Algae issue

[Rctreece]

So I went on vacation for a week and when I got home my clean tank was a algae farm. I found out my skimmer was off the entire time. I pulled of as much as I could and hit the rocks with a toothbrush and did a water change. Next day it looked better but I was showing zero nitrate and .01 phosphate. Left skimmer off and the next day all the algae is back. I want around 5 nitrate and .02 phosphate. Should I run the skimmer to remove all nutrients or run it half the time? By the way my corals looked better when I got home after I pulled the algae off.

 

[scott11106]

good thinking to pull what ever you can out, then the battle begins...
leave your skimmer on 24/7
you can add some vibrant as it works wonders against hair algae. also change any filter media like sock out very often. snails and hermits are great also, i also added some urchins and they are awesome with hair algea

another idea that you can do is move your frags and pull a piece of rock or two out to clean and keep in a refugium if you have one

 

[Super Fly]

I would leave the skimmer on 24/7 until GHA is gone.

 

[lapin]

I want around 5 nitrate and .02 phosphate. Should I run the skimmer to remove all nutrients or run it half the time? By the way my corals looked better when I got home after I pulled the algae off.

The algae is taking up your nutrients. That's why you showed low po4 and nitrate. The skimmer will remove about 30% of the waste in the water. I would run my skimmer 24/7 as stated above, remove the hair manually. Throw some macro-algae in the sump to soak up those nutrients. The hair will eventually go away if it has something that out-competes it for food. You did not say anything about your levels before you went on vacation. We dont know if you had an issue before or not. My tank has about 1/2 the level of algae as in your picture. My fish, urchin and snails keep it under control.

 

[Rctreece]

i ordered some of that vibrant so we will see. Thanks

 

[scott11106]

i ordered some of that vibrant so we will see. Thanks

it works good, but you need to do all of the rest also, including the manual removal and scrubbing with a brush daily

 

[Rctreece]

good thinking to pull what ever you can out, then the battle begins...
leave your skimmer on 24/7
you can add some vibrant as it works wonders against hair algae. also change any filter media like sock out very often. snails and hermits are great also, i also added some urchins and they are awesome with hair algea

another idea that you can do is move your frags and pull a piece of rock or two out to clean and keep in a refugium if you have one

The algae is taking up your nutrients. That's why you showed low po4 and nitrate. The skimmer will remove about 30% of the waste in the water. I would run my skimmer 24/7 as stated above, remove the hair manually. Throw some macro-algae in the sump to soak up those nutrients. The hair will eventually go away if it has something that out-competes it for food. You did not say anything about your levels before you went on vacation. We dont know if you had an issue before or not. My tank has about 1/2 the level of algae as in your picture. My fish, urchin and snails keep it under control.

I do have some chaeto in my sump it has grown a little but not much. I have been trying to get nutrients up to 5 nitrate and .02 phosphate but they were 0 and .01. I had a cyno issue and I cant remember the name of the stuff I used but I cleared it up in 48 hours but made my skimmer go nuts. I had to adjust it and that's why it was out of whack when I was gone. After that issue my nitrates were 0 and my phosphate jumped up to .06, I assume due to the chemical. Now everything is at 0 and my skimmer has a thick foam. I have a decent CUC but I just think they couldn't keep up with the skimmer down. I was told prior to this to run the skimmer 50% to get the nutrients up but now I am kind of lost. I know to run it 100% to get rid of some of the algae but what about after? Just try reducing it a week at a time and keep testing to find the sweet spot? Like I said above my corals are looking good compared to before the vacation so I know I was hurting them by going 0 0.

 

[scott11106]

it is up to you but i run my skimmer 24/7 all of the time, ultra low nutrients is the way to go in my opinion but this hobby is full of opinions and alot of them are good even if they are conflicting, meaning what works for one may not work for another. You will have to find out what works for you and your tank and head that way. For my tank I do not want any algae at all except in my sump so keeping nutrients at zero is good and i do a 3% water change per day (using a DOS to do the water change). Why do you want to have your nitrate and phosphate up? if you do water changes with good R/O and salt and then dose alk/cal you should have no issues. Like i said before, just because i say that i do it this way it might not work for you or your tank.

 

[lapin]

I do have some chaeto in my sump it has grown a little but not much. I have been trying to get nutrients up to 5 nitrate and .02 phosphate but they were 0 and .01. I had a cyno issue and I cant remember the name of the stuff I used but I cleared it up in 48 hours but made my skimmer go nuts. I had to adjust it and that's why it was out of whack when I was gone. After that issue my nitrates were 0 and my phosphate jumped up to .06, I assume due to the chemical. Now everything is at 0 and my skimmer has a thick foam. I have a decent CUC but I just think they couldn't keep up with the skimmer down. I was told prior to this to run the skimmer 50% to get the nutrients up but now I am kind of lost. I know to run it 100% to get rid of some of the algae but what about after? Just try reducing it a week at a time and keep testing to find the sweet spot? Like I said above my corals are looking good compared to before the vacation so I know I was hurting them by going 0 0.

You can ignore my advice. Since you have already added stuff to get rid of the cyano you have also got rid of of some other bacteria. Trying to balance out a tank that has already had altered chemistry is beyond my ablilty. Others here are better at chemical additives.

 

[scott11106]

You can ignore my advice. Since you have already added stuff to get rid of the cyano you have also got rid of of some other bacteria. Trying to balance out a tank that has already had altered chemistry is beyond my ablilty. Others here are better at chemical additives.

you have a very good point as once there are chemicals added everything changes.. what i proposed will not be altered by the chemicals already added but once the chemistry is changed it takes some work to level it out. water changes are the only way i know to truly get the parameters back to normal

 

[Rctreece]

The reason I want my nitrate and phosphate up a little is that I saw my corals respond positively where before they we not growing. I am doing my water changes 20 gal a week and manually removing the algae along with running the skimmer 24/7. My test last night showed:
NO3 0
PO3 .01
CAL 511 I lowered my DOS
Alk 7.2 Target is 8 I increased my DOS
Mag 1500 Never changes and I don't DOS
Salt 35.5
PH 8.05

 

[scott11106]

The reason I want my nitrate and phosphate up a little is that I saw my corals respond positively where before they we not growing. I am doing my water changes 20 gal a week and manually removing the algae along with running the skimmer 24/7. My test last night showed:
NO3 0
PO3 .01
CAL 511 I lowered my DOS
Alk 7.2 Target is 8 I increased my DOS
Mag 1500 Never changes and I don't DOS
Salt 35.5
PH 8.05

that all looks ok, i would lower your salt a bit but no dig deal. agreed that the corals will respond a bit better if there are nutrients in the water, but with excess nutrients comes algae as you know. i think if you keep up what you are doing it will clean up nice.