Turf algae scrubber goody

[Reef AquaCult]

Any ideas why I’m not getting nice green hair algae growth? Have measurable nitrates and phosphates in the tank. Used to get thick hairy mats of gha, now getting this slimy stuff

 

[BostonReefer300]

That could be bacterial sludge. Have you recently started adding bacteria or doing carbon dosing or something like that?

 

[Reef AquaCult]

That could be bacterial sludge. Have you recently started adding bacteria or doing carbon dosing or something like that?

None of that. I dosed fluconazole many months ago and that was the last dosing of any med or additive. I’ve got gha growing in display so it seems very odd it won’t grow on the scrubber

 

[BostonReefer300]

None of that. I dosed fluconazole many months ago and that was the last dosing of any med or additive. I’ve got gha growing in display so it seems very odd it won’t grow on the scrubber

OK sorry then I'm out of ideas. I don't have any turf scrubber experience. Hopefully someone else can help you!

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

What's your regular maintenance and dosing regimen?

EDIT: my maintenance I'm referring to not only the scrubber (frequency/aggressiveness/etc) but also your other tank maintenance, like water changes, other filtration, media, etc

 

[theMeat]

Check magnesium levels

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Potassium and trace also

 

[Cory]

Mine only gets like that when the flow is too slow that the existing algae dies. The spots that gets great flow is full of green ulva intestinis or hair algae. Up your flow.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

What's your regular maintenance and dosing regimen?

EDIT: my maintenance I'm referring to not only the scrubber (frequency/aggressiveness/etc) but also your other tank maintenance, like water changes, other filtration, media, etc

Didn’t change water for maybe 6 months. Magnesium is like 1500 on salifert. I just did 30% water change maybe this Will help. I also just increased water flow rate too thanks

 

[ADAM]

Low iron is the main reason for yellow colored algae. Some other trace are likely low as well. Many people find they need to dose something like chaeto-grow as a supplement for the algae to have proper growth (nutrient uptake)

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Low iron is the main reason for yellow colored algae. Some other trace are likely low as well. Many people find they need to dose something like chaeto-grow as a supplement for the algae to have proper growth (nutrient uptake)

Yeah I’ll pick some of that up thank you

 

[TheDragonsReef]

×2 for low iron.

 

[Cory]

Thats not low iron. Thats a lack of water flow. There is plenty of iron in the foods we feed in our tanks to support algae.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

I also just increased water flow rate too thanks

That's not necessarily the correct move - too much flow can actually have a negative effect.

Lots of answers being thrown out, but what is really needed in order to give you a correct assessment is more information

How often do you harvest the algae? (should be every 10-14 days generally but this is not a rule)
How aggressively do you remove algae and/or clean the screen? (should not be aggressive)
Are you scrubbing the screen with a brush? (you should not, only the top edge)
Are you rinsing it in tap water after you harvest/clean? (you should)
Are you leaving some algae behind? (you should)
What is your screen size?
How much flow are you running? Or what pump, what does flow look like, etc.
What is the scrubber photoperiod?
Can you adjust intensity of the light?
Pics/brand/model of your scrubber might help also
Do you ever do an interim cleaning where you only rub & rinse the screen to get rid of slime?
What is your tank size?
What is your bioload?
How much do you feed?
What do you feed?

That'll get us started. Have to pinpoint the issue or else it's like chasing pH.

 

[paintman]

My clearwater produces the same slimy stuff. Ive had mine up and running for over 2 years now and can't get anything else to grow. Just got my ICP test back and most all of my traces where good.
I was running reverse lighting period at 12 on 12 off. thought that was the problem. I just upped the lighting to 20 on 4 off but havn't seen any difference yet. (2 Weeks)
I'm not sure if the algae scrubber is even doing anything as my point of sale always reads.02-.06 and my nitrates hover around 1.5, but I am now seeing alot of GHA in my tank.
I clean both sides of my screen every 7 days and alwys rinse the screen. Running a Sicce 1.5 wide open.
Curious to know if this slime algae uptakes P and N the same way the thick hairy green algae thats supposed to grow on the screen does.

 

[paintman]

200 gallon tank 2 cubes per day

 

[Cory]

That slime algae isn't slime algae its decaying hair algae.

 

[Borat]

Nice pictures! Bon appetit!

 

[Stang67]

I had the same issue. I always scrub my screen clean and re seed it by grabbing some hair algae out of the sump and rubbing back on the screen. I think that helps to start the right kind of algae.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

You should rarely need to scrub the screen down to the bare canvas. Really the only time this is needed is when you get a specific type of growth that almost looks like an oil coating and it comes off in flakes when you scrub it. Other than that, you should leave anything in the holes of the mesh alone, just scrape and rinse.

Scrubbing with a brush essentially starts your screen over to some extent and then it will take longer to act as effective filtration. Leaving the growth in the holes behind allows the growth to take off immediately.