Help with IDing algea

Jphvav90

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Not sure what kind of algea it is. I do know that if I siphon it up or remove the sand it does come back. I have recently switched to a larger tank. My parameters are
alk 8.85
cal 409
mg1450 from neptune apex.
Nitrates 3.4
Phosphate 0
Both from hanna checker
Any help would be appreciated

20220910_171421.jpg 20220910_171410.jpg 20220909_182201.jpg
 

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Hello,
it is very likely to be cyano. There are couple of ways to deal with it.

In general, they can be a result of any imbalance in the tank. As such, it could be linked to your recent tank change.

Before using any chemical, I would check the circulation - if it is “strong enough” and that there is not dear spots in the tank.

It would be great to have a bit more info or picture of your filtration.

Again, they are not nice, but not very difficult to deal…

As soon as we discover the root of the problem… then it is possible to define the best approach to deal such: siphon, blackout, chemiclean, change in filtration or circulation, adding bacteria…

Cheers!
 
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Jphvav90

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Thank you for getting back to me. I was having a problem with alkalinity being all over the place I couldn't get it to stay stable. As of now it is staying pretty steady.

I recently moved and increased my gyre pump to hopefully help out. The pump itself is not as great as it was expected to be.

In the sump I have 3 4" filter socks that get changed weekly. A protein skimmer, uv sterilizer, some macro algea, and a gfo/carbon reactor. And hopefully an established copepod population as I add some every month.
 

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Jphvav90

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Hello,
it is very likely to be cyano. There are couple of ways to deal with it.

In general, they can be a result of any imbalance in the tank. As such, it could be linked to your recent tank change.

Before using any chemical, I would check the circulation - if it is “strong enough” and that there is not dear spots in the tank.

It would be great to have a bit more info or picture of your filtration.

Again, they are not nice, but not very difficult to deal…

As soon as we discover the root of the problem… then it is possible to define the best approach to deal such: siphon, blackout, chemiclean, change in filtration or circulation, adding bacteria…

Cheers!
Thank you for getting back to me. I was having a problem with alkalinity being all over the place I couldn't get it to stay stable. As of now it is staying pretty steady.

I recently moved and increased my gyre pump to hopefully help out. The pump itself is not as great as it was expected to be.

In the sump I have 3 4" filter socks that get changed weekly. A protein skimmer, uv sterilizer, some macro algea, and a gfo/carbon reactor. And hopefully an established copepod population as I add some every month.
 

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PBar

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Hello,
thanks for the extra information!
It is indeed possible that the cyano is linked to the change. As a first sight, I don’t see anything else “obvious”.

Can I assume that you use RO-DI water, right?
Phosphate Hanna - is the ULR?

If I may, I would suggest to do the following:
- water changes + siphoning as much as possible the cyanos (weekly?)
- potentially add some bacteria, such Dr Tim, Microbacter7…
- keep checking if the circulation of the tank is appropriate.

- You can add an extra step, but this one depends a bit on how the corals (if any) are at the moment.
Meaning if they are fine or recently stressed.
In case if they are all fine, I would do a first water change and turn of the lights for 2 or 3 days (Blackout method).
Normally, this step does not solve the problem by itself, but helps to speed up the whole battle.

Again, cyano tends to disappear with time if all things are kept in order…

The last option, is to use chemiclean. It is way faster… but with some other things that you need to take into account or at least pay attention.

When I had cyano in the past, only once I used chemiclean (and it worked fine)… all the others times in a few weeks the problem was solved.

Let me know!
Cheers
 
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Jphvav90

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Hello,
thanks for the extra information!
It is indeed possible that the cyano is linked to the change. As a first sight, I don’t see anything else “obvious”.

Can I assume that you use RO-DI water, right?
Phosphate Hanna - is the ULR?

If I may, I would suggest to do the following:
- water changes + siphoning as much as possible the cyanos (weekly?)
- potentially add some bacteria, such Dr Tim, Microbacter7…
- keep checking if the circulation of the tank is appropriate.

- You can add an extra step, but this one depends a bit on how the corals (if any) are at the moment.
Meaning if they are fine or recently stressed.
In case if they are all fine, I would do a first water change and turn of the lights for 2 or 3 days (Blackout method).
Normally, this step does not solve the problem by itself, but helps to speed up the whole battle.

Again, cyano tends to disappear with time if all things are kept in order…

The last option, is to use chemiclean. It is way faster… but with some other things that you need to take into account or at least pay attention.

When I had cyano in the past, only once I used chemiclean (and it worked fine)… all the others times in a few weeks the problem was solved.

Let me know!
Cheers
Yes I am using rodi water with every water change and in my ato. The hanna checker is not ulr. I could buy that if you believe it to be better/necessary.

What does adding the bacteria do to help in aiding to get rid off the algea?

I do a 10% water change every week, also siphoning as I do it.

I dont believe there are any stressed corals so I could try the blackout method.

I have chemclean but haven't tried it yet bc I need a larger airstone and air pump. The ones I have are not enough to supply the proper amount of oxygen (videos I've seen)
 

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Hello!
Regarding Hanna, not necessary. Since it is not ULR, zero does not mean zero… which is good.

The addition of bacteria is just to try to add some competition to the cyano (which is also a bacteria)
Important point is that this is more linked to empirical evidence (debatable the true efficiency).

If the corals are fine, blackout can be useful to speed the process.

Chemiclean (in case if it is used)
True, still other option is: you can reduce the level of the water inside the skimmer (depending on the model) and let it bubble without the collector. In that sense you don’t need the air-stone.

Cheers!
 
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