Algae ID

[Deanster12]

I have been battling a an algae outbreak for a few months now, it’s a snotty green algae with bubbles on it, I have attached an image but it’s not very good, I have been using a brush and microbac7 with 2 capfuls everyday for a 50 gallon tank but I guess I’ve bottomed out my phosphates and nitrates and got Dinos, would it be okay to add a UV steriliser like the green killing machine to tackle it.

 

[NeptuneSpear2011]

Is it looking like this? Could simply be bubble algae or Cyano but hard to decipher from your photo and I get why because of the lights. For taking pics if you have a pair of reef glasses it will help on this site when showing issues.

Back to your question.
First lets address you're bottoming out. Lets get those params back to stable as that will have more adverse effects then the first. Bring those back up. Stop dosing the MB7, that's causing the bottom out. You usually don't get Cyano and Dino's at the same time together.

Is this issue all over your substrate or just your rocks or is it everywhere?
Do you have any emerald crabs by chance? They'll eat alot of the algae
Cyano/Dino's you can really test under a microscope and you can get that on Amazon pretty cheap, just need a child's microscope and then you can figure it out with pics from google.

This is all manageable and preventative and for more info from BRS

Managing Bubble Algae - Help! I Wrecked My Tank Ep. 3

Bubble algae, commonly from the genera Valonia and Ventricaria, are green algae characterized by their smooth, bubble-like structures. While their appearance might seem intriguing, they can become a nuisance in reef aquariums due to their rapid growth and potential to outcompete corals for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Deanster12]

Thank you for your reply, I will stop microbac7, my sand is the cleanest it’s ever been, and my rocks are covered in coralline, it just seems to be all over the glass, I have just brought a new maxspect infinite reef light aswell and new wave makers, but I can seem to get rid of this green slimy snot so I was thinking of adding a UV steriliser as I do not want to keep adding chemicals as it’s just a band aid