Bioload opinions?

[BigCity]

Looking for opinions on how heavy my bioload is in my 120g tank. I have a 120g tank with ~40g sump, ~150# live rock, chaeto and mangroves in sump. ~3" sand bed. Dual MP40 in tank with Eheim 1252 return pump, AquaC skimmer, 5 gallon water change 1-2 weeks. I had been feeding a cube of Mysis in the morning and a cube of cyclopeeze in the evening and usually 1 (1.5"x3") strip of nori for the tang a day. Hadn't been rinsing it, but started doing that this weekend.

Following livestock:

3-pajama cardinals
5-threadfin cardinals
1-longnose hawkfish
1-sailfin tank (~4")
2-smore clownfish
1-pale blue starfish
~100 snails

Having problems with algae blooms and thought I had done everything necessary to eliminate/minimize phosphate problems. So wondering if my livestock list seems heavier than it should.

 

[dzfish17]

I dont think your problem is with the stocking... looks fairly light to me. The tang doesnt need that much nori everyday. I would give him that much twice a week.

 

[twelvejewelz]

How old is the tank?

 

[sandwi54]

your stocking is pretty light to me. if you hear how many fish some people keep in their tanks, it'd really surprise you.

anyway, if your tank is new, then you're just going through the cycles of algae bloom. tanks go through several phases of that on the way to maturity. usually by the 6th month, the algae should completely disappear. don't go crazy adding snails, crabs, etc. to clean the algae. in fact, they will introduce unnecessary bio-load that will tend to result in more algae growth. the algae will go away on its own when the time comes. before that, there's really not much you have to do except scrubbing the glass maybe twice a week.

by the way, the salfin tang will outgrow a 120g soon. it really needs an 8' tank when it hits 7-8".

 

[BigCity]

My tank is right around the 6 month mark, so it is still fairly new. I'll just keep up with the water changes and get the GFO and carbon swapped out this week. I will cool it on the nori for sure and try feeding one cube a day for awhile and see how it goes.

Thanks for the heads up about the tang, I realize that my tank is a bit small and anticipate upgrading or returning him for credit when the time comes.

 

[BigCity]

I dont think your problem is with the stocking... looks fairly light to me. The tang doesnt need that much nori everyday. I would give him that much twice a week.

Thanks for the tip, I'll cut that in half and feed it every 2-3 days, hopefully cutting back and a GFO change will help reduce the phosphate and get everything back in check again. The fish are doing great as well as the zoas, but I have a few SPS's and plate corals that I think i've already lost.:headwalls: