What kind of algae?!

[Reefnewb]

Can anyone I'd this algae? Last time I asked I got GHA but now it's looking different and it's spreading faster. I think what caused it was phosphates leaching from live rock I got. Tank is only two months old and the phosphates are 30ppb (Hanna phosphorous) and I have GFO absorbing them. Nitrates are 0 with a salifert kit... the algae does not come off the rock when I tried to siphion it out. Also powder blue tang will not eat it.

 

[ahiggins]

Im thinking brown hair algae but without seeing the actual stalks....Im not 100% sure

 

[ChiCity]

Could be hair, could be turf algae too.
Looks like a bit of cyano is growing on it as well...

Do you have any macros to outcompete it?
If not, add some or step up your gfo game

 

[ahiggins]

Could be hair, could be turf algae too.
Looks like a bit of cyano is growing on it as well

could totally be turf too

 

[Reefnewb]

Could be hair, could be turf algae too.
Looks like a bit of cyano is growing on it as well...

Do you have any macros to outcompete it?
If not, add some or step up your gfo game

I just thought that the tang would eat hair algae that's what has me second guessing. Could it maybe be Cotten candy? It's a 180g tank and I'm running 40tbspn of BRS GFO sometimes my phosphate test will be high and sometimes it's low any idea why that would happen? Like some days I'll get 60ppb+ and some days 19ppb without touching the GFO

 

[Reefnewb]

I do not have any macro algae because I have no room for a fuge right now unfortuneltly. The tank has only been setup for about 2 and a half months. The rock came from a friends tank and it was all live but I guess it had a lot of phosphate bound to it that's causing the high high phosphates... didn't know rock could leach this long! Oh and I only feed a little frozen a day and a little nori every other.

 

[oldpaddy]

I find phosguard is better than gfo at stripping phosphates.

 

[SwerveCle]

Been there... h2o2 1ml for ever 10gal 2times a day.

Gone in a week or 2

 

[Reefnewb]

Been there... h2o2 1ml for ever 10gal 2times a day.

Gone in a week or 2

Iv heard of doing that but I thought it was only once a day?

 

[Reefnewb]

I find phosguard is better than gfo at stripping phosphates.

Iv never used it. Does that go in a reactor?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Can anyone I'd this algae? Last time I asked I got GHA but now it's looking different and it's spreading faster. I think what caused it was phosphates leaching from live rock I got. Tank is only two months old and the phosphates are 30ppb (Hanna phosphorous) and I have GFO absorbing them. Nitrates are 0 with a salifert kit... the algae does not come off the rock when I tried to siphion it out. Also powder blue tang will not eat it.

Did you scrub it?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I find phosguard is better than gfo at stripping phosphates.

Iv never used it. Does that go in a reactor?

It is gfo.

 

[JBradford]

It is gfo.

Technically it's not. PhosGuard is aluminum based where gfo is ferric oxide based. They are on the market to do the same thing. however PhosGuard can have side effects if used to much to quick. Both are used in a reactor but read up on both before making the decision o.p.

 

[Dancingmad]

Im a huge fan of manual removal if possible. That way youre physically removing nutrients from a closed environment, especially in a young tank. +1 to scrubbage. Chemical/gfo treatment in conjuction helps, but at the end of it dead algea/bacteria will feed nutrients thus new new growth and the cycle continues imo(e).

 

[hnd0324]

having the same problem but like Dancingmad said dead algae/bacteria only help new algae grow, there has to be way to get rid of it the algae for good. i've tried continuum bacter clean-M it works but the algae returns quickly.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Im a huge fan of manual removal if possible. That way youre physically removing nutrients from a closed environment, especially in a young tank. +1 to scrubbage. Chemical/gfo treatment in conjuction helps, but at the end of it dead algea/bacteria will feed nutrients thus new new growth and the cycle continues imo(e).

Yup. See richard Ross reef w 3.0 po4

 

[Dancingmad]

Yup. See richard Ross reef w 3.0 po4

Thanks for this - Just looked him up and found his reef write up on http://www.advancedaquarist.com. Awesome tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for this - Just looked him up and found his reef write up on http://www.advancedaquarist.com. Awesome tank.

He also has his tank here on Reef2Reef now. Flies in the face of most beliefs.
He credits lack of algaes with qt and good omnivores.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-home-tank.296635/

 

[oldpaddy]

Iv never used it. Does that go in a reactor?

Yup. But you don't let it tumble like gfo.

 

[oldpaddy]

It is gfo.

Phosguard isn't gfo. Maybe you're thinking of phosban? Which is synthetic gfo if I'm not mistaken.