What type of algae?

[ZachP]

Tank is a nuvo fusion 20. Setup at the end of October and finished cycle around mid December. Diatoms have come and gone but I'm stuck with this mess on the front sandbed all the sudden. Thought it was diatoms but seems to be Dino or cyano. It's only on the sandbed and everywhere else in the tank looks good.

Stock:
- 1 oscellaris clown
- 1 sixline wrasse
- 1 Redfin waspfish
- a few zoas and a monti cap

Params:
Ammonia 0
Trites 0
Trates 10-15 (little high, I've been working on this)
Phos .015
Calcium 410
Alk 8.1
Mag 1380

 

[xviijdx]

Simple brown algae, How long do you run your lights? Anything less than 8 will cause diatom growth anything more than 10 seems to grow all other types of algae, Also how old is your tank? If i was you First check your Nitrates, Usually a sign of high nitrates in a mature tank. If that fails are you using an RO/DI unit, If not could likely be silicates as well! Hope this helps!

 

[ZachP]

Simple brown algae, How long do you run your lights? Anything less than 8 will cause diatom growth anything more than 10 seems to grow all other types of algae, Also how old is your tank? If i was you First check your Nitrates, Usually a sign of high nitrates in a mature tank. If that fails are you using an RO/DI unit, If not could likely be silicates as well! Hope this helps!

I run my lights for 12 hours but they slowly ramp up to morning which is only like 30% then midday then evening etc. so it isn't anywhere close to 12 hours of full light. The tank is only a couple months old and I posted all my parameters above. Nitrates have been high, 15-20, after the cycle. But the last week or so I've got them down to 10-15 and I'm still working on getting them down lower. And yes I use ro/di. I know my nitrates need to come down but why is it only on the sandbed? I have very good flow in the tank. That's what had me thinking it was something different, hopefully I'm wrong though. Thanks for the help!

 

[xviijdx]

No problem didnt notice the Params. But yes its most likely From high nitrates, As far as why its only on the sand bed, I couldnt tell you for sure. But its definatly just diatoms. do a few activly quick water changes, Should get rid of them fast. and easy.

 

[ZachP]

No problem didnt notice the Params. But yes its most likely From high nitrates, As far as why its only on the sand bed, I couldnt tell you for sure. But its definatly just diatoms. do a few activly quick water changes, Should get rid of them fast. and easy.

Ok thanks. I think some of the rocks I had were leaching nitrates or something weird I'm not sure honestly. Since the cycle I've been doing 2 5 gallon water changes a week to keep them down and they are slowly coming to a more reasonable level. Adding fish hardly made a difference so I don't think that's the problem and my phosphates are pretty low so I don't think I'm over feeding. I'll just keep working on the nitrates then and see if fixing that problem will fix this one

 

[jsker]

New tank and it going to be cycling for the next year until it gets established:) does the algae go away at night? If it does then it is cyano. Mostly likely diatoms. Run some type of carbon or you can try Red Sea NoPox to get thing under control. Yes a water change will help, but temporally until the nitrates come down. Feed very little. Keep in mind corals like a little phosphate and nitrates to grow beside your elements. I run my phosphates around a trace to .03ppm and my nitrates between 5 and 12 ppm

 

[ZachP]

New tank and it going to be cycling for the next year until it gets established:) does the algae go away at night? If it does then it is cyano. Mostly likely diatoms. Run some type of carbon or you can try Red Sea NoPox to get thing under control. Yes a water change will help, but temporally until the nitrates come down. Feed very little. Keep in mind corals like a little phosphate and nitrates to grow beside your elements. I run my phosphates around a trace to .03ppm and my nitrates between 5 and 12 ppm

Thanks for the reply. No it's still there at night for sure. Just thought it was weird that diatoms came and went on everything except stayed heavy on the sand, maybe my snails just clean everything but the sand. I've been feeding every other day to help with nitrates but seems like feeding doesn't make much of a difference so I'm guessing nitrates are coming from somewhere else. And like I said phos is low at 0.015 with a Hanna checker. I've been trying to stay the natural route but I've been really considering nopox, I've done a lot of reading on carbon dosing and seems like it might be perfect for my situation with high trates but phos not a problem. My goal is to get nitrates under 10, that's where I feel comfortable with it

 

[jsker]

I used NoPox for a bit to get my nutrient under control when my system was newer, like yourself I wanted to find out what the issue is and fix it so I stopped dose NoPox. I am constantly tinkering with my system, that can be a good thing or a bad thing:rolleyes: Being the new system that your system is, you are going to have mini cycles along the way and it seems like we are constantly fighting one outbreak or another. I have been read about systems that run very high Nitrates and phosphates above what some would say to run and these system are crystal clear and have very little algae.

I have kind of come to the conclusion that chasing numbers will make reefing drive one insane. With the numbers you are running right now, they pretty much match the numbers of one of the biggest coral wholesalers run. There corals are awesome and they do a lot of tank maintenance. If you want to go natural I would let the system ride for another to weeks, I did not see any fish?? If there are not any fish I would try to starve the algae out and feed you shrimp maybe every 3 day with a pellet of two and also feed your corals a product for them. You are going to have to tinker with your system to see what work and what does not. If you what results then I would dose the NoPox and use a auto doser for better results.

I my system I run GFO, Zeovit, and carbon in the sump. I feed heavy on purpose for my corals to grow:)

 

[jenreefer]

It is quite normal to see this in a new tank(less than one year). I would not worry at all. Vacuuming your sand bed and running it through a filter sock will help reduce this, but it needs to run its course.

what is the TDS of water coming out of RO/DI system? Nitrates are not usually high in new systems. You may be overfeeding the tank.

I completely overfeed, but I then over skim. Finding a good balance takes time. I am still working on mine.

 

[ZachP]

I do have fish, a sixline a clown and a Redfin waspfish. I may be overfeeding a bit because I try to make sure the waspfish gets some too. Usually i feed then use a turkey baster to suck up any extra I see and target feed the waspfish and I only feed every other day. I know my nitrates aren't crazy high so I would just let it ride out because I understand it's going to take a long time to build up anaerobic bacteria to break down nitrates. But when I start getting a bunch of algae it just sucks to have an unpleasant looking tank. And I'm not sure of TDS of ro/di. I get my water from a very trustworthy and very clean lfs. I have tested fresh mixed water though for nitrates and phos and it's all good. I'll definitely wait at least a couple more weeks before i dose anything. If it gets worse I'll consider the option though. For now I'll just keep up with water changes, just sucks because I'm burning through salt doing 2-3 five gallon changes a week. Maybe I'll try lowering my mp10 to just where sand barely isn't getting blown around and see if that cleans it up

 

[ZachP]

I also have chemipure elite in my media baskets but I'm not sure it does anything besides making my water look way clear

 

[ZachP]

I used NoPox for a bit to get my nutrient under control when my system was newer, like yourself I wanted to find out what the issue is and fix it so I stopped dose NoPox. I am constantly tinkering with my system, that can be a good thing or a bad thing:rolleyes: Being the new system that your system is, you are going to have mini cycles along the way and it seems like we are constantly fighting one outbreak or another. I have been read about systems that run very high Nitrates and phosphates above what some would say to run and these system are crystal clear and have very little algae.

I have kind of come to the conclusion that chasing numbers will make reefing drive one insane. With the numbers you are running right now, they pretty much match the numbers of one of the biggest coral wholesalers run. There corals are awesome and they do a lot of tank maintenance. If you want to go natural I would let the system ride for another to weeks, I did not see any fish?? If there are not any fish I would try to starve the algae out and feed you shrimp maybe every 3 day with a pellet of two and also feed your corals a product for them. You are going to have to tinker with your system to see what work and what does not. If you what results then I would dose the NoPox and use a auto doser for better results.

I my system I run GFO, Zeovit, and carbon in the sump. I feed heavy on purpose for my corals to grow:)

Oh ya and with the clown and six line I have no idea how I got a picture with neither of them in it lol they are both always front and center.

 

[jsker]

Oh ya and with the clown and six line I have no idea how I got a picture with neither of them in it lol they are both always front and center.

Mine are always trying to get into picture

 

[jsker]

I do have fish, a sixline a clown and a Redfin waspfish. I may be overfeeding a bit because I try to make sure the waspfish gets some too. Usually i feed then use a turkey baster to suck up any extra I see and target feed the waspfish and I only feed every other day. I know my nitrates aren't crazy high so I would just let it ride out because I understand it's going to take a long time to build up anaerobic bacteria to break down nitrates. But when I start getting a bunch of algae it just sucks to have an unpleasant looking tank. And I'm not sure of TDS of ro/di. I get my water from a very trustworthy and very clean lfs. I have tested fresh mixed water though for nitrates and phos and it's all good. I'll definitely wait at least a couple more weeks before i dose anything. If it gets worse I'll consider the option though. For now I'll just keep up with water changes, just sucks because I'm burning through salt doing 2-3 five gallon changes a week. Maybe I'll try lowering my mp10 to just where sand barely isn't getting blown around and see if that cleans it up

Changing the flow might help

 

[GoVols]

Looks like mostly Diatoms to me.

 

[GoVols]

Oh ya and with the clown and six line I have no idea how I got a picture with neither of them in it lol they are both always front and center.

It's on your sand bed in the lighted areas.
When your lights come on is it almost faded away and during the lights on time of the day come back and recede again the next night?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Happy health ugly phase.

My only .02
If your going dsb, your going to want to add sand in a lil less than a year. Keep up on it and dont let it get gross but...

also look for a place to get clean worms for the sandbed.

 

[ZachP]

It's on your sand bed in the lighted areas.
When your lights come on is it almost faded away and during the lights on time of the day come back and recede again the next night?

No it's pretty much always there day and night

 

[ZachP]

Happy health ugly phase.

My only .02
If your going dsb, your going to want to add sand in a lil less than a year. Keep up on it and dont let it get gross but...

also look for a place to get clean worms for the sandbed.

Sorry but I'm a little confused on what your saying. Are you saying in a little less then a year add more sand? And are you saying get clean worms as in buy some sort of worms? I currently have 1.5 - 2 inch sandbed

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Sorry but I'm a little confused on what your saying. Are you saying in a little less then a year add more sand? And are you saying get clean worms as in buy some sort of worms? I currently have 1.5 - 2 inch sandbed

Yes. You have more sand than is typical for a shallow bed IMO.
It's too deep to easily vacuume but not deep enough to be a Dsb. A nice thing in the Dsb methods I learned is to keep adding sand slowly. The crabs worms pods and micro fauna will stir in the upper layers and continue to seed it and clean it so it functions correctly for efficient nutrient processing. And you get a spring clean every year with fresh sand.
Low nutrients and fresh clean sand every year.