Skim or not skim?

[TheBear78]

Good afternoon.
My new tank ( RSR 425 XL) was started about 8 weeks ago with ATM Colony and two Clown fish. After the bacteria had balanced out that bio-load I gradually added a CUC in the form of 4 hermit crabs, 4 emerald crabs and 8 snails (mixture if Trochus and Nassarius). I have also recently added a Royal Gramma.
I went through the diatom stage reasonably unscathed then it began producing brown hair algae.

System info/history:-
I have used RODI since the beginning with RedSea Salt (supplied pre mixed from my LFS) and my last three weekly tests are below:
NO3 6.0, 8.0, 6.0 ppm
PO4 0.06, 0.0, 0.0 ppm
Ca 390, 400, 400 ppm
My 1300,1800*, 1500 ppm
KH 6.7, 7.0, 7.3 dKH
I do not test PH or salinity although I have ordered a Hannah Salinity probe to see if I am drifting off. This is probably inevitable!
*Mg test carried out incorrectly.

After the previous week where PO4 bottomed out I began to increase feeding and also reduced skimming from 24hrs a day to 12 on,12 off. After this week has seen no change in PO4 and a slight reduction in NO3 I decided to increase the loading with more fish! I have added 7 Green Chromis to see what happens.
I am feeding pellet in the morning and alternating with frozen brine shrimp or red plankton in the evening.
I am also adding copepods regularly to build up the population for which I have been dosing phytoplankton.

Back to the problem:-
Looking into identifying the brown hair algae I have seen a recommended treatment as turning up the skimming yet with a view to increasing NO3 I don't really want to.
I realise that phytoplankton will burn through NO3 so maybe that needs to be wound down a touch.
Typically I've probably made too many changes and am unsure what to do. I have attached a clip of the brown algae. You can also see a little bit of green on the substrate which is the one spot that receives sunlight. Hopefully this will not cause more problems further down the road.
Obviously patience is is key while everything is at a safe level but I am keen to try something for a week to see how it affects the PO4 while also improving NO3. I believe this to be my main concern at this stage.
Any thoughts?

 

[blaxsun]

I run my skimmer 24/7, and I notice a difference in water quality when it's offline. I would look at the sunlight aspect on your tank as that may be a contributing factor with your algae. You can also look at turning down the red channel in your lights.

 

[TheBear78]

You can also look at turning down the red channel in your lights

Thank you.
I forgot to mention lighting but I'm running a pair of ReefLED 90's 11 hours a day. I was running 50% blue and 20% white but have recently dropped the white channel to 10%.
I'll take a look at dropping the red if I have no luck although I'm not sure you can without a completely custom colour setting. Lots to learn!

 

[TheBear78]

Well, one week on after adding the 7 Green Chromis and I have increased phosphate!
Nitrate is still at around 6 ppm but phosphate is now registering at a decent 0.03 ppm. This was post a 15% water changes so it could have been fractionally higher but I'm happy with those numbers.
I hoovered most of the brown hair stuff off the substrate although it did look to be dying back anyway.
Let's see what another week brings.

Cheers.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Good afternoon.
My new tank ( RSR 425 XL) was started about 8 weeks ago with ATM Colony and two Clown fish. After the bacteria had balanced out that bio-load I gradually added a CUC in the form of 4 hermit crabs, 4 emerald crabs and 8 snails (mixture if Trochus and Nassarius). I have also recently added a Royal Gramma.
I went through the diatom stage reasonably unscathed then it began producing brown hair algae.

System info/history:-
I have used RODI since the beginning with RedSea Salt (supplied pre mixed from my LFS) and my last three weekly tests are below:
NO3 6.0, 8.0, 6.0 ppm
PO4 0.06, 0.0, 0.0 ppm
Ca 390, 400, 400 ppm
My 1300,1800*, 1500 ppm
KH 6.7, 7.0, 7.3 dKH
I do not test PH or salinity although I have ordered a Hannah Salinity probe to see if I am drifting off. This is probably inevitable!
*Mg test carried out incorrectly.

After the previous week where PO4 bottomed out I began to increase feeding and also reduced skimming from 24hrs a day to 12 on,12 off. After this week has seen no change in PO4 and a slight reduction in NO3 I decided to increase the loading with more fish! I have added 7 Green Chromis to see what happens.
I am feeding pellet in the morning and alternating with frozen brine shrimp or red plankton in the evening.
I am also adding copepods regularly to build up the population for which I have been dosing phytoplankton.

Back to the problem:-
Looking into identifying the brown hair algae I have seen a recommended treatment as turning up the skimming yet with a view to increasing NO3 I don't really want to.
I realise that phytoplankton will burn through NO3 so maybe that needs to be wound down a touch.
Typically I've probably made too many changes and am unsure what to do. I have attached a clip of the brown algae. You can also see a little bit of green on the substrate which is the one spot that receives sunlight. Hopefully this will not cause more problems further down the road.
Obviously patience is is key while everything is at a safe level but I am keen to try something for a week to see how it affects the PO4 while also improving NO3. I believe this to be my main concern at this stage.
Any thoughts?

Your tank is still new, I’d let it establish. Keep hands out of the tank unless needed

How is it doing now?