Nuisance algae and treatment recommendations please.

necessary_evil · 11/10/2016, 10:02 AM

This started about the 2 month mark and is aggressive. It grows on everything including on and directly in front of the Vortech MP 10 running at 60-70% and worse yet it grows on top of the Macros!

Dud water tests and ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphate are all undetectable.

I feed sparingly 3 x a week. Skim moderate to wet, and have a CUC consisting of 10ish various snails, including turbo and olive snails, and 15-20 ish hermits.

I do a 20% water change every 2 weeks right now with reef crystals and RO water.

The only major error was up until 3 weeks ago I had been running the tank around 1.019 or so specific gravity due to a miscalibrated refractometer.

I am planning on starting to run bio pellets soon (dumping into the intake area of the Tunze DOC 9004 skimmer I run). The tank does have a fuge that's lit 24/7 and a sicce 1.5 return pump. Top off water is also RO.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'VE been reefing for 15-ish years and don't remember encountering this algae before.

AlSimmons · 11/10/2016, 11:03 AM

It might be Chrysophytes, a Silicate based algae.

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitchhikers > Algae)

nmotz · 11/10/2016, 01:05 PM

Is your top-off water RO/DI or just RO? If it's the latter, you might be providing some nutrients that are supporting the outbreak of algae.

I have two golfball size turbo snails that destroy algae in my 40B. You might also try dosing vinegar. That brought my nitrates way down. Also make sure your skimmer is working properly.

11/10/2016, 10:02 AM	#1
necessary_evil Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Saint Petersburg, FL Posts: 136	Nuisance algae and treatment recommendations please. This started about the 2 month mark and is aggressive. It grows on everything including on and directly in front of the Vortech MP 10 running at 60-70% and worse yet it grows on top of the Macros! Dud water tests and ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphate are all undetectable. I feed sparingly 3 x a week. Skim moderate to wet, and have a CUC consisting of 10ish various snails, including turbo and olive snails, and 15-20 ish hermits. I do a 20% water change every 2 weeks right now with reef crystals and RO water. The only major error was up until 3 weeks ago I had been running the tank around 1.019 or so specific gravity due to a miscalibrated refractometer. I am planning on starting to run bio pellets soon (dumping into the intake area of the Tunze DOC 9004 skimmer I run). The tank does have a fuge that's lit 24/7 and a sicce 1.5 return pump. Top off water is also RO. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'VE been reefing for 15-ish years and don't remember encountering this algae before. Last edited by necessary_evil; 11/10/2016 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Too much copy and paste

11/10/2016, 01:05 PM	#3
nmotz Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: FL, USA Posts: 1,433	Is your top-off water RO/DI or just RO? If it's the latter, you might be providing some nutrients that are supporting the outbreak of algae. I have two golfball size turbo snails that destroy algae in my 40B. You might also try dosing vinegar. That brought my nitrates way down. Also make sure your skimmer is working properly. __________________ Mantis shrimp are the best! Current Tank Info: 20L Peacock mantis shrimp tank

11/10/2016, 11:03 AM	#2
AlSimmons Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: California Posts: 2,482	It might be Chrysophytes, a Silicate based algae. http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitchhikers > Algae)