Cannot win green algae battle

[NewRobert]

Disregard the update on magnesium, something went wrong with my test kit it is actually normal.

 

[NewRobert]

Good day all,

Just checking in to let you know how it is going.

I have decided to stop with the Continuum products entirely (Except for the BioPellets that's still running) and rather switch to Red Sea instead (Salt, Foundation Program and Algae Program). The reason I did this is because it seems to be the one thing that has stayed constant since I started this tank and it's always been problematic.

I haven't started with the Salt/MG/CA/KH Supplements yet as I am still finishing up the last batch of Salt Mix water I had with the Continuum Salt. Invested in a dosing pump and dosing 12ml of No3Po4-X daily.

After 1 week NO3 has come down from 25 to 15 (No water change yet). I will do a 20% water change this weekend and see how the next week goes.

I have also turned the rocks that had algae on them that I could upside down to get the algae out of the light.

Things are looking slightly better already and will update with pictures after this weekend's water change.

I am still running the 2 skimmers, I think this tank definitely needs a bigger skimmer, going to have to re-work the sump somehow to fit one but will figure it out. Also still on 4 hours light a day only with the lights raised and only 2 of the T5s on.

 

[Bruttall]

IMO what your tank needs is grazers, herbivores. And not just 1 or 2. Here is a 110g snail only clean up crew recommendation. I got my CuC from these folks. Out of over 400 snails I added to my system, I did not see any dead when they arrived. I grabbed a picture of their page at reefcleaners.org so you can read the description for what each type snail will do for your tank.

 

[ronsonb]

Been there man. I tried everything. I had two problems. CUC kept dying and I had algae everywhere. Also caveat this was when my tank was new about 5months in with dry rock. Nightmare.

Nutrient reduction did nothing, and I think if you read through enough posts on here you will see nutrient reduction is not the way. I am algae free now and my nutrients are the same as they were when I had the algae.

My fix was first running poly filter for 2 weeks to attempt to find what was killing my snails. They would just get lethargic and end up as crab food. No idea if that solved the problem but my snails are alive now.

After that beefed up CUC added a pincushion urchin, snails, and pitho crabs along with my tomini I already had and ran flux rx for a few weeks to kill off most of the GHA. During while Flux RX weakens the GHA and I would suck it out, way easier when weakened.

Now that I have a proper of CUC I have no hair algae and things are doing well. I think my issue became too out of control and required intervention, now along with proper CUC size it is remaining under control. There is a way out!

I would focus on manual removal and natural herbivores over nutrient reduction though because I really don’t think that is the way based on reading here and my experience.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

If those are caribsea rocks like mine, all they seem to do is leach phosphate and create GHA on them...I've been battling it since I put the rocks in the tank 4 years ago

 

[Bruttall]

If those are caribsea rocks like mine, all they seem to do is leach phosphate and create GHA on them...I've been battling it since I put the rocks in the tank 4 years ago

think dry marco rock leaches phos as well, it's my nemisis in my system.

 

[NewRobert]

It is indeed caribsea rocks (most of them).

I have managed to find and added 12 banded trochus snails too now. Unfortunately lost one of the urchins in the wavemaker but still have 4 others that's also cleaning.

I know nutrient reduction won't kill or make my algae go away, I am just trying to reduce NO3 to slow the growth down so that my manual cleaning, cuc and tangs can eat faster than it grows.

At the very least the tank it is looking like it is crawling in the right direction now

 

[JustMarks]

True

What is the water source? Frankly I would be concerned about those fish and invert deaths! Did you ever figure out a cause?

Is the water properly oxygenated?

Do you overfeed? I believe that rotting food is the biggest culprit for algae growth.

 

[ryanjohn1]

It is indeed caribsea rocks (most of them).

I have managed to find and added 12 banded trochus snails too now. Unfortunately lost one of the urchins in the wavemaker but still have 4 others that's also cleaning.

I know nutrient reduction won't kill or make my algae go away, I am just trying to reduce NO3 to slow the growth down so that my manual cleaning, cuc and tangs can eat faster than it grows.

At the very least the tank it is looking like it is crawling in the right direction now

Algae scrubber
Flux rx
Rx worked amazingly well for me and a lot of people highly recommend an algae scrubber. I’ve not got experience with one but people have very good luck with it

 

[NewRobert]

Water source is RODI testing 0 TDS and salt mix bin shows no ammonia/nitrate/nitrite at all

I haven't figured out the deaths, I am however buying the new cuc members from different stores

1 Cube of frozen food a day (now occasionally doing pellets instead), not over-feeding at all

I have 2 wavemakers close to the surface at the top with a lot of surface water movement

I have looked at the algae scrubbers, couldn't find one here locally so if what I am doing now doesn't work, most likely where I would have to go

Thank you all

 

[NewRobert]

Another round of manual removal and the 20% waterchange done.

NO3 is down to 10ppm. The 10 small snails I added from the new place seem to still be alive and doing well moving about.

 

[thrillreefer]

Algae looks better! It still to me looks like a “new” tank, with little coralline cover. I suspect if you are able to see with coralline, and get some cover on the rocks, you’ll see less hair algae due to lack of real estate they can occupy.

Turbo snails and Emerald crabs for me have been very successful eating hair algae. But your Foxface should be a big help there

 

[NewRobert]

NO3 finally down to 5 - the No3Po4x carbon dosing instead of the continuum product seems to be working well.

Will do another round of manual removal (it is becoming hard now to get the remainder off the rocks) and see how this week goes.

I am also planning on adding another 12 snails, the ones I got last time around from the other place seems to still be alive and kicking

Thank you all for the encouraging support.

 

[Uncle99]

In the original post you suggested PO4 was zero.
If true, that low level may contribute to the problem as pest type algaes and bacteria may favor this condition.

You may have fixed that already so if so, disregard.

 

[Ziggy17]

In the original post you suggested PO4 was zero.
If true, that low level may contribute to the problem as pest type algaes and bacteria may favor this condition.

You may have fixed that already so if so, disregard.

Agreed with 0 PO4, it’s an open invitation for Dinos. I’d rather have GHA than Dinos.

What’s your light situation? Have you measured your par? Duration, intensity, spectrum? Unless you crank up your whites for photos, maybe dial back the whites and go more windex to see if your CUC can catch up. Just throwing ideas out there.

 

[Hatuey]

can we get an update?

 

[Glowurm]

Your tanks roughly twice the size of mine, and i've got:

2 x Conch
5/6 x Hermit Crabs
1 x Shrimp
3 x Nasirus Snails
3 x Cerith Snails
Too many Trochus to count as they constantly spawning
And most importantly excessive amounts of pods in my tank.

In short your clean up crew is small, i'm also concerned that you cant keep snails alive (with the algae you have they should be thriving). What is the cause of this?

Also why so much food? 3 to 4 cubes of frozen with that bioload? Feels high to me...

Do you dose or have an established copepod population? These guys are a must, foundation of your CuC, when they establish themselves algae will become a thing of the past.

 

[Darstar301]

I also had hair algae for over 1 year in my 150 Gallon tank. Was manually cleaning the hair algae every 3-5 days. I added a algae scrubber and grew the hair algae in a different place, it took over 2-3 month but won the battle.