Algae id and advice

[JAKos]

I added some reef saver rock back in october of 2020 and early last year started getting a algae bloom I’ve been doing 10-15% water changes weekly scrubbing the rocks and getting as much out as i can but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference tested today and nitrate and phosphate are at 0ppm, i feed once per day and make sure to put in just enough and not to much i have 4 fish in total a randall prawn goby melanurus wrasse a clownfish and hippo tang the tank has been setup for 4 years now and I’ve tried leaving my skimmer on but i’m scared to leave it on as the algae is taking nutrients so i don’t want to take more nutrients out and starve the corals.

i’m 99% sure it’s gha but would like more confirmation, i’ve researched about getting more cuc and heard tuxedo urchins will eat gha? any other good recommendations is appreciated

 

[rmorris_14]

The green tinted algae definitely looks like GHA. I'm not sure about the lighter shade... is that just the lighting or is it a different color?
Your nitrate and phosphate could be reading that low just because the algae is consuming everything, giving you a false reading. What test kits are you using? upping your clean up crew can help, How much do you currently have?. I don't have experience with tuxedos but mexican turbo snails can be helpful. The tend to not like the longer stuff though. So i would remove the rocks and scrub as much off before adding a bunch of snail inverts. I don't know a ton, it's just been my limited experience with dealing with my own GHA. If nothing, else it will help bump your post

 

[JAKos]

The green tinted algae definitely looks like GHA. I'm not sure about the lighter shade... is that just the lighting or is it a different color?
Your nitrate and phosphate could be reading that low just because the algae is consuming everything, giving you a false reading. What test kits are you using? upping your clean up crew can help, How much do you currently have?. I don't have experience with tuxedos but mexican turbo snails can be helpful. The tend to not like the longer stuff though. So i would remove the rocks and scrub as much off before adding a bunch of snail inverts. I don't know a ton, it's just been my limited experience with dealing with my own GHA. If nothing, else it will help bump your post

The lighter shade one is brown, just looked lighter in that pic because i had to turn some lights down and as for test kits i use the hannah checker ulr for phosphate and salifert for nitrate and the pictures i showed have both the rocks glued together so i'm not sure if i can completely remove them or not

 

[rmorris_14]

The lighter shade one is brown, just looked lighter in that pic because i had to turn some lights down and as for test kits i use the hannah checker ulr for phosphate and salifert for nitrate and the pictures i showed have both the rocks glued together so i'm not sure if i can completely remove them or not

Gotcha.. it’s not ideal but I have a couple rocks I can’t remove so I just scrub them in the tank. I try not to do too much at once and then change the filter pad once all the gunk has been caught in it or do it right before my water change. I also have a subpar UV. There are other options as far as dosing with vibrant, or hydrogen peroxide. I only have experience with vibrant. It’s helped me get my problem under control. But there are multiple threads now coming out about it containing more than the manufacture claims (which is bottle bacteria) I don’t know the validity of the claims but it’s something to think about. I’m trying to get off the vibrant. Hopefully the added CUC I have in QT do the trick once I’m able to get them in there. I have seen multiple people claim their tuxedo urchin “mowed” through their GHA. However, I’m a bit more skeptical, as I have seen that claim being thrown out about the Mexican turbos and the lawnmower blenny. Both of which I have and both DO NOT mow through anything. They may help but it isn’t how people described.