Algae ID please.

[Montu]

Hello,

I think this isn't too bad but want to make sure everything is properly ID'd tank is 2.5 months old coral only after my one survivor decided to go carpet surfing a day into the new setup..

Anyway.

Please see attached and thanks in advance for any ID

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Looks like cyano. I assume it blows off?

 

[backdraft310]

Hello,

I think this isn't too bad but want to make sure everything is properly ID'd tank is 2.5 months old coral only after my one survivor decided to go carpet surfing a day into the new setup..

Anyway.

Please see attached and thanks in advance for any ID

Looks like the start of cotton candy algae or Cyano.

 

[Montu]

I'll have to look into cotton candy algae...it doesn't blow off when turkey basted it just moves a bit like hair.

Not really sure what's up with the Algae...it's not taking over but I also have diatoms GHA and bubble algae.

CUC is small I think, it's in IM30L with an emerald crab, 1 turbo, 2 turban snails and a margarita snail

The Emerald seems to be taking out the bubble Algae but isn't doing much about this stuff or really what I think is small amounts of GHA.

Corals are only being fed once a week if even that, I only have a few so there is some overfeeding the two peppermint shrimp the the crab share/steal it.

I'm also running 50g of Phosban to try and avoid the new tank algae spike/keep the cuc low.

 

[backdraft310]

I'll have to look into cotton candy algae...it doesn't blow off when turkey basted it just moves a bit like hair.

Ya , if it does not blow off or move easy its not Cyano.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hit it with a toothbrush and grab more and diverse snails.

Keep an eye on the emerald , if they don’t have enough to eat ...

 

[Montu]

Thanks guys guess i'll just scrub it off and increase the CUC...fishless w/ gfo i thought I could keep a small cuc :-/

 

[mcarroll]

tank is 2.5 months old coral only after my one survivor decided to go carpet surfing a day into the new setup..

Very new tank. Almost certainly too new to take fish.

Stick with only the CUC (diversify it like Salty said) and corals for at least a few weeks.

Once things seem to be more settled and algae is under control then add another coral or two. Ideally placed them in those spots where algae was growing. A few weeks after that (which should be "months" from now) consider adding 1-2 new fish at most.

Corals are only being fed once a week if even that

Stop coral feeding. They will use currently available dissolved nutrients, eat any remaining detritus, etc and be GREAT.

By way of contrast, it's very unlikely they're eating much of what you're putting in the tank for them....which means coral food is mostly just polluting the tank and setting the stage for bigger algae blooms.

there is some overfeeding

Stop any overfeeding – not helpful unless you enjoy algae blooms.

Adequate, regular feeding is the ideal. If "regular" is a problem for any reason (like maybe you work), don't hesitate to use an auto-feeder for help. But don't make up for anything by over-feeding.

I'm also running 50g of Phosban

GFO is something to be avoided in a new tank that is still maturing. You want detectable PO4 and NO3 in a tank this young. (Not near-zero or zero for either one.)

The best nutrient control at this early stage is to control how much you're putting into the tank – limit BOTH livestock and food to appropriate amounts. This prevents the need for anything like you're doing AND grows a healthy tank with naturally limited algae.

Other than that, at this stage you should only be using live rock, a protein skimmer, a healthy CUC and some water changes. That's it.

Limiting Dissolved Nutrients
Limiting dissolved nutrients is a weak control against algae anyway. But it's a very effective strategy in a new tank for causing bad/nuisance algae to grow and to be favored vs good algae.

If you choose to limit dissolved nutrients with filter media or carbon dosing, wait until the tank is very mature – at least a couple years old.

In the mean time your whole microbial food web in the tank is trying to mature but being compromised by the reduced level of P and and the general nutrient imbalance thanks to your selective removal of one nutrient but not the rest of them.

 

[mcarroll]

fishless w/ gfo

Easy mistake to make in the current climate. Instead, you want "fishless w/ CUC."

 

[Montu]

Thanks, I ordered some more CUC from reefcleaners.

I've decided to go Coral only for a while until we have all the coral we want and it's doing great, I'll stop all feeding..the only concern is the peppermint shrimp..don't they need some meat or will they pick at algae?

I also realized I miscalculated the age of the tank, not that it makes a difference, I tore it down and rebuilt (all new rock and sand) it and it's been 80ish days since I believe the cycle completed and I moved my coral from my QT into this DT...so that puts it at approx 3.5 months?

Dry rock was acid dipped and soaked in bleach for 7 days prior to being used.

 

[mcarroll]

You can feed the shrimps, but consider their tiny body mass.....it won't take very much. Maybe 1 or 2 individual mysis shrimps per day, for example?

(I'd take that GFO offline as well.)

Dry rock was acid dipped and soaked in bleach for 7 days prior to being used.

Any chance of getting some live rock?

 

[Montu]

You can feed the shrimps, but consider their tiny body mass.....it won't take very much. Maybe 1 or 2 individual mysis shrimps per day, for example?

(I'd take that GFO offline as well.)



Any chance of getting some live rock?

Okay I'll just feed them their tiny amounts, and note taken about the gfo..I guess i'll take it offline when i get the new CUC.

I could probably source some live rock but that's what I did the first time around, I didn't like the type of rock I got locally and I think it leached nutrients for a long time. What advantage would live rock have in my cycled system? Good Algae?

 

[mcarroll]

What advantage would live rock have

A new infusion of every microbe under the sun.