Nasty Algae Issue, need input please

[ejocam]

Where is the stuff coming from!

The eggcrate is brand new in the system showing the eggcrate pictures. This algae is rearing its head...

The other algae pics on the rocks just took off. All the coraline on the back wall, powerheads and rock has been dying off and this one is thriving now . My silicates are way down from before and I did not even have this algae when they were higher?? Am I overdosing something here?

I've been dosing Rotifeast and Phytofeast and wondering if this might have something to do with it?

[ycnibrc]

Hi Eric did you check your magnesium level? If you can keep it around 1300 or more the algae will go away. BTW I will pay you a visit soon my tank is complete. And thanks for your beautiful brown stag now it become this....

[Marko9]

Hey Eric. If its not one thing its another. In regard to rotifeast, I do not think that is the culprit as most of the reefers I know use this product. I used DT's and phytofeast and I did notice higher levels in algae, but mine was a green film.

Is this a residue from the strontium problem? Are you dosing any new products?

[my2girls]

Hi Eric. Don't know if this is the same type of algae, but I attribute mine to excess K Balance dosing.

[ejocam]

Originally posted by Marko9
Hey Eric. If its not one thing its another. In regard to rotifeast, I do not think that is the culprit as most of the reefers I know use this product. I used DT's and phytofeast and I did notice higher levels in algae, but mine was a green film.

Is this a residue from the strontium problem? Are you dosing any new products?

I hear you bro, the story of a reefer's life At least this reefer

[ejocam]

Originally posted by my2girls
Hi Eric. Don't know if this is the same type of algae, but I attribute mine to excess K Balance dosing.

That looks like the same algae, but I have not dosed K in a while. My K levels are actually really low in that tank (297) per AWT I was thinking Silicates or overdose of RN....

[chadfarmer]

whats the parameters?

how old are the lights ?
zeo tank or non zeo tank?

[tonyespinoza]

FWIW -- I've gotten the exact same algae (showing up in a hurry) when I've had to chase my KH with extra C-Balance dosing...

Seems to go away when I get the dKH under control and dose more steadily...

-tE

[tanya72806]

Eric I have the same exact thing and all my levels are perfectly fine and my nitrates on a lamotte test is 0 and my hanna shows my PO4 @ .02 It grows in my tank only in the high flow areas it seems. On the top of my rock stucture where the flow is most and the back wall and floor where I have tunzes too keep my detruis afloat. No one seems to know how to get rid of it. I even tried the magnesium trick had my mag level all the way up to 1600 and nothing.

[ejocam]

Originally posted by chadfarmer
whats the parameters?

how old are the lights ?
zeo tank or non zeo tank?

Both Zeo Tanks and lights are 2 months old.

Net Volume 150g 8 - T-5 and 1 Radium 250w Mogul

This is the tank with the really nasty stuff on the rocks. This tank has been setup for 10 months like the other one. I used rocks and water from my original store systems after we closed.

I added another 60g tank and plumbed it into the 100g tank about 2 months ago. When I first set it up, the agae really started to take of in the new tank but not that bad in the orginal 100g. I got the newer tank cleaned and fixed about 2 weeks ago and the original 100g took a turn for the worse. I noticed that I do not have coralline in the 100g part of the sytem but a lot of coralline taking of in the 60g part of the system???

I have only dosed start 6 times in the last 14 days as I also assumed a start OD.

Start2 New Version 10 drops 2 X a day
Zeobak 6 drops 2 X a week
Zeofood 3 drops 2 X a week


Net Volume 320g

(This is the tank with the eggcrate pics) 9 - 250w Radium Mogul

The only thing different I did was dose Sponge Power. When I dosed the recomended drops it seemed fine. When loaded the tank with ml dosing it really lightned the colors with a Spur2 effect....Is it possible that SP had a little contribution?

Start2 New Version 24 drops 2 X a day
Zeobak 12 drops 2 X a week
Zeofood 6 drops 2 X a week

Ammonia (NH3-4) ........ 0.003
Nitrite (NO2)................. 0.003
Nitrate (NO3)..................0.5
Phosphate (PO4) ......... 0.02
Silica (SiO2-3) ................0.9
Potassium (K) ............... 297
Calcium (Ca).................. 490
Boron (B) .......................4.0
Molybdenum (Mo)...........0.1
Strontium (Sr) ................6.6
Magnesium (Mg) ......... 1075
Iodine (I¯).................... 0.05
Copper (Cu++) ............ 0.02
Alkalinity (meq/L).......... 2.73

[lecher]

I've been battling this stuff for almost a year now. I did notice a reduction in it's growth after I added a kalk reactor and maintained a higher ph and alk. ph is 8.2-8.4 and alk is 3.5-4.0 meq/l. Still have plenty of it though. I beginning to think I'll never be rid of the stuff.

[manderx]

i have the stuff. i don't think my2's is the same since it doesn't look like distinct tufts, plus i've never seen it grow directly on glass. i think his is regular hair algae with diatoms.

it's absolutely horrible. i cooked my rock all summer to get rid of it. then after a few weeks back in a fresh tank w/skimmer but no fish or feedings, it sprouted right back. i wish i had just bleached it instead of cooking. after 2 months or so it started to burn itself out. by then i had a few corals i was sticking in there and i was concerned about having no nutrients whatsoever so i started dosing aminos and a few drops of selcon and it's starting to come back. i've stopped the selcon, even though the corals seem to like it.

i think the only way to get rid of it is to just get crazy coralline growth to choke it out. nothing seems to eat it deliberately. i've had my numbers all over the place trying to kill it, even Mg up to 1600.

my corals always seemed perfectly fine along with it, so i don't think it indicates anything bad. worst thing is it makes it impossible to glue frags.

[tanya72806]

lol coraline doesnt nothing to this. My back wawll was a solid plate of coraline and h=this stuff just grew right over it.

[manderx]

got any pics? yours might not be the same stuff.

i've never seen it grow on actively growing coralline. though most of my coralline is the glossy dark purple stuff common on fiji rock especially, that constantly sheds it's outer layer when doing well.

[rkl303]

Mine grows all over the coraline. If you kill the flow it puffs up. This stuff can be blown away and to that end it seems more like a cyano type algae/bacteria. The only way I have notices a reduction/eradication of the stuff is to dose sugar...but I don't like doing that every day or two days.

Also adding an ozonizer seems to help but sugar is the biggest descimator.

[manderx]

This stuff can be blown away

you have a different kind. this stuff doesn't blow or scrub off.

[ejocam]

I go some info on the brown algae from here :http://www.algone.com/dinoflagellates.php#solution .........As long as this algae is controlled, brown slime is an important algae especially for reef set-ups. It’s a symbiotic algae, which provides nutrients for invertebrates. Corals, clams, anemones and sponges harbor this algae for the same purpose - exchange of nutrients - while the brown slime algae enjoys protection from predators.

Dinoflagellates has two flagella with which it can propel through the water. If uncontrolled, dinoflagellates build a brown slimy film covering most of the surface, in both salt and freshwater. Controlling nutrients can effectively prevent this algae type from blooming.

Also from Julian Sprung's book on algae describes it too as possibly Dyno's or Hincksia which is common in Cold/Temperate waters??

On a positive note, I had some nasty algae called Dictyota and the Sponge Power from Korallen Zucht literally burned it. I would say 90% is gone and all that is left are burnt tips and pieces

[kev apsley]

Bro, I feel for you! I am dealing with a dino/cyano type thing myself right now, I did a 3 day lights off but it eventually came back. It is nasty stuff to say the least, just keep at it and you'll eventually beat it!

[chadfarmer]

do you tank it is the frag plugs leaching into the water?

[trueblackpercula]

Yoooooo whats up eric? I had this happen to me after adding moe live rockto the tank.
Nutrients are causing it.

Michael

[md fishes]

I have the same stuff in my bare bottom mixed reef. I too did the 3 days of light off and it went away. Now it is back in full force again.

I haven't check my mag levels but it appears that it really doesn't help anyway. Lets figure this out!

Does weekly water changes have any affect on this stuff?

[ejocam]

Originally posted by trueblackpercula
Yoooooo whats up eric? I had this happen to me after adding moe live rockto the tank.
Nutrients are causing it.

Michael

My nutrients are pretty low imo. On 9/17 the tank had a lot of coralline and very very little algae. The recent date of 12/21 is what you see in the pics, algae city....


9/17/07 *********** 12/21/07

P04 .071 ********** .02
Silica 3.36 ********* .90
Nitrate 1.0 ********** .03
Calcium 369 ********** 490
Magnesium 1140 ********** 1075
DKH 10.41 ********** 7.61
Strontium 8.5 *********** 6.6

[j.prostrata]

Get the Mg up to 1250-1350 bro....

[md fishes]

Does anyone run a phosphate reactor that has this problem?

[ejocam]

Originally posted by j.prostrata
Get the Mg up to 1250-1350 bro....

Yeah I did that on 12/18 when I tested the params myself. I could not wait to get the results back from AWT which was only off by 50ppm. I added a small amount of the PhosR from Warner Marine. I am noticing little pieces floating in the water column now. So I go out to the garage every hour to see what I can grab with the net