Tank on its Last leg. Algae ID helppppp

[Polyp Punk]

Hey guys. I attacked a picture of what’s going on in my 15g nano. Things are going horrible. I have had this algae since July. I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to fix it and it only gets worse and worse. Been in the hobby for over 7 years and I can’t figure it out. I thought it was a low nutrient problem so I upped my feeding and added some nitrate and phos that didn’t work. I stopped my water changes that didn’t work I upped my water changes that didn’t work I manually pull out the algae that didn’t work. I went lights out and treated for Dino’s which is what it looks like that didn’t work. I am so close to tearing down this tank.it looks like green hair algae mixed with some type of Dino’s ? If anyone can ID this problem I would appreciate it. Thanks !

 

[MichaelReefer]

Hair algae.

You're nutrients looked low because the algae is absorbing it. you need to reduce feeding, manual removal, water changes or GFO. You can also try Peroxide (h202) Dosing, which @brandon429 has many extensive posts on.

 

[Polyp Punk]

Hair algae.

You're nutrients looked low because the algae is absorbing it. you need to reduce feeding, manual removal, water changes or GFO. You can also try Peroxide (h202) Dosing, which @brandon429 has many extensive posts on.

I have tried all of that tho I’m running chemi pure and waterchanges but it still won’t go away. This is the first tank I started with dry rock and I regret it so much .. I feel like it’s the dry rock that’s leaching phos and nitrate and I don’t know how to stop it. No matter what I do it will not go away I’ll keep doing water changes for a few more months if nothing happens ill have to take it down.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I have tried all of that tho I’m running chemi pure and waterchanges but it still won’t go away. This is the first tank I started with dry rock and I regret it so much .. I feel like it’s the dry rock that’s leaching phos and nitrate and I don’t know how to stop it. No matter what I do it will not go away I’ll keep doing water changes for a few more months if nothing happens ill have to take it down.

Meh, I ran half dry rock when I went from my Reefer 250 to my 525xl. I only got a bit of Dinos for a month or so. Can you buy a cheap reactor and pump and hook some GFO up? You have to be careful though because you really have no idea what your Phos is, because the GHA is sucking it up. So start light and work your way up. I mean, you have a very small tank, so you really dont need much. you can buy a cheap Two Little Fishies reactor or something. Maybe this? Comes with a little pump too. You will just need to route the water down with a hose or something.

 

[brandon429]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

that can fix this nano, we fixed those and they’re still running strong. Rip clean it

 

[DrZoidburg]

@Salt_Life where are the inverts dont see any.

 

[Cnidoblast]

Is there anything you want to save on those rocks? I'd try to remove and dip them in strong peroxide or maybe even into a freshwater filled bucket with an ozone generator feeding into airstone

An example of a decent ozone generator:



Running phosphate reduction media and some carbon would help if this is indeed hair algae

 

[Polyp Punk]

Meh, I ran half dry rock when I went from my Reefer 250 to my 525xl. I only got a bit of Dinos for a month or so. Can you buy a cheap reactor and pump and hook some GFO up? You have to be careful though because you really have no idea what your Phos is, because the GHA is sucking it up. So start light and work your way up. I mean, you have a very small tank, so you really dont need much. you can buy a cheap Two Little Fishies reactor or something. Maybe this? Comes with a little pump too. You will just need to route the water down with a hose or something.

So update. All of that stuff in that picture is completely gone. Now I’m battling Dino’s but the reason is because my nutrients are 0000. My tank nutrients just won’t budge! I can’t get nitrate and phos above 0.. and once I turn the lights on the Dino’s always come back … I might try adding another fish ..or dose nitrate phos

 

[brandon429]

post current tank pic to compare to the top ones, the way the invasions alternate into different generations is helpful in making tank invasion mapping strategies. it will be handy to see a 2 mo changeup pic here

 

[brandon429]

its also handy to compare succession events against rip cleaned tanks and their rate of tradeoff invasions, all of the analyses tie in together really well for future maps of action