0 nitrate 0 phosphate but algae???

Highland reefer, i did read this on another thread but i'm basically doing all of your suggestions.
I have just read the phosphate article & maybe just maybe it could have something to do with my PH.......i will admit i have never checked this in my new tank.
I have a wavebox in my tank & after 7.00 p.m till 10.00 a.m this is the only thing running pump wise as i turn my koralia 3 off when the lights go off.
If i leave the koralia 3 on then i may get a rise in my ph & have also just ordered another pump.

What about upping my prodibio???
 
Hair algae problem? don't beat yourself to death, get a Sea Hare, and after a couple of weeks, when all the algae is gone feed it with nori.

I used to be very, very bitter about this, researching, trying different things (including raising Mag to 1600 (I guess after a few years in the hobby, pride doesn't let us see the whole picture sometimes, lol) until I a friend told me the same: get a sea hare for the love of God. I have to admit I love mine to death now, despite of its horrible appearance, it's my bff, lol.
 
I have had 4 sea hares don't no whar happend to the first 2 but my the last 2 that went in my elegance coral ate them........now thats an expensive meal
 
Controlling hair algae and cyano can be a problem. The specie of the pest in question will have to do with a lot of it. In many cases there is a mixture of hair algae and cyano, which serve to help each other out as far a nutrients are concerned. Cyano can brake down the actual food source and provide nutrients to a neighbor like many of the hair type algae which may be intermixed closely.

Many of the siphoning algae are very difficult to control like Derbesia. Their cell structures can heal very quickly from fragmentation and are very proliferating. Articles abound on the Internet where scientists are trying all kinds of methods to control them. In many cases specific species of sea hare are used. Not all sea hares are alike when it comes to the different species of algae type pests. Not all fish are alike either.

For the hair algae problem, I would recommend trying AlgaeFix Marine if you have exhausted all other measures. These other measures are important in controlling the hair algae along with AlgaeFix.

For the Cyanobacteria problem, I would recommend using Chemi-Clean by Boyd after you have exhausted all the other means.

In many cases when using AlgaeFix you will find that the Cyanobacteria are left uncontrolled and the algae dies off. You may have to use the Chemi-Clean by Boyd at that point. AlgaeFix will kill some kinds of Cyanobacteria also, but not all. The same is true with algae.
 
Thanks for taking the time to help guys
I was going to try the fauna marin algae x but after doing lots of research & speaking to someone that works there i have had second thoughts at the moment
Done my weekly water change today & pulled out more algae, it deffernetly seems to be slowing down.
I remembered that the i had checked my ph around 6 weeks back & it was low at 7.8
i'm hoping that with the now powerhead on it's way that will increase as i aim towards the surface
anyway here is a pic taken just after the water change

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AlgaeFix Marine has been used by quite a few hobbyists who had exhausted all other means of controlling algae. There was one hobbyist that complained about the loss of shrimp. No fish kills that I have read. Others who had snails, shrimp and other invertebrates did not experience any deaths of invertebrates. I personally lost some coral with my algae problem from reducing my nitrates and phosphates too low to try and control the algae problem. Many hobbyists loose coral from running GAC due to the increased light intensity. Yet other hobbyists have loss fish from trying to cut back on feeding to try and control algae problems.

Certainly AlgaeFix Marine is not without possible side effects in all cases. The question a hobbyist has to ask himself is he ready to give up on the hobby after trying all other means. If the answer is yes, then perhaps it is time to try the chemical means of control. The AlgaeFix Marine has helped quite a few hobbyists in this thread get rid of their algae type problem without side effects. One should follow the label to the T and not try to increase the dosage rate or frequency as that has led to problems for several hobbyists in this thread:

AlageFix Marine to control Hair Algae
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1595003&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15499161#post15499161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighlandReefer
I personally lost some coral with my algae problem from reducing my nitrates and phosphates too low to try and control the algae problem.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1595003&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
Click to expand...

This is what i'm concerned about? how did you reduce them too low? my readings are telling me 0 but i'm still adding phosphate removers
As for the algaefix it's not for me just yet, i feel that i'm just starting to make a dent into it but if i still have it in the next few months then i will look into it again
 
In the last few weeks my DSB looks like it's starting to establish it's self it has lots of cyno patches now & gone very dark in places.........Do you think that because the DSB wasn't established it was competing with the prodibio for the bacteria???
Now that it's starting to establish should i help by upping my dosage on the prodibio or stop it completly or just carry on doding what i'm doing???
 
In the last few weeks my DSB looks like it's starting to establish it's self it has lots of cyno patches now & gone very dark in places.........Do you think that because the DSB wasn't established it was competing with the prodibio for the bacteria???
Now that it's starting to establish should i help by upping my dosage on the prodibio or stop it completly or just carry on doding what i'm doing???
 
Running larger amounts of GFO and replacing it more frequently destroyed some of my soft coral, which come form dirtier water. My goal was to keep a mixed reef tank system and not just SPS coral. I was down to a level where I could not get a phosphate reading using a Hach PO-19 test kit, which is pretty accurate at the low end readings for phosphate.

The bacteria in your sand bed top 2" layer will brake down the ammonia & waste products captured into nitrate. This is what they are suppose to do. The lower level of your sand bed contains bacteria that will brake down the nitrate to N2 gas. The cyanobacteria grows best on the sand bed surfaces due to this increased nitrate found on the surface before it is broken down by the anaerobic bacteria. It is virtually impossible to stop this from occurring unless you remove your fish and stop feeding completely. This is why cyanobacteria are very difficult to control. This is also why Boomer recommends to go to bare bottom reef systems, IMHO. In addition to this, many cyannobacteria can derive their needed N from N2 gas like bacteria do, which will rise up out of a deep sand bed and provide cyano with their N needs.
 
You stated that your rock is 3 years old. Rock can, and will, absorb nitrates and phosphates. What can, and does happen is that if you rock is siting in a 5 nitrate 0.5 phosphate tank it eventually absorbs N&P and reaches equilibrium with the water.

Now transfer that rock to a new tank. Water is perfectly clean. N&P starts to leach out of the rock until the rock and water reach equilibrium again. This is a slow process. Algae grow at the boundary of the rock where nutrients are being leached. Algae uptake ALL the nutrients (or close enough) so that the N&P never reach the water.

If this is whats happening n your case, the best thing to do is just to wait and starve it out like you are doing. Any chemicals will kill the algae, but it will just come right back as the rocks continue to leach.

I had this problem when I built my tank with mostly old dead base rock. There was N&P bound up in it. The fix for me was to do exactly as you have been doing, but I also added herbivores (Scopas tang, ect) to help mow down the algae. I figured free food! :) After 9 months I have no algae in teh tank, but I'm sure some would still grow if it wasn't for the herbivores. It would be much reduced though.
 
That kind of makes sense mate, i'm going to stick with the routine i have & up my prodibio to every week rather than every other week to see if that helps too.........i have increaded flow in the tank too now to help
 
I'm thinking that next weekend i'm going to take out all the rock & give it all a good scrub..........I know that by doing this i'm spreading the spores but the algae grows almost everywhere anyway so can't see it being a problem
What do you all think???
 
yeah leeching is the worse, i have some rocks that came mounted with corals ... algae no where but those... very irritating
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15542357#post15542357 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lee 1980
I'm thinking that next weekend i'm going to take out all the rock & give it all a good scrub..........I know that by doing this i'm spreading the spores but the algae grows almost everywhere anyway so can't see it being a problem
What do you all think???
Click to expand...

That's a good idea scrub the rocks in a bucket with tank water and rinse in another bucket with tank water along with your equipment

you can also scrape the glass with a razor a little bit each day and not feed the fish so they can eat the glass scrapping's

maybe rearrange your rock a bit and leave a few out for now to make more gaps for better flow and make it easier next time you scrap your rocks

you should do a 20% water change right afterwards and every week for a month
 
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