Increased phosphate and algae bloom

[xcross]

Hi,
I originally posted on this problem in January. I have not made much progress since then on phosphate and algae control.

I decided that the media bag with GFO in the sump is not adequate. I installed a Phosban 150 and am running the maximum amount of GFO. After two weeks of operation I still measure 0.08 ppm of phosphate. (Using Hanna HI 713 and averaging 4-5 readings that range from 0.03 to 0.17, it does not seem terribly accurate at this level.)

Ammonia and nitrate continue to be undetectable using Salifert and API test kits.

I keep a pair of clowns and feed about 1.5 g/day of frozen shrimp. I have a 3.5" DSB and probably too much LR to be esthetic in a 29 gal tank.

The algae bloom continues apace and I have lost several beautiful corals after more than a year watching stunning growth. I am stumped as to the source of phospate and why the new GFO reactor hasn't started reducing it. By the way, how high is that level of 0.08? Is that the best explanation for the algae?

The algae is a mixture of green hair algae and cyanobacteria. While I have been focussed on eliminating the nutrients I notice the long running thread on AlgaeFix.. I'm ready to give that a try before I lose more coral.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[bertoni]

0.08 ppm is high enough to cause problems for corals and fuel a lot of algae, if correct. I'd get a second opinion, and consider changing the GFO more frequently. Every few days might be necessary for a while. I can't visual 1.5 g of food, so I can't help there.

 

[xcross]

I buy frozen mysis shrimp that comes in a little plastic tray of cubes about .5 x .5 x .75" and cut those cubes in half. Its about .25 teaspoon.

 

[JHawlz9989]

That amount of food strikes me as a bit much if you're having algae issues. FWIW, when I first put my reactor online to try and beat my algae issues, I was changing it out every few days, as bertoni mentioned above. I burned through some GFO initially, but it didn't take more than a few weeks to get my phosphate levels under control, and I have a small tank like yours (20g).

Also, have you considered using your GFO in a reactor so it's more effective?

Josh

 

[Bugger]

So if 0.08 is a to high a reading what is an exceptable number

 

[FragIt Dan]

IMO 0.08ppm is on the high side of what can be ok, depending upon your system. As far as I know, a target of 0.03 is what people shoot for (it's what I shoot for), but measuring error in the Hannah PO4 checker is about that, so if you are getting a reading of 0.03 you could be anywhere from ~0.00 to 0.06ish. If you are putting phosphates into your tank via food or top off water then your are feeding the hair algae just like you feed your fish... shortly after you put the phosphate (via fish/coral food or top off water etc) into the water it will be taken up by your GFO and your readings will return back to ambient levels, but the algae would have had a bit of a 'feed' on it. Try adding a daily food dose to a gallon of tank water (maybe discard water from a water change), mixing it up and letting the food settle out. Then do a po4 test on that water to see if your food is adding phosphate (I did this with reef roids and was shocked). You can also test your water that you are topping off with to see if it has po4 in it. If your food has phosphate, rinse it before you put it in your tank. If your top off/water change water has po4 in it you can look into RODI but in the meantime just run your GFO reactor on it before adding it to your tank. For getting rid of the algae, when you siphon out your water change water suck the hair algae up, but when it is getting sucked into the siphon, seal the intake off with your finger/thumb. This should pinch the algae between the siphon and your finger and then pull the algae off the rock. When you pull your finger off the siphon it will suck the algae up. A short term solution for fighting hair algae off is hydrogen peroxide. You need to take the piece out of the tank, then drop undiluted hydrogen peroxide (actually is about 3% if you get it from a pharmacy) on the algae, let it sit in the air for about 5 minutes, rinse it off well with your old water change water (best to do this just after a water change so it is the same temperature) and then place the rock/coral back in the tank. You will see the algae turn white and fall off the next day. My acro and monti frags get a bit bleached when I splash a bit off the peroxide on them but come back after a few days, so it is likely not the end of the world if you get a bit of the peroxide on your sps corals, not sure about lps though.

 

[bertoni]

That sounds like a lot of food for that size tank. I might cut back some and change the GFO more frequently.

I agree with rinsing the mysid shrimp before feeding.

 

[bertoni]

That sounds like a lot of food for that size tank. I might cut back some and change the GFO more frequently.

I agree with rinsing the mysid shrimp before feeding.

 

[xcross]

Is there a better alternative for feeding a pair of clowns that would minimize phosphates?

 

[FragIt Dan]

Is there a better alternative for feeding a pair of clowns that would minimize phosphates?

Some foods will have more phosphates in them then others, but until you, or others test the levels, it is hard to say. The advice of rinsing food and changing GFO is how most of us are coping with phosphates, along with other husbandry such as use of RODI, cheato in refugiums, organic carbon dosing/skimming etc.