GHA, NOPOX, and Nutrients

[Andrewk5018]

I've been battling gha for months now. just decided to try nopox. problem is according to my hanna nitrate hr and my salifert po4 test kits im at 0.0 for both. MAYBE 0.01 on po4. so how should i dose this nopox? i obviously have nitrate and phosphate in the tank otherwise there wouldn't be a green shag carpet across the entire tank. the gha is so bad that it outcompeted my chaeto in the fuge. 10 hour total light cycle with ramps, 4 t5's for about 8 hours and then 2 ai primes that ramp up and down for an hour each way. its a 120g 40b sump with a foxface, sailfin, 6 line, yellow coris, 5 cromis, and a small pair of clowns. big reef octopus skimmer. i have some hermits left, definitely need more. one zebra turbo snail. had 2 tuxedos but they died. they ate none of the algae short or long. no matter how many 50 gallon water changes i do i cant get it to stay away. I'm sure if i spent $200+ on salt and did 5 days in a row of 50g water changes it would start to die off but id like to not do that

 

[tbrown]

Algae can grow with low to almost no nutrients since it's photosynthetic.

Have you sent in an ICP? There could be other conditions helping fuel the algae growth. For example, I had a magnetic glass scraper that started to rust in the tank that I was unaware of and it caused a huge GHA explosion, even with very low nutrients (I was dosing both nitrates and phosphates to keep them detectable). As soon as that magnet was removed, the algae quickly started to die off.

 

[Andrewk5018]

Algae can grow with low to almost no nutrients since it's photosynthetic.

Have you sent in an ICP? There could be other conditions helping fuel the algae growth. For example, I had a magnetic glass scraper that started to rust in the tank that I was unaware of and it caused a huge GHA explosion, even with very low nutrients (I was dosing both nitrates and phosphates to keep them detectable). As soon as that magnet was removed, the algae quickly started to die off.

that's interesting ill look into that. its all relatively newer equipment but who knows until i test it. thanks

 

[CHSUB]

Get a stiff toothbrush or a stainless wire brush and scrub, scrub, scrub then remove with WC or better yet a canister filter. Increase CUC after, and don’t use the excuse you did that, because if it comes back do it again and better. Nutrients look good no need to reduce, do the maintenance not just removing water.

 

[Andrewk5018]

Get a stiff toothbrush or a stainless wire brush and scrub, scrub, scrub then remove with WC or better yet a canister filter. Increase CUC after, and don’t use the excuse you did that, because if it comes back do it again and better. Nutrients look good no need to reduce, do the maintenance not just removing water.

I feel like everyone says not to scrub it off because it just spreads it more so I've just been pinching the end of my syphon

 

[CHSUB]

I feel like everyone says not to scrub it off because it just spreads it more so I've just been pinching the end of my syphon

Well flush the toilet with that “advice”…..scrub, scrub, remove, remove daily if necessary!

 

[tbrown]

It can spread by scrubbing but it's also easier to remove through scrubbing. When you uproot it it makes it easier for your CUC to do their job. Siphoning it the way you do works as well because it doesn't just allow the loose strands to drift around the tank and settle in new locations.

 

[Andrewk5018]

I have stainless brushes coming tomorrow so I’ll report back maybe next seek how its going

 

[ygbsmww]

I have stainless brushes coming tomorrow so I’ll report back maybe next seek how its going

What brushes did you get?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d personally get a bigger clean up crew.

 

[Andrewk5018]

I’d personally get a bigger clean up crew.

Its definitely on the list. ordered some stainless steel brushes that got here yesterday and sending out my icp test that came tonight in the morning for my tank and ro water. appreciate the help. probably going to order a few turbos, a tuxedo or 2, and like 75 blue legs when i get the icp back

 

[Andrewk5018]

What brushes did you get?

just cheap pack off of stainless wire brushes off amazon. ill probably only use them a couple times each because I'm sure they're not the highest grade stainless lol

 

[CHSUB]

75 blue legs

Miss print ? Start with 10..

 

[Andrewk5018]

why? ive always bought a ton of them to start and they slowly die off over the course of a year. theres more than enough food in the tank for them. i have probably 10 in there right now. ill probably throw 5-10 in my other tank too

 

[CHSUB]

why? ive always bought a ton of them to start and they slowly die off over the course of a year. theres more than enough food in the tank for them. i have probably 10 in there right now. ill probably throw 5-10 in my other tank too

Ok! I have never put that many blue hermits, just because I guess. I’m always a little weary of crabs because they have some bad habits….haha!

 

[Andrewk5018]

Ok! I have never put that many blue hermits, just because I guess. I’m always a little weary of crabs because they have some bad habits….haha!

75 is probably way too many though you're right, i might order like 35-40 to account for the some that wont make the shipment and the few ill add to my other tank

 

[Andrewk5018]

anything jump out here to you guys about the algae or just maybe too much light and not enough clean up crew? seems like the silicon in the ro is a common thing im seeing? everything else was not detectable in the ro water. any recs for the iodine and zinc coming up or should i be dosing it? i was looking at a torch and a encrusting monti at my lfs the other day for when i get the rest of this cleaned up. i have a happy goni and a huge gsp colony in there right now. i also just realized how high the barium is too which seems insanely high. i use the red sea salt blue bucket

 

[tbrown]

Silicon in the RO likely means your RODI is ready for new filters. The resin seems to be leaching into the water

 

[Andrewk5018]

Silicon in the RO likely means your RODI is ready for new filters. The resin seems to be leaching into the water

I did let my di resin get pretty close to the end last time so maybe that's why. is it being high even that big of a deal?

 

[tbrown]

Supposedly it can feed diatoms.