Increased algae growth with Oceanic

[GioReef]

So since ive switched to oceanic salt my corals have been doing very well. But my sandbed isn't. It has hair algae on it. This algae is only on the sand. I say hair algae because thats what it looks like. It clumps the top of the sand together too(like a mat). Nowhere else in the tank i have this algae. Ive tryed everything from less feedings to more waterchanges, manual removal but it doesnt help. About 1 month ago i didnt do a wc for about 3 weeks cuz i was too busy. Then i noticed the algae was much, much less. So this leads me thinking that doing more wc introduces more phosphates from the salt, which makes it worse. Source water is walmart distilled. I even have chaeto, which i think isnt growing fast. The only thing i was thinking of is that my oceanic mix has excess phosphates or something. I have 0 trates,trites,amm, ph 8.2, temp 80-82, i dont have a phosphate kit but i really think its that. I have phosphate remover and purigen in my back chambers. My light schedule is 9 hours daylight 10 hours actinic.

 

What could this be? Is it worth changing my salt to coralife or reef crystals to give it a try?

 

Thanks

[itzclayyo]

what color is the gallon of water from walmart? i cant remember which but there is a thread that has some horror stories about walmart distilled water.

[GioReef]

Purple.

[itzclayyo]

i have heard mix reviews about those, i doubt its the salt thats causing algae though. have you ever toped off with tap water? just one top off with tap can fuel an algae bloom

[GioReef]

No. never used tap.

[basser1]

Have your magnesium level checked, it could be low. I had a GHA problem a while back, tried about everything and I still had it. Then my lfs suggested I bring in a water sample for him to test. Sure enough, it was low. He suggested I dose magnesium to get it where it needed to be and assured me it would die off once it was at the proper level. Well, he was right on, I haven't had anymore GHA since! Good Luck!

[GioReef]

Was urs regular GHA or was it moddified GHA like mine is?

[basser1]

Was urs regular GHA or was it moddified GHA like mine is?

 

 

Man you got me there, I always thought GHA was GHA. Didn't realize there is a difference. Still, you might want to have mag level checked, can't hurt!

[GioReef]

Actually i said moddified cuz my GHA on the sand is different than regular GHA that is usually on the rocks... first i will try getting a few cerith and astrea snails cuz my cuc is a tad bit low. I will also try to change my water to the ro/di my lfs has instead of store distilled. If that doesnt work i will change to coralife salt cuz it has good reviews and ratings. If that still doesnt work i will restart my tank totally by taking out all my rock and replacing all my sand with arag-alive instead of my current ocean direct. the fact that it is only on the sand really makes me think i might have gotten a defective bag of sand that it producing silcates or phosphates in just enough quantities that it only goes on the sand.

[Ryan_H]

we used to use oceanic salt at my store. we had cyano in all our tanks that refused to go away and lots of other random algaes. we also had difficulty stabilizing the pH and alkalinity of our systems. then we realized that there was a 3/4" layer of magnesium that had formed in our mixing vat from only 3 years of using oceanic salt. we scraped out the vat, switched to instant ocean and did several big water changes, and the problems went away.

[The Propagator]

Seriously ?

Man I have been using it for more then 3 years and have never noticed that. I know its a little high in Mag but damn...

 

 

 

nano-reef man ...

By modified GHA do you mean bryopsis ?

Looks like GHA but its a tad thicker and feathers out a little... ?

[GioReef]

no not bryopsis. Its actually thinner than regular GHA. Normal GHA is fuller than mine and has longer strands. This just looks like a lawn in my sand bed. And i have manually removed it several times but the more i do that the more sand i loose and then it just comes back about a week later. Now that pets unlimited told me his story, i get closer in thinking its my oceanic. I bought it at a store where it seems that their products never get bought. My salt may even be like 2 years old.LOL Who knows....

[GioReef]

Ok... i have a picture of when i was using IO. You can tell my sand is very clean.

 

And this is with Oceanic...

 

Now its actually way worse than the second picture.

[The Propagator]

That looks ( to me ) like brown slime algae that has sat and turned into hair algae. You normally wont see brown slime unless you are experiencing a cycle, a mini cycle, or your clean up crew goes on strike( or you don't have enough of them). I don't think its the salt. I think it may be lack of sand stirrers and grazers in your clean up crew. If it were the salt it would form on more then just the sand bed. You would have it all over the tank especially on your live rock.

If its not the salt, and you have plenty in your clean up crew then you need to check your nutrient level.

Then check out your filter pads and make sure they are rinsed out and clean along with any other possible source of build up that could leech back into the system.

[coolwaters]

my nassarius snail keeps my sand clean and crap free =p

[GioReef]

I clean the filter floss twice a week and have no sponges or bioballs. I have a pretty low cuc that goes on my sand. I total have 1 turbo, 1 astrea, 4 hermits, 3 nass, 1 emerald crab. I have little to no cuc that eats algae on the sand. Only my crabs clean up algae on the sand sometimes. My nasses are good for detritus, i have none on the sand. What would you recommend for sandbed algae cleaners? Maybe ceriths...

[Break]

You're CUC is weak sauce. Get a bunch of Ceriths/Florida Ceriths in there. Nerites are great too but they clean rocks/glass rather than the sand.

[The Propagator]

Nassarius , Cerith, scarlet hermits etc etc ....

 

Nassarius would be your best bet to keep this from happening again if you ask me.

There are two types of nassarius snails though you need to look for specifically.

One small version that stays about 3/4" max and its larger cousin the Super Tongan Nassarius that can get to be about 1.25 inch.

The smaller are usually labeled "Vibex" along wiht the other larger ones. But its a misnomer.

the Super Tongan snails ( the large smoother shell with light cream color and much larger body ) are ( I think ) actually named Nassarius Distortus where as the smaller are just called nassarius or nassarius vibex ( they have a rougher darker colored shell and a much smaller body ).

 

Super Tongan Nassarius :

 

Nassarius Vibex :

 

Both GREAT scavengers, sand movers, and slime and hair algae eaters.

I would keep at least 5-6 nassarius vibex, and at least 2-3 Super Tongan nassarius. ( this is for your 14g biocube right ?) Ceriths are alright but no tNEARLYT as effective s nassarius species in the sand bed.

Ceriths are good for the surface though.

[GioReef]

Yes for my cube... i heard than nassarrius and tongans dont eat algae. And as i said before, i have no detritus just this algae. So my nass snails are working. I have 3 small ones and 1 tongan. So today ill go grab 4-5 ceriths, 1 more astrea(cuz my other guy is awesome cleaner of class), and maybe 1 more scarlet hermit. Plus extra shells.

[GioReef]

So i will be ordering some salt online at drfs. They have awesome shipping charges w/no extra weight fees and i have a 5 dollar coupon!

 

So what salt should i choose? Im thinking reef crystals or seachem reef... they are only $2 dollars difference so i dont care. I will be getting a 50 gallon bag which will last me about 1/2 year to 1 year. Cuz i do 1-2 gallon wc every week. I am ordering online cuz my stores around here only have IO,oceanic and coralife. ya my lfs's suck.

[Weetabix7]

Between those two I would choose Seachem Reef.

What's wrong w/the Coralife salt available at your LFS?

I've heard decent stuff about it.

[dtfleming]

I still dont think salt is the issue. poor cuc and husbandry are the problem. I've been using Oceanic salt without a prob.

[GioReef]

I am getting some ceriths and 2 astreas to help it out. But i still wanna change my oceanic even if it wont solve the problem. Well, coralife i heard is good but i also heard some negative things happening to inverts...

[qbical]

i too am using the oceanic salt and ever since i have been getting a rainbow of algea on my rocks and sandbed. im going to try a different salt this next time.

all my parameters are great, decent CUC, good flow, waterchanges and everything looks happy; just stupid algae all over. nothing in the CUC seems to eat the red slime algae that grows on 2 of my rocks, luckily it comes off in nice mats lol.

[GioReef]

i too am using the oceanic salt and ever since i have been getting a rainbow of algea on my rocks and sandbed. im going to try a different salt this next time.

all my parameters are great, decent CUC, good flow, waterchanges and everything looks happy; just stupid algae all over. nothing in the CUC seems to eat the red slime algae that grows on 2 of my rocks, luckily it comes off in nice mats lol.

 

You know what its like then... it is very irritating. Now i have decided to try coralife. I will go 50/50 for 2 weeks and then 75/25 for 1 week and then all coralife. I hope its good and resolves my algae. I hope you find a good mix too. If you get any updates or experiences with salts, lmk.