The battle with algae has begun!

[djkms]

Hello all my name is Kris. Recently got back into the hobby after 15 years.

About 2 months ago I setup a tank again and now I am doing the usual battle with algae. This time around though I feel like I am being hit by all sides. I will give a timeline and try to be as descriptive as possible with my setup.

equipment/supplies
125 Gallon Oceanic 72x18x21
Reef Crystals Salt
5 Stage BRS RO/DI
80lbs of Caribsea SuperReef Substrate
2" Aragamax substrate in refugium
Lifereef LF150s sump w/20" refugium
Lifereef svs2-24 Protein Skimmer
Mag18 Return pump
JBJ Arctica 1/3hp chiller
350watt Heater
Tunze Osmolator OTA
Litermeter III with water xchange module (for auto water changes)
x2 Vortech MP40's w/battery backup
Neptune Apex w/WXM
API Test Kits
Digital Refractometer calibrated with 35ppt fluid
2 Crap lights
AI SOL Blue's on the way


Current Parameters
Salinity: 35ppt
PH: avg 8.21 morning - 8.29 evening
Temp: Regulated by Apex within .2 degrees of season table (77degrees avg)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
dKH: 10
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1280
Lights 12hr on 12 hr off

Timeline
09/01/2010
Tank setup with 40lbs premium Fiji live rock and 80lbs dry rock from BRS. No lighting during cycle

09/05/2010
Ammonia Peak 8ppm (maybe higher, test only reads to 8)

09/07/2010
Nitrite Peak 6ppm (again maybe higher)

09/15/2010
Nitrite and Ammonia undetectable

09/17/2010
Nitrate Peaked at 30ppm

About 5 40 Gallon water changes to dilute nitrate


09/25/2010
Added 2 false Perculas

09/27/2010
Added 6 snails

10/09/2010
Started skimming
(I know I know but my skimmer wasn't ready!)

10/16/2010
Added 7 more snails and Fire Shrimp

_____________________________________________

No algae during cycle. After cycle started to get diatoms, the snails however are taking pretty good care of that and it appears to be leaving the tank

Along with the diatoms it appears I now have Bryopsis and Green hair algae and brown hair algae?

Here are some photos:

Diatom:

Hair Algae:

Its even growing on my snail!

Any my personal favorite, Bryopsis:

___________________________________________

I thought maybe the bryopsis was only on 2 rocks so I had my wife pull out the rocks while I was at work but after I got home I noticed it on other rocks :furious:

I know I still need to bring down my nitrate but other than that how the heck do I tackle all these different types of algae? For the bryopsis I have read the whole thread on magnesium with Tech M. The problem is I dont want to have to dose Tech M all the time. Maybe give it a "shock and awe" with a huge dose and continue dosing for a month or 2 until its gone?

What about the hair algae? Kill the lights for a few days?

I really wanted to go with a "natural" system and not use vodka, pellets, reactors or anything else. i was hoping to just have my chaeto help with the trates and phosphate and let my skimmer and bacteria do the rest of the work. With this algae outbreak that is appearing to not be possible :thumbdown

Should I maybe throw my inhabitants into my QT tank (I have biomedia/filter floss in my sump that goes into a HOB filter which has been seeded for about 4 weeks now) tear the tank down and start over? If this is the route I take I will just buy new rock, bleaching is not a option, dont trust it...

Ugghhh I was expecting algae blooms but this is out of control IMO. Last time I had my tank all I had to deal with post cycle was diatoms. Forgot to mention Coraline algae is coming in nicely in some parts...

Any helps or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

Wrap the tank in paper and leave it uber dark for two weeks that should take care of everything. Also put in a overflow and add a fuge. I had big time GHA in my tank and my refugium pretty much handled it with some cheato

 

[djkms]

Wrap the tank in paper and leave it uber dark for two weeks that should take care of everything. Also put in a overflow and add a fuge. I had big time GHA in my tank and my refugium pretty much handled it with some cheato

Sorry forgot to mention, I do have a overflow (lifereef dual prefilter) and I do have a fuge, I would venture to guess I could throw my inhabitants into my fuge during this time and run a normal light schedule?

From what I understand a dark out period will do no good with bryopsis...


here is whats growing on the glass if it helps any:

 

[XtremeFromHell]

All i can say is, GOOD LUCK! and be patient. I went through a HORRIBLE diatom outbreak that lasted a good 4-5 months! it suddenly left and never came back but it was bad and horrible heres the thread i started about it. It has a lot of good pointers.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1748784

 

[djkms]

All i can say is, GOOD LUCK! and be patient. I went through a HORRIBLE diatom outbreak that lasted a good 4-5 months! it suddenly left and never came back but it was bad and horrible heres the thread i started about it. It has a lot of good pointers.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1748784

Thanks. Its not the diatoms that I am too worried about, or even the hair algae for that matter, I am more worried about the bryopsis more than anything

 

[djkms]

Well I talked to a trusted friend last night about the issue.

Starting today I am on a blackout period to help fight this. I am thinking 2 weeks will probably do it. I am hoping the ambient room light will be enough to still feed my little guys, if not I will turn on the lights for a hour or so. I also turned off my litermeter so there will be no water changes during the process.

Will I be ok still running my refugium to keep the chaeto alive?

I also threw 2 of the rocks with bryopsis on it into a container and squirted them with Tech M. I hope to see it dying in a day or 2. If not then its either immune to it or its not bryopsis. It really does look like bryopsis to me though.

 

[KeMo]

Black out for 2 weeks seems abit much. I have herd 3 day black outs but not 2 weeks.
There are 4 things that algae feeds on. All 4 you really want to have @ 0 or as close to as you can.
1. Excess food and waste . Are you getting good skim from your skimmer? Are you over feeding. You said your readings were 0 but if you have all that hair algae I would say it is eating it and when you test it is masked.
2/3.Phosphates and Silicas . Diatoms love phosphates and silicas . Are you using RO/DI water ? If you are not start. If so you could get a reactor and run some GFO in it to lower the Phosphates. They work great. But If you are putting p03 back into the tank with water changes then thats not gonna work.
4. Lights like others have said. If you are running a lower par like like 65k or something in the red/orange light spectrum you will get algae growth.
AHHH and As i Scroll up to check you light's it SAY TO CRAP LIGHTS LOL
Change that crap out that is prob the Major Factor .
OUCH.

 

[NYCBOB]

Ur tank is two months old. To me, its all part of the cycle. With proper maintenance, the algae will be gone or controlled once the tank stabilizes.

 

[RegalAngel]

Setup my 300g FO about 3 months ago. No algae.
I dose AlgaeFix every 3 days.....:thumbsup:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1595003

 

[djkms]

Black out for 2 weeks seems abit much. I have herd 3 day black outs but not 2 weeks.

Right now I dont have any corals or light sensitive animals in my tank. 2 False percula's, fire shrimp and some snails. From what I understand bryopsis can live in no light conditions for some time and I want to use chemicals as a last resort. I think 2 weeks can give me a better chance at fully eradicating the algae

1. Excess food and waste

I feed my clowns once a day and do "spot" feeding to make sure they eat all the food. I drop a real small amount of pellets in the tank and make sure they eat them all then drop some more in. Probably only 4-5 pellets each then some more. I might go to every other day in feeding

Are you getting good skim from your skimmer?

I am getting great skimmate. I was running it a little on the dry side but now I am running it wet to help remove nutrients. About 1/2 gallon a day now

You said your readings were 0 but if you have all that hair algae I would say it is eating it and when you test it is masked.

Nitrate is reading around 5ppm, the rest 0. I don't understand how I could have phosphates this early in the game. I did some vigorous water changes after my cycle (nitrates peaked at 30ppm) and feed sparingly.

2/3.Phosphates and Silicas . Diatoms love phosphates and silicas .

Not too worried about the diatoms to be honest. They are starting to die off and the snails are taking good care of them. Not to mention they where expected with the newly cycled tank.

Are you using RO/DI water ? If you are not start.

5 stage BRS RO/DI

If so you could get a reactor and run some GFO in it to lower the Phosphates. They work great. But If you are putting p03 back into the tank with water changes then thats not gonna work.

I was hoping to go as "natural" as possible and not use additives or reactors (except calcium) with my setup. If the problem persists though I will invest in a GFO reactor for sure.

4. Lights like others have said. If you are running a lower par like like 65k or something in the red/orange light spectrum you will get algae growth.
AHHH and As i Scroll up to check you light's it SAY TO CRAP LIGHTS LOL
Change that crap out that is prob the Major Factor .
OUCH.

Yeah all I have now is 2 hood lights. Not sure on the bulbs at the moment but they are "aquarium" bulbs, for whatever thats worth. SOL Blues will be in friday!!

Edit:
Just checked the SOL fixtures and it states
Cree: XPGWHT-L1
Correlated Color Temperature (CCT): 6500K
White LED Wavelength

Am I going to have issues with the white bulbs in their fixture since you stated 65k is bad?

Thanks for the help!

 

[djkms]

Ur tank is two months old. To me, its all part of the cycle. With proper maintenance, the algae will be gone or controlled once the tank stabilizes.

I agree. The hair algae and diatoms I am not too worried about, the bryopsis however... no bueno, I really dont want to fight this for the life of my tank.

 

[RVANANO]

I beat Bryopsis with Tech M. I bought it by the gallon and added a half serving cup per day until my Mag in my 120 was at 1650. It took a few weeks to wipe out. One day I came home and it was gone. I have another gallon ready in case it ever comes back

 

[djkms]

I was probably going to do the TechM approach. I really hate adding chemicals but sometimes it just has to be done. I have read a lot of the thread in regards to this treatment.

Without sensitive inverts in my tank at the moment I could probably add 100-150ppm per day without side effects from my clowns or shrimp yeah?

Once a reach a level of 1600-1800 do I stop dosing and just wait it out? Should I do water changes after it reaches 1600-1800 and respike it up for a second treatment?

 

[RVANANO]

I left mine alone after it hit those levels. It was so strange that one day it started to think out and the next it was all gone. Nothing in my tank was harmed either. I have lots of inverts.