moy71 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 My 25g is approx 4 months. Paramaters are good with the exception of phosphates which is 0.16ppm. I have traced the source of my phosphates to the nsw that i buy from my lfs. Just finishing my last 10g of nsw before deciding to get nsw from another supplier or mix my own. Anyway, is this the dreaded hairy algae that everyone is talking about? Could this algae bloom be caused by a decomposing fish? I have a small goby that i have not seen in 2 weeks. I have a feeling this bloom is caused by it... Thoughts, comments please. Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 It could be the start of GHA but they're also these root things that grow as a fuzz on the rocks. Your CUC will take care of it in due time. The tank will always have something decomposing, whether a fish, invert, moults of crabs, food left uneaten. This is normal and a fully cycled tank has the biological capacity to process this decomposition. You can see spikes in a young tank if you dump in a lot of food (for example) that is left uneaten but that is because the bio filter is still ramping up. You can run a little phosguard passively in a media bag to counter the phosphates. Key word - a little phosguard. And still keep the same water source if a new one is hard to find. Link to comment
moy71 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 thank you for the reply. i already have a reactor which has approx 50ml of phosguard pellets. its been running 3 weeks so its still in its infancy. i will monitor the parameters further. thanks again. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Well its defiantly NOT bald algae! Maybe you need to change the reactor media? Sometimes when you set it up the media gets used up very quickly to take the junk out, and then the replaced media will last longer. Link to comment
moy71 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 that's precisely what the instructions on the phosphate remover says, to check the levels after 4 days of usage. if it hasn't dropped, replace the pellets. keep replacing every 4 days until the phosphate level drops to the desired level (which is anything less than 0.03 iirc). btw i am going to get some hydrogen peroxide 3% and give my live rocks a bath this weekend. it would be a good opportunity to try to find the remains of the goby which i am confident is under one of the rocks. luckily i only have 6pcs of live rock but they are biggish in size. Link to comment
wrassegauche17 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 hydrogen peroxide or kent tech m, cuc wont touch it Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wait you've been running phosguard for 3 weeks? Do you have a phosphate test kit? Phosguard works very quickly, I'm surprised that prolonged use hasn't changed your tank appearance. hydrogen peroxide or kent tech m, cuc wont touch it Kent tech M? He doesn't have bryopsis. Link to comment
Bill Nye Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 A 4 month old tank is still going through the "uglies". As a tank matures it usually gets weird phases of different types of algae until it settles. As long as your nutrients are low you shouldn't have any permanent problems. My tank is about the same age and I get this weird fuzzy brown algae even though my nutrients are ~undetectable. I would try rubbing it off with a small coarse brush. I use one I got from BRS it comes in a two pack and was like 6 bucks I think. A toothbrush could work but I find the bristles aren't hard enough. Link to comment
moy71 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wait you've been running phosguard for 3 weeks? Do you have a phosphate test kit? Phosguard works very quickly, I'm surprised that prolonged use hasn't changed your tank appearance. Yes I do have a test kit. That's how I arrived at the 0.16ppm results i mentioned. It was originally 0.36ppm prior to the phosgard. Link to comment
moy71 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 My tank is about the same age and I get this weird fuzzy brown algae even though my nutrients are ~undetectable. I would try rubbing it off with a small coarse brush. I use one I got from BRS it comes in a two pack and was like 6 bucks I think. A toothbrush could work but I find the bristles aren't hard enough. are you recommending holding off the peroxide for now and just use the toothbrush removal method? Link to comment
amphipod Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 are you recommending holding off the peroxide for now and just use the toothbrush removal method? if you get one of those motorized toothbrushes from the store, that will get it off easier than manual, it gets the plaque off my teeth anyways. Link to comment
markalot Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Don't run Phosguard in a reactor, only in a bag. The aluminum based media can flake off when tumbled and irritate some corals. It does work quite well in a bag but it's very fast, and if phosphate stops dropping then it's used up and needs replaced. If you want to use a reactor GFO is your best bet IMO. Oh, and that algae looks harmless. Link to comment
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