Green turf algae and phosphate issues.

[dmh41532]

For a while now I’ve been dealing with this issue. I used flux rx, killed it off for a bit, and started to come back, LFS recommended one additional dose since it can be hard to get, so I did and it’s growing back. As of last test, parameters are as follows
Temp 78
SG 1.025
Cal 480
Alk 12
Mag 1500
Nitrate 20
Phosphate.25
pH 8.1

They recommended trying Chemi blue and a product to remove nitrate and phosphate from the water, aquaforest? However the same employee also said the rocks could be holding phosphate and release it. If that’s the case, is the only recourse to buy all new rock? I know sea hares wlll eat it, but I’d rather not add something else to the bioload. All coral are sps, many acros and really doing well

 

[BryanM]

I'm becoming more convinced that a larger clean up crew is what's necessary.

There's lots of talk about higher N&P are not the causes of algae, and if you're growing corals you can / will grow algae.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

While chemipure blue can be a good way to bind organics, i don't see it as a way to fight algae.

Trying to fight algae by depleting nutrients is often very hard to do without harming corals who need them as well, unless you specifically provide corals with alternatives such as phyto or bacteria.

 

[dmh41532]

While chemipure blue can be a good way to bind organics, i don't see it as a way to fight algae.

Trying to fight algae by depleting nutrients is often very hard to do without harming corals who need them as well, unless you specifically provide corals with alternatives such as phyto or bacteria.

Other than depleting nutrients, how can I fight it? I do regular water changes with ro water, and try to scrape off what I can, however turf algae is really tough to remove manually. I can provide the corals alternatives, that’s not a problem. I’m basically at my wits end here. If I don’t get it under control soon I’m just pulling the plug on a 3 year old reef tank.

 

[dmh41532]

I'm becoming more convinced that a larger clean up crew is what's necessary.

There's lots of talk about higher N&P are not the causes of algae, and if you're growing corals you can / will grow algae.

I’ll have to see how many snails and hermits I have.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Other than depleting nutrients, how can I fight it? I do regular water changes with ro water, and try to scrape off what I can, however turf algae is really tough to remove manually. I can provide the corals alternatives, that’s not a problem. I’m basically at my wits end here. If I don’t get it under control soon I’m just pulling the plug on a 3 year old reef tank.

Get something that eats it. :)