Green algae on all rocks

[danberger]

Hey reefers!

90 day old tank here. Need help sorting out how to get rid of green algae, especially all over my rock. Sand is clear.

it’s 143 gallon. Here is my chemistry:

• Salinity 34.9
• pH 8.05
• Alk 8.07
• CA 450
• Mag 1430
• No3 16
• PO4 .37 - have been battling this for a while. GFO hasn’t don’t much. Now using phosphat-e. Have used dr Tim’s waste-away too with much success.

I dose 60 mL phyto (algaebarn oceanmagick) daily and algaebarn copepods twice a month. That really helped with dinos and diatoms.

thank you

 

[Hemmdog]

Cut back on phyto

 

[MixedMax]

Dose Microbacter 7 and get a couple utilitarian fish. Worked for me!

 

[TigerReef]

First off, for 90 days in, I think you are doing great.

I agree w/ @Hemmdog and stop the phyto for now.

I also think the algae could be coming from PO4 and/or lights. Are you feeding frozen? Do you thaw and rinse? The liquids in frozen can contain an insane amount of PO4.

And lighting... what are your whites set at? Intensity? Albeit, please use caution before fiddling with your light settings too drastically.

And finally, clean up crew? Three words... snails, snails, snails. Mine would jump at the chance to vacation in your tank for a couple weeks. But you'll need to round 'em up and send them back.

 

[Icky Nicky]

what everyone else has said is good advice.

maybe add some nitrate absorbers to help keep nitrates down? I use chaeto and xenia, just added GSP today as well. my preferred CUC for algae is emerald crabs, top crown snails, and blue tuxedo urchins, they all do a great job. top crown snails are pretty uncommon, the petco near me always has them for 5 bucks a piece, great deal for an absolutely massive snail

 

[danberger]

Definitely gonna stop dosing phyto for the time being.

First off, for 90 days in, I think you are doing great.

Thank you!!

I also think the algae could be coming from PO4 and/or lights. Are you feeding frozen? Do you thaw and rinse? The liquids in frozen can contain an insane amount of PO4.

I feed frozen cocktail of LRS Reef Frenzy + Krill cubes that i add to RO water and squirt in. I am moving to fresh seafood tomorrow.

And lighting... what are your whites set at? Intensity? Albeit, please use caution before fiddling with your light settings too drastically.

Here are my settings. I have 2x (soon to be 3) Radion xr30 pro g6s. I’m still learning about lighting so sorry if this does not help…

And finally, clean up crew? Three words... snails, snails, snails. Mine would jump at the chance to vacation in your tank for a couple weeks. But you'll need to round 'em up and send them back.

I have 6 or so turbo (?) snails, 2 conchs, 10 or so nassarius snails left, a sea cucumber, a sea urchin (who knocks crap over)... maybe i need more turbos?

maybe add some nitrate absorbers to help keep nitrates down? I use chaeto and xenia, just added GSP today as well. my preferred CUC for algae is emerald crabs, top crown snails, and blue tuxedo urchins, they all do a great job. top crown snails are pretty uncommon, the petco near me always has them for 5 bucks a piece, great deal for an absolutely massive snail

I use sea lettuce in my refugium. I'm not sure it has done much other than get all over the place. Lol

 

[danberger]

Should I add more copepods to eat the algae?

 

[kevgib67]

That green algae doesn’t look like hair or turf algae. You seem to have a very adequate cuc. I had a green algae cover my rocks early on , first 2-3 months and it kinda resolved on its own like diatoms. If it looks like this it may resolve on its own.

 

[danberger]

Update:

I stopped dosing Phyto
Added 4 jars os Copepods
Started using a carbon reactor

Other than CuC, any other advice on how to get rid of the algae? I can't add any CuC inverts because I'm dosing H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) for next 6 weeks to fight an ich outbreak in my DT (quarantining / hospital is not possible).

 

[Garf]

Update:

I stopped dosing Phyto
Added 4 jars os Copepods
Started using a carbon reactor

Other than CuC, any other advice on how to get rid of the algae? I can't add any CuC inverts because I'm dosing H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) for next 6 weeks to fight an ich outbreak in my DT (quarantining / hospital is not possible).

Algae is normal but I’m guessing if your adding H2O2 for ich, that’ll knock it back a bit, maybe. I seem to remember it can actually make the algae slightly toxic to herbivores but I may have just imagined that bit, but I doubt it.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Update:

I stopped dosing Phyto
Added 4 jars os Copepods
Started using a carbon reactor

Other than CuC, any other advice on how to get rid of the algae? I can't add any CuC inverts because I'm dosing H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) for next 6 weeks to fight an ich outbreak in my DT (quarantining / hospital is not possible).

Where I live, those packs of copepods cost $30 each....
If you stop dosing phyto, they have nothing to eat, they will die out. Copepods dont eat hair algae.

I would suggest more reading and research. Your tank is going through normal algae phases, manual removal and nutrient control is the best long term method

 

[besskurz]

Algae is normal but I’m guessing if your adding H2O2 for ich, that’ll knock it back a bit, maybe. I seem to remember it can actually make the algae slightly toxic to herbivores but I may have just imagined that bit, but I doubt it.

Forgive me, but I cannot see any bad algaes in the picture (hair algae, ciano and whatever)

Your tank is very recent.
Do you meant that your rocks where white before and now are green? This is absolutely normal.

Now:

Before:

I would actually keep with phytoplankton as this will feed your pods, and they will keep eating any unwanted diatoms, leftover food..

 

[Lavey29]

Update:

I stopped dosing Phyto
Added 4 jars os Copepods
Started using a carbon reactor

Other than CuC, any other advice on how to get rid of the algae? I can't add any CuC inverts because I'm dosing H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) for next 6 weeks to fight an ich outbreak in my DT (quarantining / hospital is not possible).

That's not going to make ich go away. Might slow it down temporarily. You should do more research on ich management protocols. Your green slime algae is just a normal phase for dead rocks in a 3 month tank. Nothing to be overly concerned about and I wouldn't start making a bunch of changes to address it. My rocks are green, purple, brown, white, etc.... the tank needs to go through its evolutions.

 

[danberger]

If you stop dosing phyto, they have nothing to eat, they will die out. Copepods dont eat hair algae.

I figured there might be other good stuff in the tank but I guess you're right.

Do you meant that your rocks where white before and now are green?

Yes

That's not going to make ich go away. Might slow it down temporarily. You should do more research on ich management protocols.

I am dosing H2O2 to make the ich go away. Following well-documented protocol on @Humblefish's forum. The hope is a 6 week treatment will eradicate ich.

 

[Garf]

For what it’s worth the copepods normally found in reef tanks consume diatoms and bacterial aggregates off substrates. Small animals that swim around filtering phyto out of water columns in reef tanks tend to have extremely short life spans in reef tanks, lol

 

[Lavey29]

I figured there might be other good stuff in the tank but I guess you're right.

Yes

I am dosing H2O2 to make the ich go away. Following well-documented protocol on @Humblefish's forum. The hope is a 6 week treatment will eradicate ich.

Good luck with that one.

 

[danberger]

Where I live, those packs of copepods cost $30 each....
If you stop dosing phyto, they have nothing to eat, they will die out. Copepods dont eat hair algae.

Not 100% true. From AlgaeBarn:

"Copepods are an excellent food source for fish and inverts in the reef tank. But copepods must be well fed to provide the best nutrition source possible. The nutrition of the pods will affect the health of the creature that consumes them. Most reef tanks will have a consistent supply of detritus and film algae. In most cases, this is sufficient to sustain copepods."

Source: https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/copepods/how-often-should-i-add-copepods-to-the-reef-tank/

 

[Garf]

Not 100% true. From AlgaeBarn:

"Copepods are an excellent food source for fish and inverts in the reef tank. But copepods must be well fed to provide the best nutrition source possible. The nutrition of the pods will affect the health of the creature that consumes them. Most reef tanks will have a consistent supply of detritus and film algae. In most cases, this is sufficient to sustain copepods."

Source: https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/copepods/how-often-should-i-add-copepods-to-the-reef-tank/

Yep, just not the ones that feed from the water column.

 

[Swiss Frag Reefer]

@danberger I would start to work bringing that phosphate down and the green algae will naturally go away. I actually had a similar issue.

I have found an interview where the WWC guy mentioned that they use Brightwell Phosphat-e in their systems so this encuraged me to give it a try and it worked wonders. You definitely need to know what you are doing and going cautiously.

I made couple months ago a video about it, check it out if you like: Removing phosphate

 

[Garf]

I would start to work bringing that phosphate down and the green algae will naturally go away

Lol