Hello All,
I have what I believe is a Turf Algae problem that I've been fighting for the past few months. It's overgrown a few of my coral, so I'd really like to do the best I can to get rid of the algae. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on if I'm feeding too much, thus giving the turf algae enough nutrients to keep growing. I posted a video of the feed - it's what I feed every day of mysis and brine shrimp. The fish eat the food before a minute - so I haven't thought much of the food being a problem. But I'm at the point I can't think of what else it could be.
So a few specifics about my tank.
Display - 175 Gallon
Sump - 60 Gallon
Phosphate - .04 to .05 (using Hanna checker) I know this is right in line with where it should be, but I obviously have extra nutrients as evidenced by the algae.
Nitrate - undetectable (using API test)
Alkalinity - Between 8 and 9 (using API test)
Calcium - 420 (using Salifert test)
Magnesium - 1480 (using Salifert test)
Salinity - 1.026 (using Hanna checker and Refractometer)
Temp - 78.2 to 78.7 degrees
Equipment
Protein Skimmer
Algae Scrubber - Seems to be growing algae fine with me harvesting the algae once per week. I'm using the CW-100 external scrubber which is rated to up to 200 gallons... maybe it's too small and I need to get a larger scrubber?
2 EcoTech XR30 Lights - these are on the standard SPS light schedule, so lights are on a little less than 8 hours.
UV Sterilizer - though I don't think this would be impacting this algae problem - using it mainly to treat any protazoa floating in the tank.
What I've done to date, other than just pull out the algae is the following:
1st tried Flux Rx (4000mg to treat 200g) I followed the directions on the package where I turned off skimmer and scrubber for a number of days. This did nothing to the algae.
2nd tried MicroBacter 7 with the intent that this would help with any excess phosphate or nitrate. This did nothing to the algae.
3rd tried Waste Away, following the directions. This did nothing to the algae.
This leads me to believe that I might be feeding too much - let me know what you think from the posted video (I couldn't get the whole video posted because of space constraints).
Right now, the fish I'm feeding in the tank are:
1 Purple Tang
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Hippo Tang
1 Whitetail Kole Tang
1 Midas Blenny
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Diamond Goby
1 Watchman Goby
3 Wrasse
2 Clown Fish
Let me know if any more detail is needed or any other thoughts.
Much appreciated!
I have what I believe is a Turf Algae problem that I've been fighting for the past few months. It's overgrown a few of my coral, so I'd really like to do the best I can to get rid of the algae. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on if I'm feeding too much, thus giving the turf algae enough nutrients to keep growing. I posted a video of the feed - it's what I feed every day of mysis and brine shrimp. The fish eat the food before a minute - so I haven't thought much of the food being a problem. But I'm at the point I can't think of what else it could be.
So a few specifics about my tank.
Display - 175 Gallon
Sump - 60 Gallon
Phosphate - .04 to .05 (using Hanna checker) I know this is right in line with where it should be, but I obviously have extra nutrients as evidenced by the algae.
Nitrate - undetectable (using API test)
Alkalinity - Between 8 and 9 (using API test)
Calcium - 420 (using Salifert test)
Magnesium - 1480 (using Salifert test)
Salinity - 1.026 (using Hanna checker and Refractometer)
Temp - 78.2 to 78.7 degrees
Equipment
Protein Skimmer
Algae Scrubber - Seems to be growing algae fine with me harvesting the algae once per week. I'm using the CW-100 external scrubber which is rated to up to 200 gallons... maybe it's too small and I need to get a larger scrubber?
2 EcoTech XR30 Lights - these are on the standard SPS light schedule, so lights are on a little less than 8 hours.
UV Sterilizer - though I don't think this would be impacting this algae problem - using it mainly to treat any protazoa floating in the tank.
What I've done to date, other than just pull out the algae is the following:
1st tried Flux Rx (4000mg to treat 200g) I followed the directions on the package where I turned off skimmer and scrubber for a number of days. This did nothing to the algae.
2nd tried MicroBacter 7 with the intent that this would help with any excess phosphate or nitrate. This did nothing to the algae.
3rd tried Waste Away, following the directions. This did nothing to the algae.
This leads me to believe that I might be feeding too much - let me know what you think from the posted video (I couldn't get the whole video posted because of space constraints).
Right now, the fish I'm feeding in the tank are:
1 Purple Tang
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Hippo Tang
1 Whitetail Kole Tang
1 Midas Blenny
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Diamond Goby
1 Watchman Goby
3 Wrasse
2 Clown Fish
Let me know if any more detail is needed or any other thoughts.
Much appreciated!