What algae do you see in these photos?

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I've been struggling with my nutrients and algae for a while now. The tank is about a year old with rock being over 10 years old.

 

Can you help me identify exactly the types of algae I'm dealing with?

My parameters are:
Nitrate: <5 ppm -- working to get these up by feeding more

Phosphate: <0.25 ppm -- still trying to figure out where my phosphates are coming from. I bought and use a RO/DI system. It's either the salt mix or water conditioner that I use.
pH: 7.8-8.0

Calcium: 380 ppm

Alk: 7.0 -- has always ran a little low, hoping to switch to new salt soon 

Mg: ~1500 ppm -- haven't taken it recently

 

My zoas are really struggling. Everything else seems to be doing okay. Though I just bought a bunch of snails from reefcleaners and it seems like a good majority of them have died, though I don't know how many were alive to begin with.

My biggest fear is that I have dinos right now. I did the coffee filter test as I don't have a microscope and results were inconclusive. The rust colored algae isn't slimy like dinos are usually described as being. But I don't know why it would be diatoms either. But just super tired of not having coral growth and fighting with algae.

 

 

[DevilDuck]

Your phosphate are on the higher side. I would try to get it under .1 ppm The phosphates most likely come from the food you are feeding.

It's very hard to tell from the pictures but they can be dino or diatoms. If you vacuum them up do they come back the next day?

 

Can you post a full tank shot? What is your lighting like?

 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

11 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

Your phosphate are on the higher side. I would try to get it under .1 ppm The phosphates most likely come from the food you are feeding.

It's very hard to tell from the pictures but they can be dino or diatoms. If you vacuum them up do they come back the next day?

 

Can you post a full tank shot? What is your lighting like?

 

I've been trying to lower my phosphates for a year. Not even ChemiPure worked. I don't know what it is, but I'm switching my salt and water conditioner soon. 
My food is Omega flakes. I don't feed crazy amounts.. And I don't see a difference between heavier and lighter feedings.

They do come back when I vacuum them. Not all at once and not in large amounts. But by the end of the week, my sandbed is usually rust-colored again. Nothing really on the rocks.

My lighting is two Current lights. 65 blues, 16, whites, 5 reds, 5 greens. About a 7-8 hour photoperiod. 
I don't have a full tank photo right now. But its 20 long with 2 clowns and a goby.

[DevilDuck]

Have you tried to test your RODI water to see if there are phosphates in it? 

Also where did you get the 10 year old live rock from? Rock can hang on to phosphate and leach them back into water over time. 

 

I've run SeaChem PhosGuard to lower phosphate if they get too high. Works pretty well and is a lot less messier than GFO.

 

The good news is since it takes a while for the rust color algae to come back again it maybe diatoms instead of dinos. Dinos would be back in full force about 24-48 hours later.

How often are you doing water changes and how much are you changing?

 

I find some zoas pretty picky about lighting and flow. Try moving them to a lower flow shadier spot for a few weeks.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

8 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

Have you tried to test your RODI water to see if there are phosphates in it? 

Also where did you get the 10 year old live rock from? Rock can hang on to phosphate and leach them back into water over time. 

 

I've run SeaChem PhosGuard to lower phosphate if they get too high. Works pretty well and is a lot less messier than GFO.

 

The good news is since it takes a while for the rust color algae to come back again it maybe diatoms instead of dinos. Dinos would be back in full force about 24-48 hours later.

How often are you doing water changes and how much are you changing?

 

I find some zoas pretty picky about lighting and flow. Try moving them to a lower flow shadier spot for a few weeks.

Yes! I tested the RO/DI and it's fine. The 10 year old rock is just from rock that I've had from previous tanks.

I'm afraid to use a phosphate reducer in case it IS dinos.. should I try to get my nitrates up first?

 

I'm doing water changes once a week. About 2.5 gallons maybe? Not a lot but I take the time to siphon mainly. I tried biweekly and the algae just went crazy.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Managed to get a picture of the tank!

[Tiki_Reef]

That is diatoms in my opinion, have you ever tried Vibrant? It works pretty well cleans up the water overnight and will eat at your diatoms and other things. Also if you are looking to lower your phosphates I use KZ Coral Snow Plus, it is a little pricey. I personally use a lot of KZ products and they all work great.

[DevilDuck]

6 hours ago, IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut said:

Managed to get a picture of the tank!

Your tank looks great! From this photo it looks like cyano on the rocks. Do the red stuff on the rocks blow off if you use a turkey baster on them?

 

You might just need to increase your cleaning crew. I've ordered from Reefcleaners before with mixed results too, the shipping stress maybe too much for the snails. Do you have a place to buy CUC locally?  

How is the flow? Do you have another wavemaker on the other side?

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

11 hours ago, Tiki_Reef said:

That is diatoms in my opinion, have you ever tried Vibrant? It works pretty well cleans up the water overnight and will eat at your diatoms and other things. Also if you are looking to lower your phosphates I use KZ Coral Snow Plus, it is a little pricey. I personally use a lot of KZ products and they all work great.

I haven't tried Vibrant because I've heard some iffy stories about corals.. but I might just try it. I've tried everything to get rid of this algae. 

 

 

6 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

Your tank looks great! From this photo it looks like cyano on the rocks. Do the red stuff on the rocks blow off if you use a turkey baster on them?

 

You might just need to increase your cleaning crew. I've ordered from Reefcleaners before with mixed results too, the shipping stress maybe too much for the snails. Do you have a place to buy CUC locally?  

How is the flow? Do you have another wavemaker on the other side?

It has a lot of potential!! I'm just trying to get there. I did treat for cyano a few weeks ago and it cleared up some definite cyano. The red stuff on the rocks I think is just some kind of hard algae.. I think I've always had it. Doesn't blow or scrub off.

Yeah was a little disappointed in Reefcleaners. Very small snails that probably didn't make the trip. I could maybe get some turbo snails locally but snails are so overpriced haha. 
The flow could be better, but I don't think it's not enough for what I have in the tank at this time. There are two powerheads, one on each side.

[Tired]

You should avoid Vibrant if at all possible. It can work as a last resort against particularly unusual algae infestations, but is often harmful to your tank's ecosystem, since it is an algae killer. 

 

Just let things be. If you stock an appropriate cleanup crew, keep your nutrients at a reasonable level (which also means not too low), and let the tank mature, it should more or less figure itself out. 

 

When was the last time you changed your activated carbon filter in the RODI device? High dissolved organics in your water can contribute to algae.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

30 minutes ago, Tired said:

You should avoid Vibrant if at all possible. It can work as a last resort against particularly unusual algae infestations, but is often harmful to your tank's ecosystem, since it is an algae killer. 

 

Just let things be. If you stock an appropriate cleanup crew, keep your nutrients at a reasonable level (which also means not too low), and let the tank mature, it should more or less figure itself out. 

 

When was the last time you changed your activated carbon filter in the RODI device? High dissolved organics in your water can contribute to algae.

I've let things be for a year now and they're not getting better 😞. But I will continue to be patient! I just hope I don't lose too many more corals.

I actually bought the RODI system just a couple months ago so it should be good. 

[aclman88]

On 5/18/2022 at 9:31 AM, IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut said:

Yes! I tested the RO/DI and it's fine.

Was the RODI system bought brand new?  How does the DI resin look?  Diatoms repeatedly coming back, from my understanding, could be due to silicates which do not show up on a TDS meter (I am assuming that is how you are testing the RODI water)

[Tiki_Reef]

5 hours ago, Tired said:

You should avoid Vibrant if at all possible. It can work as a last resort against particularly unusual algae infestations, but is often harmful to your tank's ecosystem, since it is an algae killer. 

 

Just let things be. If you stock an appropriate cleanup crew, keep your nutrients at a reasonable level (which also means not too low), and let the tank mature, it should more or less figure itself out. 

 

When was the last time you changed your activated carbon filter in the RODI device? High dissolved organics in your water can contribute to algae.

I mean I use Vibrant on this tank once every other week for a year now no issues no adverse effects, just follow the instructions on the bottle. The (Twin spot is just vacationing from my other tank due to a Mystery wrasse picking on him.)

(Sorry the pic quality isn't the greatest) 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

23 hours ago, aclman88 said:

Was the RODI system bought brand new?  How does the DI resin look?  Diatoms repeatedly coming back, from my understanding, could be due to silicates which do not show up on a TDS meter (I am assuming that is how you are testing the RODI water)

Yes brand new. The resin looks fine. It's color indicated and I can see that it's started to change color so I guess it's working?? I'm not using a TDS meter. Just an API kit. It's pretty good, even if it's just for relative figures.

 

18 hours ago, Tiki_Reef said:

I mean I use Vibrant on this tank once every other week for a year now no issues no adverse effects, just follow the instructions on the bottle. The (Twin spot is just vacationing from my other tank due to a Mystery wrasse picking on him.)

(Sorry the pic quality isn't the greatest) 

Hmm.... why do you use it chronically??

[Tiki_Reef]

6 hours ago, IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut said:

Yes brand new. The resin looks fine. It's color indicated and I can see that it's started to change color so I guess it's working?? I'm not using a TDS meter. Just an API kit. It's pretty good, even if it's just for relative figures.

 

Hmm.... why do you use it chronically??

It is great at water clarification getting it crystal clear, also gets the hidden gunk that I cannot get to. Never had a issue with it. I have used Dr. Tims waste away before but the affects it has on the reduction of oxygen is quite high (even at half the dose) so I read about Vibrant and it is far less evasive.