I need a little advice on a couple of things please

[robs.mark]

G'day reefers,

I (potentially) have some issues which I need some help with, this will be a comprehensive post so please bare with me!

I have a SPS system - running for 10 months, fish for 8 months, SPS for 2 months.

When I kicked the system off I had a huge outbreak of Lobophora (brown wafer) algae. This has never really gone away. I have manually removed it a few times but it keep on returning. I also have a short fuzzy (very fine) fuzz over all the rocks, you cant see unless you look hard. Over the past week I have notices a few patches of hair algae underneath the rocks that is starting to appear.

Some of the SPS I have looks a little faded, others look bright - everything in there is a frag with the exception of a couple of wild mini colonies.

System stats

Tank: 1000 x 700 x 450 (shallow).
Lighting: 2 x G4 Radion Pros (AB+ schedule with extended blues for morning and night) running 50% 10" from water. Plus an Aquatic life T5 unit running (Blue plus, purple, and coral plus).
Flow: 2 x MP40 QD of reef crest.
Filtration: Curve 7 (pulling heaps of smelly skimate daily). Plus a small fuge (doesn't grow very well).
Dosing: 3-part (seachem).
Substrate: BB.
Rock: Fresh LR from start.
Top-Up: RODI (unsure of TDS but is a new system and I have just ordered a TDS meter).

Parameters

Po4: Zero (new Hanna ULR)
No3: Done test
pH: Not sure
SG: 1.026
Temp: Was a little low due to poor controller, have since corrected
Alk: was 7 have raised over a week to 9
Cal: 450
Mag: 1300

Livestock
1 Small Scopas
1 Medium Australian Stripy
1 Occi Clown

I feed New Life Spectrum pellets in small amounts, Nori once or twice a week.

I dose 2ml of Acro Power dail.

I have recently started dosing Vitalis every couple of days but i might stop as it makes a real mess of water surface and I have seen any increased PE even when target feeding.


Maintenance

I keep it pretty clean (syphon detritus every couple of days)
Dont see much on glass (light dust every few days)
Weekly WC (20-40 liters of NSW - I live on the coast in Western Australia)

So my questions are:

1. Why am I seeing this algae? I would think that with zero - P04 that it wouldn't be able to grow? See pics for SPS colour and algae.

2. Why am I seeing little PE on many of SPS.

3. Encrusting montis look amazing, but caps look faded. Acros are the same (I didn't light acclimate).

I have recently started to feed more, and yesterday I turned of my skimmer. When i turned it on today it went crazy and overflowed for a while until I eventually gave in and raised it in the water column (this is unusual as it was not required before now).

Thanks, Mark

 

[Gungo]

Everything you mention above leads me to the common low nutrient issues that all new tanks go through. Your tank is too young (10 months) and it has been proven that barebottom tanks takes longer to mature and stablish. Get more fish, feed more or start dosing po4 and no3 to reach detectable levels and you’ll see great improvements in your tank.

 

[robs.mark]

Appreciate your reply. I’m thinking the same.

This Lobophora is concerning me though.. I’ve read it flourishes in clean water. Perhaps I should temporarily move a Naso in to combat it, that should bring my nutrients up too..

 

[Overbrook]

Based on reading and a bit of experience, I think pH should at least be checked if not constantly monitored. I’ve personally had significantly increased success, and seems about everyone does too, with it in the 8.2 ballpark. My house needs a CO2 scrubber to make that happen.

 

[robs.mark]

Based on reading and a bit of experience, I think pH should at least be checked if not constantly monitored. I’ve personally had significantly increased success, and seems about everyone does too, with it in the 8.2 ballpark. My house needs a CO2 scrubber to make that happen.

I completely agree with this.. I’ve recently ordered a calcium reactor set-up, with a ProfiLux 4 and two pH probes to monitor both the reactor and tank water. I’ve been sloppy here up until now but I don’t think this is the issue here..

 

[BostonReefer300]

I've never had to deal with Lobophora, so I can't offer any good advice there unfortunately. Regarding the fuzz algae, that's common and a tang or other herbivorous fish (eg a lawnmower or starry blenny) or a good CUC will help you take care of it. If you're testing for PO4 with the Hanna HI774, your PO4 level might not actually be zero due to the accuracy limitations of that meter. (The ULR Phosphorus HI736 is better for super low phosphate measurement.). Regardless, if you have super low phosphate, it might show up as zero anyway because you have enough algae continuously sucking it out of the water column. White tips on your sps are probably growth tips which is a good thing. For your lighting, you might want to rent a par meter to check your levels (if you have a solid lid, keep your lid on while measuring because many solid lids will significantly cut down on PAR.). You can also buy a cheap PAR or LUX meter on Amazon and use it in ziploc bag. I'd suggest keeping your skimmer going all the time

 

[robs.mark]

I've never had to deal with Lobophora, so I can't offer any good advice there unfortunately. Regarding the fuzz algae, that's common and a tang or other herbivorous fish (eg a lawnmower or starry blenny) or a good CUC will help you take care of it. If you're testing for PO4 with the Hanna HI774, your PO4 level might not actually be zero due to the accuracy limitations of that meter. (The ULR Phosphorus HI736 is better for super low phosphate measurement.). Regardless, if you have super low phosphate, it might show up as zero anyway because you have enough algae continuously sucking it out of the water column. White tips on your sps are probably growth tips which is a good thing. For your lighting, you might want to rent a par meter to check your levels (if you have a solid lid, keep your lid on while measuring because many solid lids will significantly cut down on PAR.). You can also buy a cheap PAR or LUX meter on Amazon and use it in ziploc bag. I'd suggest keeping your skimmer going all the time

Thanks for the reply. I am using the H1774 ULR tester.

 

[Perry]

10 months old? It can happen, but takes a skilled hobbyist to pull off. As mentioned above, 0.00 P04 is a bad thing and likely your issue. Right now, your lucky for wafer algae and fuzz, likely outcompeting dinos. Your corals are likely starving due to P04 either binding or being consumed by competing algae. Simple solution, keep alk, relative to nutrients, low nutrients, low alk, and vice-versa. Bring P04 up to 0.08-0.12 and N03 5-10ppm, and test daily at the same time of day. I would suggest Phosphorus dosing, and depending on tested N03, nitrate dosing. If your nitrates are low, be careful, they will drop when dosing Phosphorus. 0.00 on either P04 or N03 is no longer considered a good thing, unless you are using a carbon/bacteria system, and have high import of fish foods and coral foods, then strong export.
Cheers

 

[Nick Steele]

Appreciate your reply. I’m thinking the same.

This Lobophora is concerning me though.. I’ve read it flourishes in clean water. Perhaps I should temporarily move a Naso in to combat it, that should bring my nutrients up too..

I’m not sure as to why your sps are struggling but regarding the lobophora I had some in my tank that grew on a frag and it stayed for about two months and just disappeared on its own.

 

[robs.mark]

I’m not sure as to why your sps are struggling but regarding the lobophora I had some in my tank that grew on a frag and it stayed for about two months and just disappeared on its own.

Great to hear, mine has definitely reduced but I just want to be proactive in cleaning up.

 

[robs.mark]

10 months old? It can happen, but takes a skilled hobbyist to pull off. As mentioned above, 0.00 P04 is a bad thing and likely your issue. Right now, your lucky for wafer algae and fuzz, likely outcompeting dinos. Your corals are likely starving due to P04 either binding or being consumed by competing algae. Simple solution, keep alk, relative to nutrients, low nutrients, low alk, and vice-versa. Bring P04 up to 0.08-0.12 and N03 5-10ppm, and test daily at the same time of day. I would suggest Phosphorus dosing, and depending on tested N03, nitrate dosing. If your nitrates are low, be careful, they will drop when dosing Phosphorus. 0.00 on either P04 or N03 is no longer considered a good thing, unless you are using a carbon/bacteria system, and have high import of fish foods and coral foods, then strong export.
Cheers

10 month old what can happen? Keeping SPS? I thought I was being patient in waiting this long!

I wouldn’t say I’m lucky with this algae, it seem by all accounts to be one of the most difficult to combat.

I agree and understand that low nutrients are likely a cause of the sps issues, my concern is beefing up feeding will likely accelerate the BWA growth. I don’t like the idea of dosing PO4/NO3, and think I could achieve the same result by feeding more.

 

[Nick Steele]

10 month old what can happen? Keeping SPS? I thought I was being patient in waiting this long!

I wouldn’t say I’m lucky with this algae, it seem by all accounts to be one of the most difficult to combat.

I agree and understand that low nutrients are likely a cause of the sps issues, my concern is beefing up feeding will likely accelerate the BWA growth. I don’t like the idea of dosing PO4/NO3, and think I could achieve the same result by feeding more

Sometimes feeding more can’t actually help. I was feeding a whole cube of mysis or spurilina brine to two clown fish and my nutrients would t go up. I dosed and it was very easy. Although I think some of my sps changed colors from it.

 

[robs.mark]

Sometimes feeding more can’t actually help. I was feeding a whole cube of mysis or spurilina brine to two clown fish and my nutrients would t go up. I dosed and it was very easy. Although I think some of my sps changed colors from it.

Is that right? Changed colours for the better?

 

[Panama Brown]

If I may add my 2 cents... I would definitely be testing your alk every morning & keep your Alk as stable as possible. Alk is a killer if not kept proper, ESPECIALLY when dealing with SPS. When you mention fading colors my brain goes straight to Alk swings (which can pull color out overnight) OR not enough light, or in some cases too much light / not enough nutrients.

Like what was mentioned earlier get your hands on a Par meter and see what kind of #'s youre running. Also Po4 of .05 to .12 and No3 of 5-10ppm is where its at, however Ive ran tanks at much higher No3 values and still did well. But low low nutrients can create all kinds of algae issues. IDK that dosing No3 or Po4 is the direction I would personally go for a "newer" aquarist but maybe feed a little heavier, run the skimmer less, skip a water change (I havent done a water change since August and am killing it, but thats needs a whole thread for itself, Moonshine Theory).

What is your CUC like? Pick up more turbo snails, take a toothbrush to get that initial algae out and keep it away from that point on with a GFO reactor. I know that sounds counter intuitive to the fact youre not reading po4 but thats likely that the algae is soaking up the po4 which is causing more algae growth.

As for PE not being what it should be.... Is this coral(s) getting enough flow? Too much flow? Also lack of nutrients is possible as well unsteady Alk. Anyway, sorry for the rant. Hope any of this helps. IMPE this all works for my system.... To each their own

 

[Panama Brown]

Check out the Moonshine Theory Support Group on Facebook.... This could change everything for you and your SPS journey. I don't want to say its the cure all for what you got going on, because its not, but it has totally changed the way I think and how I run my system. Colors in SPS are insane and growth has been amazing as well.

 

[Nick Steele]

Is that right? Changed colours for the better?

A pink lemonade and pink caddy frag went green. They both were good color before I started dosing phos and nitrate but I needed to dose to get rid of Dino’s. They are both still growing so I’m waiting for the color to switch back one day.

 

[robs.mark]

If I may add my 2 cents... I would definitely be testing your alk every morning & keep your Alk as stable as possible. Alk is a killer if not kept proper, ESPECIALLY when dealing with SPS. When you mention fading colors my brain goes straight to Alk swings (which can pull color out overnight) OR not enough light, or in some cases too much light / not enough nutrients.

Like what was mentioned earlier get your hands on a Par meter and see what kind of #'s youre running. Also Po4 of .05 to .12 and No3 of 5-10ppm is where its at, however Ive ran tanks at much higher No3 values and still did well. But low low nutrients can create all kinds of algae issues. IDK that dosing No3 or Po4 is the direction I would personally go for a "newer" aquarist but maybe feed a little heavier, run the skimmer less, skip a water change (I havent done a water change since August and am killing it, but thats needs a whole thread for itself, Moonshine Theory).

What is your CUC like? Pick up more turbo snails, take a toothbrush to get that initial algae out and keep it away from that point on with a GFO reactor. I know that sounds counter intuitive to the fact youre not reading po4 but thats likely that the algae is soaking up the po4 which is causing more algae growth.

As for PE not being what it should be.... Is this coral(s) getting enough flow? Too much flow? Also lack of nutrients is possible as well unsteady Alk. Anyway, sorry for the rant. Hope any of this helps. IMPE this all works for my system.... To each their own

Appreciate your input. I probably should have mentioned my experience level in the intro.. I’ve been keeping reefs for 10+ years, though have had a 4 year break from sps (kids, renovation, etc.). I’ve never previously had the issue of low nutrients through, and Am struggling with the concept of this with algae.

I added 10 turbo stairs today, but also have a few hermits, some Trochus, and Stomalatella snails. None of which will help this.

Ill try to get a par meter, but am fairly confident with the light and flow. I don’t think that is the issue to be honest. I don’t know what I’m looking for here to be honest.

from my reading is seams that this algae issue is best resolved with either a sally lightfoot, or a Naso. Being that i have never seen a SLF in Australia, I think perhaps a temporary Naso might be my only option.

I think I will remove the Australian Stripey as it was only deed as a utilitarian fish and has done its job. Add a Naso, and increase the feeding as a first port of call.

If it doesn’t resolve the colour issues then perhaps I’ll try dosing nutrients.

 

[Panama Brown]

Good luck my friend! You got this Turbo Snails + heavier feeding (frozen food will help get nutrients up) + the Tangs are definitely a step in the right direction! If youre not running any type of GFO or Po4 media maybe now is a good time to start. BTW my apologies for assuming you're newer in the game. You got some years on me. But never too late in the hobbie to learn new things. Part of why I love this hobbie! Have a great day!

 

[robs.mark]

Good luck my friend! You got this Turbo Snails + heavier feeding (frozen food will help get nutrients up) + the Tangs are definitely a step in the right direction! If youre not running any type of GFO or Po4 media maybe now is a good time to start. BTW my apologies for assuming you're newer in the game. You got some years on me. But never too late in the hobbie to learn new things. Part of why I love this hobbie! Have a great day!

No apologies necessary, I should have stated that in the beginning. Besides, you can have all the experience in the world and still encounter new challenges in this hobby, that’s what I love (and hate) about it.

I used reefcentral mostly (same avatar and username), but it’s gone downhill and I now find it better here.

Curious about your recommendation for running po4 media though, wouldn’t that defeat the object of increasing the feeding?

 

[lilithereefer]

watch for any pests, look for nudis, and flatworms, also you can try to dose more calcium