balancing of newer tank / algae reduction

[mtealeaves]

Hi all - I'm new to the hobby - my tank is a little over 2 months old. 29 gal AIO. I'm struggling a bit trying to get rid of some stubborn algae on sandbed, in conjunction with keeping nitrates and phosphates at the right levels. hoping for some suggestions. my goal with the tank is a mixed reef with ultimately minimal interventions/maintenance - 1x monthly to check everything would be ideal. with that in mind, i'm trying to go for 'natural' filtration and automated solutions (i have ATO, dosing pump, timers, etc). i have a skimmer for the 3rd portion of sump but i removed it because nitrates kept reading zero and GFO took phosphates low (and skimmer was noisy).

issues:

1. as you can see in the pic on left of the tank especially there is a green clumping algae on the sandbed. my nitrates have been reading zero but phosphates around .05. i'm thinking this imbalance is fueling algae, and algae is just taking up all the nitrates. i scrub of the front and side panes with the WC, but not the back
2. despite started using AFR the past 2 weeks, my mag and calc have been falling a bit below where i assumed they would be with AFR (1240+ and 440 respectively). not sure if i should dose more AFR up to say ALK of 9, or start separately dosing mag/calc
3. a few corals are not happy like the middle of trumpet on bottom right that bleached out.

Questions:
Should I dose nitrates? or increase feeding?
Should I dose magnesium and / or calcium in addition to AFR?

thank you very much for the advice!

Relevant tank info:
filtration = chaeto in overflow, filter sponges, GFO reactor in second part of sump, rock in third
stocking = lawnmower blenny, royal gramma, 2x clowns, blue damsel, emerald crab, lots of snails.
corals = all frags, some sps on the top, many lps frags. only the trumpet and
Salinity / ph / phosphates / nitrates / alk / mag / calc = 1.025 / 7.8 / .04-.05 / 0 / 8.5 / 1140 (dropping) / 415 (dropping)
feeding = three pinches of hikari pellets daily (fish eat in 30 sec or so), 1/4 cube of mysis shrimp 2x weekly
coral feed - reef roids 2x weekly (1/4 tsp approx)
WC = 20% biweekly with red sea blue bucket, vacuuming the sandbed
dosing = AFR 5ml daily (increasing to 7ml)

 

[Subsea]

Welcome to the hobby & r2r. Good details on your post, but nothing about how you started the tank. I assume you used dry rock & bottled bacteria and if so, that is the beginning of the problem. Consider adding diver collected uncured live rock to allow biodiversity to outcompete undesirable algae and to bring in some janitors to consume nuisance algae.

In general, there is no right level for nutrients, only that nutrients are available. Why are you using phosphate removal resin (GFO) with low phosphate readings.

Feed more & get a clean up crew.
.

 

[JRhymer349]

Welcome to the hobby & r2r. Good details on your post, but nothing about how you started the tank. I assume you used dry rock & bottled bacteria and if so, that is the beginning of the problem. Consider adding diver collected uncured live rock to allow biodiversity to outcompete undesirable algae and to bring in some janitors to consume nuisance algae.

In general, there is no right level for nutrients, only that nutrients are available. Why are you using phosphate removal resin (GFO) with low phosphate readings.

Feed more & get a clean up crew.
.

So adding bottled bacteria isn't a good idea? Seems like a pretty common practice in the hobby.

 

[mtealeaves]

Welcome to the hobby & r2r. Good details on your post, but nothing about how you started the tank. I assume you used dry rock & bottled bacteria and if so, that is the beginning of the problem. Consider adding diver collected uncured live rock to allow biodiversity to outcompete undesirable algae and to bring in some janitors to consume nuisance algae.

In general, there is no right level for nutrients, only that nutrients are available. Why are you using phosphate removal resin (GFO) with low phosphate readings.

Feed more & get a clean up crew.
.

tank was started with about 1/2 rock from an established tank. live sand and yes, bottled bacteria. for janitors i have a blenny, 10+ trocus snails, a lot of cerith snails - 20-30 when i originally put them in. emerald crab. what else do you recommend?

i started the gfo reactor only 2 weeks ago as phosphates were in the 5 ish range, it dropped them alot. i think there was alot of phosphate bound up in the rocks from the established tank that were leaking back.

thanks

 

[Subsea]

So adding bottled bacteria isn't a good idea? Seems like a pretty common practice in the hobby.

Yes, it is a common practice. So is the inevitable fight with algae for the first year.

 

[Subsea]

tank was started with about 1/2 rock from an established tank. live sand and yes, bottled bacteria. for janitors i have a blenny, 10+ trocus snails, a lot of cerith snails - 20-30 when i originally put them in. emerald crab. what else do you recommend?

i started the gfo reactor only 2 weeks ago as phosphates were in the 5 ish range, it dropped them alot. i think there was alot of phosphate bound up in the rocks from the established tank that were leaking back.

thanks

Amphipods & copepods are good inhabitants. Check out IndoPacific SeaFarm for there mix & match special.

https://www.ipsf.com/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

In general, there is too much emphasis on algae being a chemistry issue. It is typically far more successful to deal with algae issues using organisms that consume it: fish, snails, sea cucumbers, crabs etc.

 

[mtealeaves]

In general, there is too much emphasis on algae being a chemistry issue. It is typically far more successful to deal with algae issues using organisms that consume it: fish, snails, sea cucumbers, crabs etc.

Thank you. so sounds like you wouldn't do anything different on the nitrates topic, instead just add more CUC ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would not be happy with undetectable N and P. This is my recommendation overall:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/randy’s-thoughts-on-nutrient-target-ranges.1087/
From it:

What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.