Jeremey’s 5526 issues

[Jeremey901]

Hello everyone, I have a Waterbox Peninsula 5526
With a total water volume of 170.1g. The display is 130g and going through the uglies. I have been dealing with what I believe to be diatoms for about two months and more recently a red algae on the rock work. I believe it could be red slime or Dino’s but I am not experienced enough to Figure out what is present in my reef. I know it’s not cyano or I just strongly believe it’s not cyano as chemiclean did nothing for me. I have been dosing vibrant for three weeks (twice a week) so maybe in the coming weeks this will be a non issue. The tank has only been up for 4 months and I have only been in the hobby for just over a year.

 

[Crustaceon]

It might seem counter productive, but your tank probably needs to be allowed to get “dirtier” to resolve those issues. Dinos, diatoms, cyano all have a fantastic time at lower nutrient levels while beneficial bacteria struggles to keep a foothold. As nitrate an phosphate levels increase, bacteria populations can do the same and start out competing what you’re dealing with (3-10ppm nitrates, .03-.1ppm phosphates [get a hanna meter]. The trick is to not allow nutrient levels to go too high after that (20ppm + nitrates, .2ppm + phosphates), otherwise you’ll start to get nuisance algae on your rocks. I’d stop dosing vibrant (not sure why so many do, that stuff is the devil, lol) and feed more. also try to do no more than a 5% weekly water change. Give it a few weeks and you’ll probably start seeing an improvement.

 

[Jeremey901]

It might seem counter productive, but your tank probably needs to be allowed to get “dirtier” to resolve those issues. Dinos, diatoms, cyano all have a fantastic time at lower nutrient levels while beneficial bacteria struggles to keep a foothold. As nitrate an phosphate levels increase, bacteria populations can do the same and start out competing what you’re dealing with (3-10ppm nitrates, .03-.1ppm phosphates [get a hanna meter]. The trick is to not allow nutrient levels to go too high after that (20ppm + nitrates, .2ppm + phosphates), otherwise you’ll start to get nuisance algae on your rocks. I’d stop dosing vibrant (not sure why so many do, that stuff is the devil, lol) and feed more. also try to do no more than a 5% weekly water change. Give it a few weeks and you’ll probably start seeing an improvement.

Could taking the skimmer offline be beneficial?

 

[Crustaceon]

Could taking the skimmer offline be beneficial?

It’s debatable TBH. On one hand, nitrates will probably creep up faster without the skimmer, but you’ll lose some oxygenation, which would be a negative. What are your nitrates and phosphates at?