help with sandbed algae

[rahger]

hello all!
I'm having some strange algae issues that are leaving me a little stumped on how to proceed.

Background:
mixed reef heavy on the sps frags but some LPS too.
75g +25g sump
2x g4 xr30 no idea what par is but they're at 25%
2x mp40 reefcrest at 30-35%
BRS mini reactor filled with 2:1 carbon:gfo at ~200L/min ish
I dose KZ (AAC, AA LPS, CV, and sponge power) as well as some phyto and red sea AA 1x per week. I finally found a good routine that slowed the alage growth but now i want to get the last little bit gone but it always comes back. Also, I tried cutting this out entirely but a few SPS paled out and it ticked off my LPS.

parameters as of 12/20
ca: 420
alk: 8.3
mg: 1300
po4: 0.06
nitrate undetectable (but i think that's hanna user error)

problem:
in July I swapped my sand from a varied particle size to reefflakes. I did it rather slowly. Removing some sand week by week with water changes and slowly adding the reefflakes in. All was good for a few months. then this algae popped up on the sand only. I'll attach a picture too.

I don't have a lot of algae on the rocks and I clean the glass every 4 or so days since not much grows on there.
My question is two fold.
1. why is the alage no where else but the sand bed
2. is it a coincidence that the algae popped up soon after adding the sand?

any help would be awesome.
what would your next step be? is this a filtration issue or a CUC issue? My CUC could use a refresh.

 

[Uncle99]

Nitrate bottomed out. That can be a trigger for the pest algaes.
I would definitely check that further, pretty common result with low/no nutrient systems.
I would bring that to 5ppm over a week.

 

[rahger]

Nitrate bottomed out. That can be a trigger for the pest algaes.
I would definitely check that further, pretty common result with low/no nutrient systems.

you think the 0ppm on the hanna was accurate? I assumed it wasn't because algae, and most SPS color is good. Is it worth verifying with another kit or assume its good and address low nitrate as the core problem?

 

[Uncle99]

you think the 0ppm on the hanna was accurate? I assumed it wasn't because algae, and most SPS color is good. Is it worth verifying with another kit or assume its good and address low nitrate as the core problem?

I do.
Even if it was off a bit it likely is to low.
I run 15ppm nitrate and .1ppm phosphate.
This keeps the good guys fed and outnumbering the bands.
If your using the Hanna Low range, well, that never worked well for me, but the Hanna high range has been very accurate.
Salifert makes a good inexpensive test kit to check.
Corals can consume nitrate directly, phosphate indirectly but both must be available to feed those lower chain organisms, the “good guys”

 

[rahger]

I do.
Even if it was off a bit it likely is to low.
I run 15ppm nitrate and .1ppm phosphate.
This keeps the good guys fed and outnumbering the bands.
If your using the Hanna Low range, well, that never worked well for me, but the Hanna high range has been very accurate.
Salifert makes a good inexpensive test kit to check.

I have the high range hanna meter
assuming the test kit is accurate and nitrates are in fact too low. what's the best way to get them up?
feeding more, tune the skimmer down, pull out the reactor media?i'd rather not mess with my water changes cause if i skip a week the LPS for sure let me know.

 

[Uncle99]

I have the high range hanna meter
assuming the test kit is accurate and nitrates are in fact too low. what's the best way to get them up?
feeding more, tune the skimmer down, pull out the reactor media?i'd rather not mess with my water changes cause if i skip a week the LPS for sure let me know.

Well that meter I do trust.
Feed sure, but that takes too much time IMM.
Bump that nitrate up with Brightwell Neophos or similar nitrate additive so it’s available immediately to the system.
You won’t need much so, dose, wait, test, that kind of thing.
Follow manufacturer instructs and raise, but slowly.

 

[rahger]

Feed sure, but that takes too much time IMM.
Bump that nitrate up with Brightwell Neophos or similar nitrate additive so it’s available immediately to the system.
You won’t need much so, dose, wait, test, that kind of thing.

thanks so much! will order some.

 

[rahger]

Update:
Dosed a bit of nitrates, they've been holding strong around that 1-3ppm mark for the last ten days or so. Some of the algae looks less green and more brown, hopefully a good sign?

Siphoned a lot of it out, here's a FTS from before I did a WC and siphoned some algae out of the sand:
https://flic.kr/p/2mVHZUT
I also ordered some sand dwelling snails and a conch, but shipping temps in wyoming winter killed them. Will have to wait a bit to get a decent sandbed CUC

 

[Lionfish hunter]

hello all!
I'm having some strange algae issues that are leaving me a little stumped on how to proceed.

Background:
mixed reef heavy on the sps frags but some LPS too.
75g +25g sump
2x g4 xr30 no idea what par is but they're at 25%
2x mp40 reefcrest at 30-35%
BRS mini reactor filled with 2:1 carbon:gfo at ~200L/min ish
I dose KZ (AAC, AA LPS, CV, and sponge power) as well as some phyto and red sea AA 1x per week. I finally found a good routine that slowed the alage growth but now i want to get the last little bit gone but it always comes back. Also, I tried cutting this out entirely but a few SPS paled out and it ticked off my LPS.

parameters as of 12/20
ca: 420
alk: 8.3
mg: 1300
po4: 0.06
nitrate undetectable (but i think that's hanna user error)

problem:
in July I swapped my sand from a varied particle size to reefflakes. I did it rather slowly. Removing some sand week by week with water changes and slowly adding the reefflakes in. All was good for a few months. then this algae popped up on the sand only. I'll attach a picture too.

I don't have a lot of algae on the rocks and I clean the glass every 4 or so days since not much grows on there.
My question is two fold.
1. why is the alage no where else but the sand bed
2. is it a coincidence that the algae popped up soon after adding the sand?

any help would be awesome.
what would your next step be? is this a filtration issue or a CUC issue? My CUC could use a refresh.

I had diatoms recently for 8 months. Tangs keep the rocks clean, algae on the glass was easy to get rid of, but my sand was covered. Figured it was dynos as I had 0 nitrate. I ran seachem phosguard to get rid of silicates and in a few weeks the sand algae is gone. This will also get rid of your phosphate so if you are worried about 0 phosphate that could be an issue. The New sand could have brought some silicates in? If it is dyno, dosing nitrate should get rid of them.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Update:
Dosed a bit of nitrates, they've been holding strong around that 1-3ppm mark for the last ten days or so. Some of the algae looks less green and more brown, hopefully a good sign?

Siphoned a lot of it out, here's a FTS from before I did a WC and siphoned some algae out of the sand:

I also ordered some sand dwelling snails and a conch, but shipping temps in wyoming winter killed them. Will have to wait a bit to get a decent sandbed CUC

I have 10 conchs and 1 sand sifting starfish. They do a fantastic job turning over the sand. But the algae I had would regrow so fast that it would just regrow too fast.

 

[rahger]

I had diatoms recently for 8 months. Tangs keep the rocks clean, algae on the glass was easy to get rid of, but my sand was covered. Figured it was dynos as I had 0 nitrate. I ran seachem phosguard to get rid of silicates and in a few weeks the sand algae is gone. This will also get rid of your phosphate so if you are worried about 0 phosphate that could be an issue. The New sand could have brought some silicates in? If it is dyno, dosing nitrate should get rid of them.

I never even considered silicates. I definitely don't think it's dino. It looks exactly like green hair algae just in little ball form attached to the sand particles.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

I never even considered silicates. I definitely don't think it's dino. It looks exactly like green hair algae just in little ball form attached to the sand particles.

I have not seen that so don’t get me lying. The conchs might be of some help as long as it doesn't grown super fast. They really do move a lot of sand depending on the species. I have 2 species, do not remember which is which. The larger sized ones move nonstop day and night. The other smaller species lives in the sand and does not move much.

 

[rahger]

I have not seen that so don’t get me lying. The conchs might be of some help as long as it doesn't grown super fast. They really do move a lot of sand depending on the species. I have 2 species, do not remember which is which. The larger sized ones move nonstop day and night. The other smaller species lives in the sand and does not move much.

I ordered a 3" tiger conch from reef cleaners but it arrived DOA due to weather.
It'd be nice to have an army of smaller ones versus one big one.