I've read through at least 50 algae threads and at this point my head is spinning and I'm not sure what to do. My tank is a 60 cube that is almost 1 year old and over the past 6 weeks I've developed both dino's (no microscope so unsure of type but it has all of the looks and characteristics) and GHA and from all of the different posts I'm starting to doubt myself so I thought it might be worthwhile seeing if others might have a suggestion of how to proceed. I used dry CaribSea shapes to create the rock structure and have a sand bed about 2" deep. I have the ability to create a ton of flow in the tank from 4 gyres and 1 mp10 but I run things at 50% max so it has a fair amount but nothing absurd since I only have some softies, mushrooms, and zoa's.
In the sump I run:
Klir DI-4 roller
Bubble Magnus 7
Cannister filter with approx 1 cup of Rox Carbon
Marinepure balls in the sump and in a a Fijicube refugium that hangs off the side of the sump
UV sterilizer that pulls and dumps back into the sump (acquired after initial build and I didn't have the stomach to plumb it into the return line)
What I'm looking at now are dino's on the sand that go away a bit at night but are back strong the next day even if I siphon them out. I also have GHA starting to take a foothold .
The current parameters are:
Temp: 79.8
Sal: 1.026
PH: 8.25
DKH: 8.2
Cal: 430
NO3: 5
PO4: 0.01
MG: 1350
The above parameters are either via Hanna checkers, Nyos test kits, or the Apex probes and have been fairly stable, but about a week ago I decided to bump the temp a little bit to 80 and started adding a couple capfuls of Microbacter 7 daily for the first week and then a single capful over the last week. I was hoping the Microbaccter might help with the dino's, but I'm not seeing any improvement. Over these 2 weeks the alk consumption has increased (maybe due to the temp?) and my NO3 and PO4 have both dropped. Two weeks ago the NO3 was around 12 and the PO4 was around .06
I may have this completely wrong but it seems like the drop in NO3 and PO4 is tied to the Microbacter and that both are also perhaps being consumed by the GHA. The PO4 at this point is almost bottomed out so I'm obviously worried about what additional algae drama that will bring, but it seems like dosing PO4 or taking other natural steps such as reducing the amount of time the skimmer runs or removing the rollermat will all just add more fuel to the GHA fire.
My other thought was to add more snails but I have a Valentin puffer than the family is pretty fond of so that route could get expensive if he decides to pick them all off over a few days. The fish bioload on the tank is not too much (2 clowns, 2 diamond gobies, and the Valentini). Another hit or miss option might be a lawnmover blenny but from my past experience they seem to be inconsistent with regard to whether they like GHA.
I'll add one more caveat to this problem....I build the tall structure in place in the tank so I cannot remove it to scrub the rocks and would prefer to not have to pull and siphon algae since that's never worked for me in older tanks.
I feel like I'm on the precipice of trying a lot of different things at once but understand that is not how to effectively solve a problem.
So, what would you suggest I do?
In the sump I run:
Klir DI-4 roller
Bubble Magnus 7
Cannister filter with approx 1 cup of Rox Carbon
Marinepure balls in the sump and in a a Fijicube refugium that hangs off the side of the sump
UV sterilizer that pulls and dumps back into the sump (acquired after initial build and I didn't have the stomach to plumb it into the return line)
What I'm looking at now are dino's on the sand that go away a bit at night but are back strong the next day even if I siphon them out. I also have GHA starting to take a foothold .
The current parameters are:
Temp: 79.8
Sal: 1.026
PH: 8.25
DKH: 8.2
Cal: 430
NO3: 5
PO4: 0.01
MG: 1350
The above parameters are either via Hanna checkers, Nyos test kits, or the Apex probes and have been fairly stable, but about a week ago I decided to bump the temp a little bit to 80 and started adding a couple capfuls of Microbacter 7 daily for the first week and then a single capful over the last week. I was hoping the Microbaccter might help with the dino's, but I'm not seeing any improvement. Over these 2 weeks the alk consumption has increased (maybe due to the temp?) and my NO3 and PO4 have both dropped. Two weeks ago the NO3 was around 12 and the PO4 was around .06
I may have this completely wrong but it seems like the drop in NO3 and PO4 is tied to the Microbacter and that both are also perhaps being consumed by the GHA. The PO4 at this point is almost bottomed out so I'm obviously worried about what additional algae drama that will bring, but it seems like dosing PO4 or taking other natural steps such as reducing the amount of time the skimmer runs or removing the rollermat will all just add more fuel to the GHA fire.
My other thought was to add more snails but I have a Valentin puffer than the family is pretty fond of so that route could get expensive if he decides to pick them all off over a few days. The fish bioload on the tank is not too much (2 clowns, 2 diamond gobies, and the Valentini). Another hit or miss option might be a lawnmover blenny but from my past experience they seem to be inconsistent with regard to whether they like GHA.
I'll add one more caveat to this problem....I build the tall structure in place in the tank so I cannot remove it to scrub the rocks and would prefer to not have to pull and siphon algae since that's never worked for me in older tanks.
I feel like I'm on the precipice of trying a lot of different things at once but understand that is not how to effectively solve a problem.
So, what would you suggest I do?
