Help needed with this algae please

[paul.o]

I'm about the trow the towel in and close the tank down, I've been fighting this for over a year now and getting no where.
Originally I thought it was Lyngbya / cyano. So far I have tried in this order -
7 day black out plus adding phyto & pods to increase the biodiversity.
adding microbacter 7
bubble scrubbing plus scrubbing the rock clean.
adding new live rock.
and latterly four days ago as a last resort I got some Azithromycin and dosed that , but as can be seen from the pics, it's made no difference, the Azithromycin is still in the tank .Any help appreciated as I just about had it with this tank.

 

[NE reefer]

What size tank?
What’s your current filtration system?
Do you have any algae eaters in the tank?

 

[paul.o]

What size tank?
What’s your current filtration system?
Do you have any algae eaters in the tank?

Tank is a nano 20 gallon, filtration is live rock that was seeded when the tank was set up about 2 years ago , there's a few snails, hermit crabs and until recently an urchin which died a couple of weeks ago.
Doing a weekly water change and the last set of test's were -
kh 9.3, Calcium 380, Mg 1180, Po4 0.1, No3- 2

 

[Subsea]

Who prescribed this for a marine tank?

“Azithromycin is a broad-spectrum
macrolide antibiotic primarily used to treat bacterial infections of the respiratory tract, skin, and soft tissues, including pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis, and tonsillitis. It is also commonly used to treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like chlamydia, ear infections in children, and specific infections in HIV patients. “

MedlinePlus (.gov) +

 

[Subsea]

Looks like GHA & Cyanobacteria.

“kh 9.3, Calcium 380, Mg 1180, Po4 0.1, No3- 2“

I assume ammonia & nitrite are zero. Depending on test kit & testing protocoal . Your inorganic nitrate may be zero as well.

Reef Cleaners

A good guide to identify most of the nuisance algae that plagues the hobby. Complete with pictures and suggested treatments

www.reefcleaners.org

Bryopsis pennata and B. plumosa​

Some of the hardest to remove species of macroalgae encountered in the hobby are B. pennata and B. plumosa. These two species have noticeable discernible midribs (center portion of the algae), that are wider than their branches. They are fast growing, and form a mat like root system on the rocks. Algae that grows from mats, instead of singular holdfasts, are harder to remove if they spread in your tank. This is due to the tedious work that is required to remove all of the algae from the surface it is growing on. Any piece that remains will likely continue growing.

B. pennata (pictured on the left) has irregular and more sparse branching than its closely related cousin B. plumosa which has more symmetrical and fuller branching. (picture coming)There are many, many species of Green Hair Algae that have feathery branching, and are not necessarily members of the Bryopsis genus, nevermind B. pennata and B. plumosa. Simply because the hair algae in your system has branches does not mean it is one of these algae species.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you have any powerheads besides the return flow?
Can we see a full tank pic?
How many fish? How much do you feed how often?
Are there corals in the tank?
Are you using rodi water?
If your only filtration is live rock, then how much water are you changing weekly?

Please share the info so we can help you out

 

[Pistondog]

I'm about the trow the towel in and close the tank down, I've been fighting this for over a year now and getting no where.
Originally I thought it was Lyngbya / cyano. So far I have tried in this order -
7 day black out plus adding phyto & pods to increase the biodiversity.
adding microbacter 7
bubble scrubbing plus scrubbing the rock clean.
adding new live rock.
and latterly four days ago as a last resort I got some Azithromycin and dosed that , but as can be seen from the pics, it's made no difference, the Azithromycin is still in the tank .Any help appreciated as I just about had it with this tank.

Try a couple of mexican turbo snails and tiger conchs.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm about the trow the towel in and close the tank down, I've been fighting this for over a year now and getting no where.
Originally I thought it was Lyngbya / cyano. So far I have tried in this order -
7 day black out plus adding phyto & pods to increase the biodiversity.
adding microbacter 7
bubble scrubbing plus scrubbing the rock clean.
adding new live rock.
and latterly four days ago as a last resort I got some Azithromycin and dosed that , but as can be seen from the pics, it's made no difference, the Azithromycin is still in the tank .Any help appreciated as I just about had it with this tank.

I see hair algae with gas bubbles trying to escape. Pull off as much as you can by hand and add some 3% hydrogen peroxide at 1.5ml per 10 gallons.
Reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting for a few days and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
What is your phosphate level?
Is tank at or near a window?

 

[paul.o]

Full tank shot, the hammers in the tank have been retracted for the past 2-3 weeks before that they were fine so not sure if there is something going on they don't like, there was a long tentacle toadstool that was near them so I've moved it .

There is a powerhead on the left hand side of the tank, the return is on the right, fish are 2 clowns and a neon goby, using RO water that I filter and it comes out at zero ppm.

Feeding mainly flake at the minute, there is 2kg of filter media in the back sump of the tank, it's a red sea nano. Currently the skimmer is not used.

Water change is just over 10% a week, although the two previous water changes were 20% due to heavily cleaning the tank. doing 20% w/c today too.

 

[NE reefer]

Do you have a sump? If yes I’d recommend a protein skimmer. If not perhaps a HOB skimmer, they really do a great job purifying the water. Your tank doesn’t look terrible and algae is part of the natural ecosystem. However, if you can reduce the nutrients in the water and increase the clean up crew I think you would be happy. Turbo snail, urchins

Personally I try to solve reef issues the natural way, it’s my recommendation

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

Full tank shot, the hammers in the tank have been retracted for the past 2-3 weeks before that they were fine so not sure if there is something going on they don't like, there was a long tentacle toadstool that was near them so I've moved it .

There is a powerhead on the left hand side of the tank, the return is on the right, fish are 2 clowns and a neon goby, using RO water that I filter and it comes out at zero ppm.

Feeding mainly flake at the minute, there is 2kg of filter media in the back sump of the tank, it's a red sea nano. Currently the skimmer is not used.

Water change is just over 10% a week, although the two previous water changes were 20% due to heavily cleaning the tank. doing 20% w/c today too.

Any reason why the skimmer isn’t being used?

 

[paul.o]

Any reason why the skimmer isn’t being used?

I could never dial it in so it skimmed effectively, plus the tank is in the lounge and you could hear it.