals.

Keep increasing the po4 dosage daily until it registers 24 hours later if you're only going to dose 1x/day. Takes a while of daily testing to dial in. Nitrate is a bit easier, I got it up to 5 and then only had to dose 1 ppm every 5-7 days to keep it 3-5. Feeding more did nothing for my tank and I think overfeeding will fuel the algae more than dosing nutrients for some reason. I feed 3x a day heavily.

 

[xCROv]

Dosed .03 phosphates and 5ppm of Nitrates last night. This morning I was back down to 0 Po4 and 1.7 No3

Corals are starting to loose vibrant colors and become more pale.

I have been feeding PE mysis in my autofeeder 3x per day. And usually a bit of some type of frozen (polyp poppers, or reef frenzy) once every day or two. Reef roids target only once per week.

Hair algae still present but now I am more worried about keeping nutirents up for the corals.

How did it turn out? I've had constant issues with the exact same algae that ReefSlice was having issues with. I haven't really noticed an impact from emeralds, but maybe I just don't have enough for the tank size (72.3" x 25.3" x 16.1" with 2-3 emeralds). Fluc has zero impact on the turf algae. I definitely think this is what's sapping all the nutrients out of my tank with the speed it grows at.