Unsure what to do

[fernalfer]

Ok i have a 120 gallon tank that has been up and running for 4 months. I went thru the diatom phase, which is still slightly lingering, but mostly have brown hair algae and 2 spots where cyano is spreading.

Now my parameters as of just 10 minutes ago:

Ammonia: 0 (RedSea)
Nitrite: 0 (RedSea)
Nitrate: 3 (RedSea)
Phosphates: 0 (Hannah Checker)
Calcium: 490
Magnesium: 1290
Alkalinity: 8 dKH
PH: 8.1

Now my phosphates i believe should be low because i had my Marco Dry Rock in Brute tubs for 6 months prior to putting them in the tank. I had them in RODI saltwater with heater and powerhead and was dosing phosfree to rid them of leeching phosphates.

With that said i'm unsure where this algae is coming from. I actually lowered the time my lights were on and it seems like the sandbed got worse with algae. The rocks really don't have that much algae but the sand bed does as you can see in the pic.

I do weekly 15% water changes and have carbon in a bag in the sump along with chaeto in the fuge. My protein skimmer is pulling some nice junk out and i replace my filter socks every day. I feel as if i have been working on this tank all the time trying to make sure everything is done right but can't rid this algae.

I have Redsea Nopox but have held off using it because i wanted to see if this would go away on its own but it hasn't. Should i dose?

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

 

[USMC4Life]

How deep is the bed ? Also do you have a big enough cleaning crew?

 

[twilliard]

The relation of no3 and po4 is just a small component of algae survival.
Once you see it no3 and po4 will have little impact on the overall health of the algae.
Once the light source is removed (permanently) then they will rely on outside nutrients which extend a lot further than just no3 and po4.

The key is to never introduce a single root or leaf of any unwanted algae.

 

[fernalfer]

How deep is the bed ? Also do you have a big enough cleaning crew?

2 inch sandbed. I have 3 turbo snails, 3 nassarius snails, 3 emerald crabs and 3 Scarlett hermit crabs but none seem to touch the sandbed except maybe the hermits.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

At 4 months you are still in the ugly phase. Every tank is different and the phase taks different times.
That doesn look like algae in the pic. It looks like cyano.
It looks like you started with dry rock. Those seem to take a lot longer to settle in.. Right now you dont have any thing in the tank to eat nutrients except chato. No corraline corals the fine layers of algae that grow on the rock.etc. So naturally the cyano and other stuff is growing because there is little to no competition for food.

I love closer pics of the algaes. At four months it might be a good time to get some starter(cheap) corals in there. I would dose a bacterial like prime Drt or MB7 to compete with the cyano. Hoes you chato growth. and are you feeding anything like amino fuel Marine snow etc the may be strait feeding the bad stuff>

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

2 inch sandbed. I have 3 turbo snails, 3 nassarius snails, 3 emerald crabs and 3 Scarlett hermit crabs but none seem to touch the sandbed except maybe the hermits.

oh at only 4 months you going to have to feed the crabs directly. the emeralds will likely not have enough food first.
DId the snail shell I see in the tank die in there? turbo death in the tank is kinda toxic, and put a lotta nutrients back in the tank.

 

[fernalfer]

oh at only 4 months you going to have to feed the crabs directly. the emeralds will likely not have enough food first.
DId the snail shell I see in the tank die in there? turbo death in the tank is kinda toxic, and put a lotta nutrients back in the tank.

No those are just extra snail shells I threw in there. Nothing has died. I hammer 2 zoas and 1 hammer for corals and the Chae to doesn't really grow. I'll take closer pics of the algae.

 

[fernalfer]

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Cool. the next question of course will be whats lighting the chato and whats ligting the DT.

 

[fernalfer]

One pic is cyano and one is brown algae I think

 

[fernalfer]

Cool. the next question of course will be whats lighting the chato and whats ligting the DT.

reefbreeders photon V2 LED lighting the tank: https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-48-v2/

5500k Par30 led light for fuge

 

[fernalfer]

As you can see hardly any algae on rocks

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

A little of where it is could be flow related a bit. It is the bottom of the tank as gravity does work.
But again as its still @ 4 months a new tank and dry rock was used so the bio filter in them needs time.
It could be one of the foods is a bit too high in something, or the flow needs tweaking to keep stuff suspended longer to get to the sump. But I dont think so.

Im going with completely normal.


Second opinions from far more experienced eyes? @Tahoe61 @jsker @Shep

 

[jsker]

Reading through the post you guys have covered a lot of ground. I agree with @saltyfilmfolks at four months you still cycling, as the system adjusts to new bio loads, new additions of corals. Looking at your Ca to Mg balance. Your Mg should be 3 x you Ca or your mg should be around 1470. Everything else looks good.
In the future the system is going to need a trace of phosphates for coral growth. I tray to run my phosphates around .02 ppm and nitrates around 3 to 5 ppm.

 

[fernalfer]

Reading through the post you guys have covered a lot of ground. I agree with @saltyfilmfolks at four months you still cycling, as the system adjusts to new bio loads, new additions of corals. Looking at your Ca to Mg balance. Your Mg should be 3 x you Ca or your mg should be around 1470. Everything else looks good.
In the future the system is going to need a trace of phosphates for coral growth. I tray to run my phosphates around .02 ppm and nitrates around 3 to 5 ppm.

How do I raise just magnesium?

 

[jsker]

You will need a magnesium supplement and mix the magnesium in with your water for water changes. Just to do mix alk with Mg, or Ca or it will cancel The Mg, and Ca.

 

[fernalfer]

You will need a magnesium supplement and mix the magnesium in with your water for water changes. Just to do mix alk with Mg, or Ca or it will cancel The Mg, and Ca.

Hold on a little confused. So get mag supplement and mix it in with my water change water? Correct and if so any recommendations for a mag supplement?

 

[jsker]

Hold on a little confused. So get mag supplement and mix it in with my water change water? Correct and if so any recommendations for a mag supplement?

If you use dry supplement mix with your water change water. I used Randy's 2 part and the are calculators on line of how much to use. I like Randy's 2 part for the reason I could just dump it into the tank. I you need the recipe I can find it. I mixed up 2 gallons and the shelf live is unlimited.

 

[USMC4Life]

2 inch sandbed. I have 3 turbo snails, 3 nassarius snails, 3 emerald crabs and 3 Scarlett hermit crabs but none seem to touch the sandbed except maybe the hermits.

Get a send sifting starfish and a bunch of snails.

 

[fernalfer]

Ok so a little update i pulled the rock that had about 45-50 polyps on it and dipped in CoralRX. I wanted to do this before starting the Furan-2 treatment. After the dip i put it in my Invert QT tank. within 3-4 hours all the polyps minus 6 or 7 opened fully. Now these zoas i can randomly see some very tiny white specks on a few of them like salt size. Starting to wonder if they have zoa pox or if they were just not happy that stringy pieces of the cyano bacteria on my tank were touching a lot of them?

any thoughts.

I have not pulled my other zoas yet but used a turkey baster to blast the cyano that was on them as well. They have some bigger white spots but almost look like they are part of there color. I'm unsure and if it isn't zoapox i don't want to take the time and effort it will take to try prying them from the rock because they are mounted with glue and putty.