Anybody here go minimal feeding on a mixed reef?

[dnguyen1]

Hey guys my parameters have been stableish for a while but I battle some hairy algae and would love to eliminate that as well as some cyano/diatom

This has been a 3 year tank

Currently I feed reef roids and fish offset so everyday I'm feeding just either corals or fish.

Phosphates undetectable with Hannah
Red Sea alk 8.1, cal 470, mag 1400

I actually haven't tested the basic elements so wondering if I should test nitrites, nitrates

5 fish a 120g reef system.

In order to get rid of the algae in thinking about fish every 3rd day and reef roids 1-2 times a week

Would this be okay? Has anybody had success with this? Thanks!!!

PS it's rest a split of softies (bounce mushrooms and zoaa), lps torches chalice favias and sps (acro, stag, Mont)



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[slief]

Hard to say. It really depends in part on what the pod population is like in your tank. You don’t have a lot of fish and those that you do have will likely eat copepods when you’re not feeding. This assuming there is sufficient pod population for them. In the absence of enough pods, your fish may get pretty skinny. Also, your tank isn’t that large and your wrasse could deplete the pod population pretty quickly so you may need to supplement the pods to maintain a decent population in the absence of regular feeding.

 

[Oldreeferman]

You didn't mention your tanks flow or anything about all that lighting you have & how long its on ea. day. Maybe cut back the lighting & try to get more tank water movement might help? Algae & Cyano both love light so its where id start since its non invasive to do first.

 

[dnguyen1]

Oooh great point I have a 4x39 t5 hybrid set up with the ap700 running as the led.

The led ramps up to 38% power at 2pm, t5 goes on at 2pm also and both stay on until 730p. The t5 then go off and then ramp down

My flow is two tunze 6040 wavemakers at full power with a center return flow valve

The suggestion on light is a great suggestion!! Do you think less than 5.5 is a bit too low though? Thanks

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[NYCBOB]

get a good cleanup crew such as conch and snails to stir up the sand, and hermits to eat the cyano and algae.

 

[Uncle99]

100% agree with your test the nitrates idea, maybe higher than you think, maybe ok, but gotta rule this one out as cause.

You do not mention level of nitrates in concert with phosphates.
If you maintain undectable phosphates and your nitrates are say 20ppm or more, your going to get cyano, maybe some weak algae.

Diatoms feed on silicates in the water column, when they use up the supply, the go away on there own. Sponges, which also feed on silicates, can speed up the process, but then, your stuck with a sponge.

I have found by maintaining nitrate of 5ppm and phosphate if 0.05ppm, I got no algae (except coraline) diatoms came, and slowly reduced to zero over 2 months.

Now, if your nitrates measure say 2ppm, this can be ruled out, but those nutrients level may be too tight for other than SPS.

 

[dnguyen1]

Just tested salifert and it's zero


Mmm now I think I may have found the issue my rodi filters ppm is 10

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[RioReefr]

This is just my opinion, but the root cause of GHA is higher phospates. You could try things like NoPox, GFO or Phosphate Rx. IMO, they all work just take it slow and follow the directions.

As for Cyano, I think the direct cause is lack of dissolved oxygen (or hypoxia). Besides removing nutrients, a well-running Protein Skimmer also oxygenates the tank. When my skimmer died, I added an air-stone at a low-level and really helped the tank.

As for feeding, I feed the NLS 1mm pellets and feed a small amount.

I also used Reef Roids -- but don't just throw it in the tank. Instead, form a paste and spot feed your corals w/o any powerheads on for about 5 minutes. Let the corals absorb the zooplankton and then turn the powerheads back on.

Personally, I like to products like Purigen, GFO and GAC. Those things keep my water column crystal-clear. I never seem to have more algae issues, except the light film of glass algae.

 

[Timfish]

Your phosphates are too low. Read these papers:

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Nutrient enrichment.pdf

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2015.00103/full

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301601?via=ihub

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098111004588

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full

Additioanlly, reasearch done with feeding corals artificial foods shows species specific responses to feeding and for the most part artificial foods are detrimental while fish poop is ideal.

https://www.academia.edu/1647139/Coral_farming_effects_of_light_water_motion_and_artificial_foods

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/13-1407.1

I would suggest reading Forest Rohwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" (kindle is $10) as algae issues are a lot more complex than just having excess nutrients and algae can create a positive feedback loop that promotes more algae at the expense of corals independant of nitrogen and phosphorus levels.

Here's two threads I've posted on the local reef forum showing how I get rid of nuisance algae with just manual removals.

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/34556-hair-algae-a-case-study/?tab=comments#comment-275433
http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic...econd-case-study/?tab=comments#comment-325744

 

[Oldreeferman]

To OP,
Im confused you say you have a 120g reef tank but your signature says a 50g cube?
Do you have a huge sump/ refugium?

Just curious.

 

[dnguyen1]

To OP,
Im confused you say you have a 120g reef tank but your signature says a 50g cube?
Do you have a huge sump/ refugium?

Just curious.

Oh haha that's old just never updated. I have. 70 display and 50 sump

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[Oldreeferman]

Ah, ok.
Im thinking high nutrients too so good luck on the nitrates testing. Maybe adding more Cheto or a algae scrubber in the fuge will do it? And you didn't say what your normal water change schedule was but, at min. weekly 10-20% needed if not doing so already to stay ahead of nitrates with a vacuming off the top cyano at same time right before the change.

 

[hkgar]

Quit feeding the corals. They get all they need from the nutrients in the water column and your lighting. If you don't have adequate lighting corals will suffer.

I feed heavy and the corals are loving it.

 

[tmnails]

Just tested salifert and it's zero


Mmm now I think I may have found the issue my rodi filters ppm is 10

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RO plays a big factor here, esp with cyno. Depending on how old your system is, it might be worth upgrading. High end RO with 3/8" outlets go for $300 on Amazon, but a standard 1/4" system will work fine and that can be had for like $190.