Someone tell me this isn’t Dino’s

[Payne Train]

I use RODI water, my tank is 1 month old, water change every 10 days, I have 2 clowns, one small Duncan and a handful of snails and a couple hermits.

my light cycle is currently 12 hours (I probably need to cut this down a bit.
mid level lighting for 7 1/2 hours and highish for 4 1/2 hours.

Caribsea live sand and life rock.

I started my tank with turbo start

I am running chemipure elite and one small pack of GFO (which I took the GFO our tonight)

And if it is, even more bad news - I have a shipment of a cleaner crew coming my way Via mail right now . Supposed to be here in like 3 days from reef cleaners . Assuming that if it is Dino, that would be bad for that crew —- possibly kill a bunch of them causing an ammonia spike as well ???



see below for water test pic and tank

 

[nex64]

Your 1 month in broham.

Dino’s and other nasties are probably inevitable on your journey.

Don’t fret , you’ll be good


Maybe get some better tests as well, API tests are a little fishy. Pun intended.

 

[Payne Train]

Yea I figured that they could be an issue at some point - I was just hoping to get through the basic, non headache Algea for a while lol

I plan on getting a better testing kit here pretty soon -
Would you suggest keeping the GFO out and lowering the light time for a while or just go with the flow (pun also intended)

 

[Copingwithpods]

At one month you're likely starting to get diatoms. Your ammonia test is a little suspect, api usually gives a very slight false reading under 0.25 but yours appears to be closer to 0.50. Are you sure your cycle was finished before the lifestock was added? How long have they been in there?

 

[LOVEROCK]

micoscope

 

[Payne Train]

At one month you're likely starting to get diatoms. Your ammonia test is a little suspect, api usually gives a very slight false reading under 0.25 but yours appears to be closer to 0.50. Are you sure your cycle was finished before the lifestock was added? How long have they been in there?

The first clown went in on day 16 I believe and the 2nd one was around day 25 I think. This was the Same day I added a small frag of Duncan’s.

The first picture is my test before I added my first fish
The second picture was my test when the 2nd was added along with the Duncans

 

[Copingwithpods]

Maybe it was just a trick of the light, color looked darker than .25 in the op

 

[Payne Train]

Yea I just realized that I took that picture during the evening, so the lighting isn’t very good .

 

[Tamberav]

chemi pure + gfo on a new tank is overkill. I pretty much don't use GFO anymore under any circumstance. If you don't have a phosphate test kit then you are basically treating something without knowing if you even need it.

 

[Nubomb]

I’m no expert but it’s not a question of if but when. I see reddish/brown snot and bubbles rising up = looks like Dino’s. Do the go away when after lights are out (check next morning)? Also looks like your nitrates hit zero.

I’d remove filter media/chemicals, stop water changes, increase nutrients and siphon out the snot. I’m battling them now in a 5 month old tank and this is what I have been doing for about 3 weeks now. Dino’s have not gotten worse/ even declined a little.

 

[Payne Train]

So you think I need to take out my chemi pure elite and just run filter pads ??
If so, how long do I go without having any Chemi Pure present ?

I didn't add the chemi pure until the tank was cycled/the day before my first fish was introduced. Maybe I used too much CP?

My LFS was out of phosphate tests so I have to order some online

 

[Bfragale]

I think just wait it out. A young tank needs to mature a bit. If I was you, at this point I would not worry much. Most important is stability, and I have found that you can try all kinds of things for the algae but may do more harm then good. Once the tank is mature a lot of it will go away on it’s own provided your water parameters are within health levels and consistency is super important. Good luck and happy reefing

 

[Nubomb]

What are you using the chemi pure for?

I just see your nitrates at zero and feel you need to keep nutrients raised a bit and than stable.

I don’t run anything in my tank except filter pad and a small refuge with chaeto. I over did water changes (weekly at 25%). I feed more food, stopped water changes and cut back lights on the fuge and my nitrates run around 10 instead of zero.

It’s possible this all goes away for you with time and tank maturity but why run and pay for filter medias if it’s not needed? Everyone has different opinions and success comes in many Different forms. I just like to keep it simple and natural. If at some point that no longer works then try “products”.

 

[Nubomb]

Oh, I also run a small bag of carbon that I change weekly.

 

[Payne Train]

I use it as my primary "water cleaning" filter - to help control some algea, phosphates, silicates and to keep the water as clear as possible ... I've used it in the past, several years ago, and always had good luck with it .

That being said, I used it with seachem Purigen which I am not currently using.