I had an algae bloom in the main tank that must have come in on a coral. Since I don’t have a Qt with adequate light for a coral setup I usually dip and then place in the main tank. In 3 days this algae covered the bottom of the tank. I tested my nitrates constantly, even before this algae arrived and they are at 15ppm. they get as high as 25ppm but not because I overfeed. In fact Ken says I underfeed my clowns. I do have a Large Hippo tang that 2 years ago was 2" and in now to 6+" I think she adds a lot to the bio-load. Here is a pic of my brain coral with the invasive algae around it.
I pulled the algae and put it in the refugium. I figure its growing so rapidly it likes something in the tank. I put a 100 micron sponge on the input of the return pump to keep it out of the main tank. I also have cheato in the fuge, but while the cheato is growing, it is growing no where near as fast at this stuff. It is super fine algel hair algae. I put 3 clumps in the fuge and now you can barley see the cheato or the bottom of the tank, solid growth.
I trimmed this last week but it grows fast. I would like to get a idea what type of algae it is. I think it is awesome in the fuge as it grows fast but I have added another sock to the output of the return thats 100 microns to keep it from returning to the main tank. I still have some residual algae in the main tank but as I pull each roch it is less and less. It seems keeping it in the fuge is starving the algae in the main tank as it has stopped growing any larger in the main tank. Whats really strange is this algae has a wide temperature range. All the algae I pulled was put in a bucket of old water change salt water. There is no heater and the ambient temp of the room is 65 degrees. There is light from the main tank and the fuge but not direct light. It is still green as the day I pulled it out of the fuge (2 days in the cold water). I plan on bleaching this before I dump any in the trash.
Here is a closer pic of the algae
Any clue to the type on algae? It is thinner then a strand of human hair. I think I will keep it in the fuge for now as it is growing and as I remove some, pulling stuff out of the water.
I have tested and changed my Ro/Di filter last month. Before this growth my Ro/Di tested at 17tds which is not bad. I had bought filters a while ago and figured I would change them. I ran off 10-gallons or so of finished water. My Ro/Di was half full of water so I topped off with the new water combined with the old. Then this bloom happened. The only influx of nutrients I can think of is that I didn’t let enough water flow through the Ro/Di before I used the water. Could there be a chemical they store the filters in that has fueled this growth?
hey boss, 17 TDS is way higher than I would consider OK. I get concerned If I am creeping past 3 and never seen it past 5 on my unit. I usually run at 1 or 2.
Ill run through the usual list of culprits-
water-might be the changed filter may not. either way I would do whatever it takes to get that TDS below 5
Lights- If I remember right I thought I recently read you said you changed your lighting parameters to phase out your MH. shift in spectrum may have occurred, killing something in your main and fueling something in your fuge?
any other recent changes?- new feeding?
I would get some phosban running and keep thining out your fuge. keeping it packed seems to promote decay and fuels the problem.
After the change in filters my TDS are at 0.
Also this growth started before my lighting started getting reduced but the MH are at the end of thir life.
I run phosban currently. I have pulled the algae many many times already
17 TDS isnt really that bad… alot of people top off with tap water, which I know here in dover runs about 380 on my TDS… my guess is that something decayed in the tank… a sponge or something, and this fueled the algae growth. I would say that you should just keep pulling the hair-ish algae out of the tank and grow it in the fuge for now untill it slows down its growth and then phase it out of the refugium. If it grows that fast keep it as long as it keeps growing so that it strips the nutrients from your water. You could try putting a UV sterilzer on the output of the return pump so that no live algae can slip into the tank again. Does your tang like the stuff? Also have you tried throwing any in with the coral beauty angel to see if he likes it (if hes still in qt and not the tank)? If all else fails a mexican turbo
(the big bastards) will eat pretty much anything ive found… I had one that LOVED bryopsis which most people think is impossible to get rid of.
My over the back filter, wet-dry, and skimmer just isn’t cutting it for me. So i want to buy a canister filter to add to my stand. Enough room for a 8"W x15"L x??H" preferably ~300 gph.
