algae problem in saltwater fish tank

reefGods

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algae problem in saltwater fish tank
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SamKnaphus

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Quite a fun looking reef! Love the zoa palate! What’s your CUC? I’m not super knowledgeable, but I can tell you that bumblebee snails, small hermit crabs, and Mexican turbo snails are never a bad idea. Many people love peppermint shrimp too as a part of a CUC because they can even eat aiptasia! However they have been known to eat corals too. They like a lot of foods and if they don’t get enough variation they can become trouble makers. Sometimes they won’t even eat whatever nuisance got you to introduce it in the first place. I have never owned one myself, as even though I have heard mostly good things about peppermint shrimp, the negatives just don’t justify it for me. You could also try sea slugs, but they run the risk of getting shredded in your powerhead or getting sucked up by your filter. I have read some people cover their points of danger with mesh though and have no issues. Could be fun excuse to buy something like a sea hare. Biological solutions are a lot of fun imo.

It looks kinda like sea hair algae which could mean you have a low flow rate. From what I know, hair algae can only grow if there is enough nutrients and low enough flow to make roots.

Again I am also not very knowledgeable in the saltwater world, but I hope this helped even a little
 
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reefGods

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Are you looking for help or appreciation?

If you're looking for help you could start by providing information about tank parameters, age of tank, and what you are using to remove the algae.
New to the hobby parameters alkalinity 8.5 calcium 450 SPS and LPS mixed reef I am using all four reef tropic Marin for my dosing
 
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reefGods

reefGods

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Quite a fun looking reef! Love the zoa palate! What’s your CUC? I’m not super knowledgeable, but I can tell you that bumblebee snails, small hermit crabs, and Mexican turbo snails are never a bad idea. Many people love peppermint shrimp too as a part of a CUC because they can even eat aiptasia! However they have been known to eat corals too. They like a lot of foods and if they don’t get enough variation they can become trouble makers. Sometimes they won’t even eat whatever nuisance got you to introduce it in the first place. I have never owned one myself, as even though I have heard mostly good things about peppermint shrimp, the negatives just don’t justify it for me. You could also try sea slugs, but they run the risk of getting shredded in your powerhead or getting sucked up by your filter. I have read some people cover their points of danger with mesh though and have no issues. Could be fun excuse to buy something like a sea hare. Biological solutions are a lot of fun imo.

It looks kinda like sea hair algae which could mean you have a low flow rate. From what I know, hair algae can only grow if there is enough nutrients and low enough flow to make roots.

Again I am also not very knowledgeable in the saltwater world, but I hope this helped even a little
thank you for the information. Will keep thought on that.
 

Tamberav

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how can I fix that?

Are your nutrients low? They can be difficult to irradiate. Often you need to increase nutrients, diversity, dose pods, phytoplankton, some use blackouts and UV.

Not going to lie, it is the most annoying thing to have and not all types respond to the same treatment.

Here is a useful thread on treatment:


 

SamKnaphus

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New to the hobby parameters alkalinity 8.5 calcium 450 SPS and LPS mixed reef I am using all four reef tropic Marin for my dosing
What’s your phosphate level? Where I live the phosphate is incredibly high and I have to treat my water a second time to remove the phosphate that makes it through the resin of my RO system to keep it low
 

SamKnaphus

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Are your nutrients low? They can be difficult to irradiate. Often you need to increase nutrients, diversity, dose pods, phytoplankton, some use blackouts and UV.

Not going to lie, it is the most annoying thing to have and not all types respond to the same treatment.

Here is a useful thread:


Listen to him first lol he seems to know what he’s talking about
 

gbroadbridge

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New to the hobby parameters alkalinity 8.5 calcium 450 SPS and LPS mixed reef I am using all four reef tropic Marin for my dosing
Okay, do you know what your Nitrate and Phosphate levels are?

Can you take a photo with white light only (turn off the blues) ?
It's a little difficult to determine what it is growing on the rock.

It may be algae or as suggested above, Dinoflagellates.
 
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reefGods

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Okay, do you know what your Nitrate and Phosphate levels are?

Can you take a photo with white light only (turn off the blues) ?
It's a little difficult to determine what it is growing on the rock.

It may be algae or as suggested above, Dinoflagellates.
IMG_6206.jpeg
 
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reefGods

reefGods

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Okay, do you know what your Nitrate and Phosphate levels are?

Can you take a photo with white light only (turn off the blues) ?
It's a little difficult to determine what it is growing on the rock.

It may be algae or as suggested above, Dinoflagellates.

What is the phosphate specifically?
0.03
 
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reefGods

reefGods

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What are you using to measure it?

If it's a Hanna Phosphate ULR the error margin is +/-0.03
That could mean that your phosphate is actually 0.00 which could explain Dino's.

You should aim for around 0.10ppm
thank you will keep that in mind
 

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