What is this algae?

[Elmareefer]

So my tank has been running for 4 months

I had the ugly stage then the tank looked super clean. The heater stopped working and then all this came. Not sure if it’s a coincidence or not
35 ppt
25 nitrates
O phosphates
1250 magnesium
470 calcium
8 alk
78 degrees
Ph 8.2
Lights in 12 hours

 

[Elmareefer]

Also
It’s a 60 gallon AIO with an IM skimmer
I have 2 clowns 2 damsels 1 royal g and 1 tang
I do weekly 5 gallon water changes

 

[griss]

Hard to tell from the pic, IMO. The bubbles make me think cyano or dinos. What color is it?

This is likely because of the NO3/PO4 balance. NO3 is high and PO4 is non-existent. You're going to want to get your nitrates down a bit into the 1-10 ppm range and your phosphate up a bit into the 0.01-0.03 ppm range.

 

[Elmareefer]

It’s fuzzy purple no bubbles

How do I reduce nitrates? I’m running a midsize Innovative marine skimmer in the AIO chamber

I empty every 2-3 days

 

[griss]

Fuzzy purple, hmmm is it forming mats on the rock, kinda velvety looking? If so, cyano. Remove it manually (siphon) during water changes.

The heater going out could have caused some die off resulting in a nitrate spike, contributing to the algae. To reduce the nitrate, water changes will help. When I had a horrible battle with cyano a while back, it was a NO3/PO4 imbalance. Bringing those two back into balance help me get the cyano under control by allowing other algaes to compete with it. It also helped that I added a refugium with Caulerpa.

 

[griss]

Could also be cotton candy algae but, we'll need a better picture (white light will help).

 

[Elmareefer]

Here’s a couple more pics
The algae is stuck in there pretty good. It won’t blow off like a Matt so I think it’s hair algae

 

[griss]

Sounds like it could be red turf algae then. I've never dealt with that before but, here's an article on various turf algae.

 

[Elmareefer]

My phos are zero and my nitrates are 10

None of this makes sence to me

 

[griss]

That algae is taking up the phosphates and nitrates

 

[Elmareefer]

Well I did another water changes and scrubbed it off the rocks
Also my water column hasn’t really been that crystal clear

Do you need a uv light to achieve all that crystal clear look?

 

[griss]

Well I did another water changes and scrubbed it off the rocks
Also my water column hasn’t really been that crystal clear

Do you need a uv light to achieve all that crystal clear look?

I have not used a UV on a marine tank since a 1980s fish only tank. I've never used one on a reef tank.

Manual removal, water changes, patience, and reducing the introduction of nitrates will help you overcome it. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

 

[Elmareefer]

I want the floating fish look

Not clowns in the fog

 

[griss]

Oh, your water is that cloudy? Then something is definitely off. As I mentioned, likely caused by die off from the heater failing. Are you running carbon? Doing that will assist with clearing the water.

 

[Elmareefer]

Yes, running carbon too. I had pretty decent water prior but not like you see on some of those tanks shown on line or even at lfs

Really want that crystal clear floating fish look
Read up on uv sterilizers and it seems that could help too

 

[griss]

Couldn’t hurt for water clarity.

 

[Elmareefer]

Well I did a water change and scrubbed off that algae with a toothbrush
I added chemipure blue and have been changing the filter socks daily

Water column looks good and no algae yet
Also am rinsing the mysis shrimp before feeding and cut down to 1x a day