Big Chippa
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- Feb 24, 2008
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I have this clearish greenish whitish algae covering almost all of my rocks. I have had my fair share of algae battles, why I don't know. My system is a little over a year old. I have a 92 gallon in my living room with a 75 gallon, 55 gallon and a 90 gallon in the basement. Basement tanks are all for filtration. My equipment is definitely sufficient. I have a BM 250 skimmer, plenty of heat, about 800-900 gallon flow through an OM and 2 controlled tunzes - plenty for a 92. I have a GEO 6 18 cal reactor with large style media and a little dolomite dialed in with a ph probe/controller. All my top off goes through a reverse osmosis/deonize system and then a PM kalk reactor controlled by a Tunze osmolator. My Phosphates are kept in check by a 55 gallon refuge crammed tight with tons of cheato and bugs, as well as a PM phos reactor with plenty of feric oxide. I add Randy's two part to adjust levels (really only mag, quite a bit though?) All the equipment is kept in tight check with an AC 3. Lights upstairs are a 250mh with t-5. My system was set up with all Marco rock, about 150 lb cured for months and about 15 lb live rock. I had red planaria flat worms and bombed the tanks with 4 bottles of flatworm exit (enough for 1200 gallons!). Well, it worked and then came the algae! I think it was hair algae. It was freakin' every where. Thick, too. About 5-7 months of battling that stuff and I won. Then I noticed red bugs on a new frag in my tank before I started dipping. Lesson learned on that one! So, I bombed the tank again with Interceptor and it worked. Since all that fun the tank is 100% pest free but now bubble algae and this mystery algae in the picture. It's weird - all my clean up crew seems to turn up dead and has for some time now. It might be my mystery wrasse, not sure, but I think it's the algae. It seems that nothing eats the mystery algae. As far as the bubble algae, I have 4 emerald crabs that don't pay much attention to it, although they graze on other stuff all day. My tank's not big enough to consider getting a fox face as I have two tanks already. Why do I have so many algae problems in this tank? I practice good husbandry, my corals all look good, my parameters don't fluctuate and are as follows - salinity 0.25, phosphates 0.05, nitrates undetectable, calcium 450, magnesium 1300, pH 8.13 - 8.35, alkalinity 9.5 dKh, temperature 77.5 - 79.5. Feeding every other day, one cube frozen, rinsed food, sometimes oyster eggs or cyclopeez, also. I'm stumped. I've never had an algae problem before and now I have my system set up the best I think I can, and now I have an algae problem! The only thing I can think of is that when I started my system I had lack of real biological support. When I touch the rock under water, it is very thick and slimy, and gelatinous feeling, but it doesn't look like it would be. I would have though my dry rock would have seeded into live rock by now. It doesn't make sense. Any thoughts? Need help!!! Attached, is a decent picture of the mystery algae as well as a current tank photo, but the pictures aren't great. My photography sucks, so it's the best I could do
