algae problems

[rgodoy22]

Hello to everyone, been on the forum for a bit but just reading this would actually be my first official post!

I've been struggling with a green hair and diatom problem in my 30 gallon tank for the last month. My tank has been running a bit over a year and I haven't had algae issues till now. I haven't had fish in my tank for the past 3 months due to ich, only hermits, snail and a cleaner shrimp. I've been doing 20-30% water changes every week sometimes twice a week and have not been able to get things under control, any help would be much appreciated my last parameter check is at the bottom. I scrub my rocks before every water change with a soft brush and then clear out the water as best as possible, I also clean the sand bed with the syphon tube. my rocks will look great for a day or two at most then the algae starts to grow on the rocks, and I get diatoms on top of the sand bed in the lower flow areas of the tank. I'm new to the hobby this is my first tank but from what I have been able to gather is my phosphates are causing my issue. I just haven't been able to get them under control. I never tested for phosphates till now because I've never had a reason too. I was told by my lfs to run gfo in a bag in a high flow area, but I don't think that will take care of my issue just mask it. I've never had to run gfo before why would I need too now? The only thing that has changed so far is I went from my lfs ro/di water to making my own with a brs 4 stage unit my Tds meter shows 0 and the unit is just over a month old. I don't know if the phosphates are high due to the water I'm producing? I thought ro/di units cleaned all that out? I did test my ro/di water for phosphate using an api test kit (I know it's not the best but it's all that was in stock locally) and it reads closer to 0 then the next bracket of .25 my tank is an obvious reading of .25. even if I am getting a small amount of phosphate from my ro/di water wouldn't the chemi pure and chemi pure blue in my tank be able to control that? is gfo my only option or is there something else I can do to get my algae under control?

Salinity: 1.026
Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Carbonate hardness/KH: 6-7
Phosphate: .25

Thanks guys

 

[luis94]

What are your magnesium and calcium levels? Everything interacts in the water chemistry...get some readings of those parameters and set up a refugium in your sump or hang it on your tank, so you can get rid of these nutrients permanently or you can also implement an algae scruber.


Regards

 

[rgodoy22]

I have a jbj aio tank so no sump and I'm am limited on space, is a refugium a must? or is it and as needed item?

 

[Tisbe]

A refugium is not required. It is just a place to grow macro algae that you then harvest, which perminantly removes the nutrients. From the sound of it your tank has built up some nutrients over the last year and now they have reached a problematic level. This happened to me also. Mine built up over a longer time and took 6 months to remove. The Chem pure, one removes P the other does not, I think the blue is the one that does. Whatever you do realize it can take a month probably more to really get a handle on this. You may even see cycles of die off only to have algae reappear 1 to 2 weeks later.

To solve the problem you need to up your nutrient export and keep the input lower in the future. Methods for export include, gfo, carbon dosing, skimmer, algae scrubber, macro algae, etc. With an AIO your space is limited so research what will work for your tank. With a .25 P level I would focus on lower that. So look into media like GFO or PhosGuard. Their is obviously not enough P remover in the media you are currently running.

 

[whosurcaddie]

^^^^ Right on! Just get some Phosguard and change it out once a week. Its cheaper than GFO and pulls phosphate out much faster. When you get everything under control switch over to GFO and change it once a month. Keep up your water changes and you will turn the corner pretty soon.

 

[ericarenee]

How much rock work do you have

How deep is your sand bed.?
Do you vacuum the sand bed?
How much circulation do you have in the tank?
Lighting type and amount of on time... are they t5 or led ??

What type of mechanical filter media do you use and how often do you change it out?
The best way to solve a nutrient issue is to first find out the problem , Solve why it got so high then set a routine to get it down.. T

My opinion dumping chemicals into the tank or adding fixes for a symptom is not a long term solution.

Sorry for so many questions but we really need to know the ins and outs of your tank before we can help solve the issue...

 

[rgodoy22]

Thanks for all the info guys! As far as the tank goes it's a 30g jbj rimless
-I wanna say 30-35lbs of rock
-1.5" sand bed which I vacuum with my water changes
-running single main pump at about 400-600gps and an mp10 running reefcrest at about 40-50%
-maxspect razor led light runs about 10hrs a day I did play with total time and it had little effect on the algea
-Tunze 9004 skimmer
-chemi pure, chemi pure blue, and filter sponge in media basket

 

[Sk8r]

Suggest GFO. It absorbs and binds the phosphate that fuels the algae. Change medium monthly until relief.

 

[ericarenee]

i would take that chemi stuff out.. Run Gfo (as said above) Lower light intensity and running time. Remove the sponge from the filter and run 200 micron filter padding changing it out daily.

Increase water change amount and double them up .. Right before you do water changes use a Turkey baster to blow up as much sediment around and on rocks as you can. The water change and micron filter pad will catch the detritus ...
As soon as it clears change micron pad again.. do so every day until the issue fades away ... change pad everyday not saying daily water changes

I think chemi products only cause a dependency that reg and proper maintenance can avoid the need for.
GOOD Luck...

And Remember the Algae is a Symptom of a greater issue.. Nutrient build up or lack of proper removal... Fix this as you work on removing the algae and you will be solid and stable..

MY TWO PENNIES and I am sure others will disagree...

 

[rsepiphyte]

I agree, less is more.

 

[ericarenee]

I agree, less is more.

Hi Kentuckian...

 

[GoVols]

Agreed with the above and add little more.

Start running GFO. Dump the Chemipure.

For the best results.

You want to tumble GFO in it's own reactor.

Start at 1/4 - 1/2 of the full GFO dose. If you start at full dose it can pull out too much to quickly resulting in shocked corals.

Also get good test kits if you don't have them.

For phosphates get the Hanna Phosphorus (ULR) checker.

For nitrates get the Salifert nitrate test kit.

 

[rgodoy22]

so I'm definitely going to get rid of the chemi pure stuff, is it better to run gfo/carbon in one reactor or should I use two? How efficient would it be in just one?

 

[neiltus]

When I mixed GFO and carbon together, I did not see good results on the PO4 side. Tumble the GFO, use a little till you get the hang of it. I use roughly 1/3 of a cup a month on a 90g tank.

BRS has some videos discussing it's use.

 

[Goatonfly]

What's still in the tank? I got rid of a bad outbreak by killing my lights for a few days and shortening the time they are on during the day after that. I only have fish no corals so it didn't really hurt anything.

 

[rgodoy22]

I have a war coral and Zoas and just some cuc, I did try cutting the lights but had little effect on the algea. I ordered a media reactor but I did a 50% water change and added some gfo in a media bag that I got from my lfs hopefully this start to clear it up

 

[Goatonfly]

I have a war coral and Zoas and just some cuc, I did try cutting the lights but had little effect on the algea. I ordered a media reactor but I did a 50% water change and added some gfo in a media bag that I got from my lfs hopefully this start to clear it up

Oh ok, well best of luck to ya!

 

[rgodoy22]

Thanks!