Long time coming

[Tango2]

Until recently, I had really no problems with any kind of algae other than bubble. With the last of my CUC dying off slowly (presumably because of starvation), it seems to be appearing now. The good news is from what I can tell, the BA problem has slowed, but it's way too early to call victory at this point. I'll try to grab some pictures today of the current state, and possibly grab some new measurements this weekend to post.

Any recommendations on a CUC?

Also I think getting my fuge set back up would be in my best interest. I had one going with chaeto in the past that grew like weeds. When I redid my sump, I didn't figure out the lighting for my tall, narrow fuge chamber and the chaeto I had died. Any ideas for a good lighting solution for a 4"x 24" refugium setup? I was previously running a PAR38 LED bulb, and I'm considering just running some LED strips.

 

[Tango2]

Update... I completely restocked my CUC through reefcleaners.org. Ordered their 45 gallon kit along with some chaeto to get my fuge going again. All of this went into the tank Wednesday. I also ordered https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C84SLRO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_y3BvzbKWNPQ2D fuge light, which I'll hopefully get good chaeto growth from. It had one of 700+ reviews that said "working good on my chaeto" so I'm sure it will be perfect [emoji6]

Haven't retested water parameters, but hope to get that done before the weekend.

 

[Slarti]

Never cook LR. It can explode!

Since you have a plague, take out what rocks you can and scrub them with a stiff brush. Run them under some RO rinse. Then put them back in the tank. BA are single cell plants. Each bubble is a single cell. You pop it you kill the cell. And no, they DO NOT reproduce by spores. So popping them does not spread spores. They reproduce by cell division. BA is the most studied marine plant because of the fact that each bubble is huge single cell. Botanists love the stuff for studying cell activity. But you don't want to pop and leave the stuff to rot in your tank. It puts more nutrients back into the water column.

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The things you learn! When the first bubble appeared in my tank I was told by some 'expert' to be very careful as my tank will be overrun if I by accident pop the bubble and set free the million spores just waiting to overtake my tank. Being an 'expert' I took his word for it and avoided the thing like the plague... Eventually got rid of it when I moved house and just the other day I found another one I had to avoid! Anyway, got a few smallish ones now and based on what you said they won't see the end of the weekend!!!

 

[Tango2]

Finally got some updated measurements, but I'm starting to think I have a problem with my Hanna ULR Phosphorus test. I keep getting really cloudy water after adding the powder to the water, and really high readings. The first time I saw this was when I tested my RODI water, but thought that this was because of the lack of salt (assuming the test was meant for salt water). Yesterday, I got the same results on my tank water and a maxed out reading of 200. Otherwise, all readings looked good, and my BA has definitely slowed. CUC is doing their job, but have more work ahead of them.

pH: 8.23
Alk: 8.8 dKH
Ca: 400 ppm
Mg: 1335 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Any ideas on the Phosphorus test problems???

Promise I'll post some progress pictures soon...

 

[lilchris_357]

@Tango2 any updates? How is the erradication process coming?

 

[Tango2]

@Tango2 any updates? How is the erradication process coming?

Yep, it's official - I've completely slacked off on updating this thread!

I was very skeptical at first on the Vibrant, but that has to be what has brought me this far. My bubble algae isn't gone, but it is WAY under control now. I've had a lot of things going on lately that I've been working on, and unfortunately my tank isn't one of them. With a little more effort, I think it would have all been gone. Trying to get my summer projects wrapped up before it starts getting colder.

I have some chaeto in my sump, but I'm considering re-pumbing my fuge. I'll post some more details on that, as well as a more detailed update since it seems that at least one person is following this

 

[Tango2]

Ok, so as promised, here are some more details on the current state of the tank.

As I said in my last post, things have been busy and I haven't been able to put 100% into the tank lately, but even with that said, it is looking better than it has in a long time. I've been trying to maintain at least a 7.5ml dose of vibrant once a week. I have admittedly missed a week here and there, but it seems to be working. I also have my continuous water changes going strong, and I'm sure that doesn't hurt (although this alone did not make a difference).

One thing I have noticed is a huge amount of algae in my sump. This started after adding an LED fixture to my fuge, which isn't much more than a chamber with some chaeto in it right now. The flow into my fuge is also a problem, because I have a manifold off my return pump that feeds my GFO/Carbon reactor which dumps into the fuge. On one hand, the water leaving my fuge should be pretty clean. On the other hand, my water entering my fuge should be pretty clean too, which isn't helping me re-establish a healthy pod population. I need to re-think this plumbing, and I was trying to do this without another pump, but I may put something in the main section of my sump to feed the fuge. I think this would work much better.

I also wish I could have used some black acrylic on the wall between the fuge and the sump - that would have cut down on the algae in the sump, but would have also made it difficult to see inside my fuge for maintenance.

Anyway, with a little bit of manual housekeeping in the main tank, it would be almost the best it has ever been. I'll be restocking real soon and hopefully have something more to look at!

Pictures as promised: