phosphates

[jose hernandez]

so ive been getting algae on my glass and rocks i had red slime and brown algae on the sandbed as well so i siphoned it out my hanna checker reads 0 nitrates are .10 what could this be?

 

[W1ngz]

Could be a few things. When did you siphon things out? Red algae is probably cyano. Brown algae on the sand could be dinos. Pics would help, as would a more detailed description of the 'brown algae'. Don't assume what I say it 'could be' is what is actually is.

This is a bit of a catch-22 scenario without any photos for an exact Id.

Either the algae is vegetation, and it is consuming all of your nitrate and phosphate in the water so you can't see it on the tests or;
You have terribly low nitrate and phosphate levels (possibly due to the cyano), which has allowed the dinos to take hold.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Film algae on the glass is just one of those things you deal with when keeping a fish tank be it salt or freshwater. The low nitrates could be a false reading, but you definitely want to keep both it and phosphates off the floor. You can dose the tank with nitrate and phosphate if needed to keep it from bottoming out. I know it sounds crazy to add nutrients to the tank, but you will notice a significant difference in coral coloration as well. The important thing to do is keep the parameters stable. The three times I have had dinoflagellate blooms was directly related to having near undetectable levels of nitrates and phosphates thanks to carbon dosing. Since I started keeping nitrates at/near 5-10 and phosphates at .08 - .15 I have not had any dino issues. My tank is a full mixed reef tank and all my SPS including acros are all happy and have amazing color even with elevated nutrient levels because they are kept stable. Now I have to clean the glass once a day with my flipper cleaner but it's just part of the daily routine. The tangs in my tank keep any other types of nuisance algae at bay.

 

[jose hernandez]

will post pics when my lights come on ive been adding neophos by brightwell as far as nitrates they are detectable around .10 lights come on at 12 turn off 8 ive been feeding heavy 3x a day i have 10 fish so dont know what it can really be

 

[jose hernandez]

dont mind the cleaning just wondering why its there as far as dosing nutrients i have the neophos and neonitro ive been dosing 60ml of neophos for the past 3 days still its 0 as far as adding nutrients do i turn off the skimmer and uv while dosing?

 

[saltyhog]

Which Hanna checker for phosphates do you have? Are we sure this is dinos? Many algae problems don't need elevated nutrients to thrive. If it's dinos you definitely want your phosphate around 0.06-0.10 and your nitrate around 5.

 

[jose hernandez]

regular one hanna checker should i get the ulr one?
for nitrates i use salifert test kit

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I have never used Neophos, so I'm not sure of how concentrated it is. What I use is stump remover from Spectracide. In a 75g 1 tbsp is enough to raise nitrate from 0 to 5. Just dissolve it in a large cup of RO water and slowly add to the sump or overflow. When dosing anything it's a good idea to turn the skimmer off for a few hours just to prevent any potential issues with it going nuts. UV is not much of an issue leaving it on unless you're dosing bacteria for what ever reason or any other additive that specifically states to turn it off.

 

[Niteowl]

I always find my algae issues start when my pho’s and nitrate get to low. I changed my GFO and phos dropped to almost 0. Sure enough algae showed up. I removed some media and it’s slowly going away. Nitrates are now almost 10 and pho’s is .1

 

[jose hernandez]

i also have esv bionic nitrate but as far as phophates what can i use besides the neophos its not doing anything for me