I think the source of my bacteria blooms and green algae/phytoplankton may be attributed to my livestock turning over my sand bed.
The sand bed is about 2.5 inches deep.
Bacteria bloom:
I’ve had an ongoing bacteria bloom for about a month. It’s not bad but it also isn’t great. The water has been cloudy enough to start upsetting my LPS corals.
Green algae/phytoplankton:
I don’t know what it is. I think it’s more likely to be a bacteria due to its reproduction rate. When I clean the glass the build up of cells is heavy within an hour of cleaning. (Initially thought it was phytoplankton due to appearance on cleaning, see image below)
here’s what I’m dealing with
I think this is all due to constant sand stirring. My pistol shrimp puts in a serious shift everyday. I think he moves at least a quarter of the sand surface in a day. I also have a wrasse that hides several times a day, and my clownfish digs constantly. I also have a sand sifting starfish but I doubt he is churning up enough.
I have a cheato refugium which is on a 14hr reverse cycle and has doubled in size in the last 2 weeks. I don’t use a skimmer due to a previous low nutrient issue.
My nitrates test at 3ppm (Nyos and Salifert) and my phosphate at 0.02ppm (Hanna ULR)
I used to do a 10% weekly water change but have not done this for 3 weeks to increase my nutrients from 0 and 0 (N and P respectively)
The tank has been running for 3 months. However it was a transfer of an established system that had been running for 8 years. This tank was started with a new bag of live sand.
What would be a good move? I’ve been considering getting UV but surely I can do this with better husbandry?
The sand bed is about 2.5 inches deep.
Bacteria bloom:
I’ve had an ongoing bacteria bloom for about a month. It’s not bad but it also isn’t great. The water has been cloudy enough to start upsetting my LPS corals.
Green algae/phytoplankton:
I don’t know what it is. I think it’s more likely to be a bacteria due to its reproduction rate. When I clean the glass the build up of cells is heavy within an hour of cleaning. (Initially thought it was phytoplankton due to appearance on cleaning, see image below)
here’s what I’m dealing with
I think this is all due to constant sand stirring. My pistol shrimp puts in a serious shift everyday. I think he moves at least a quarter of the sand surface in a day. I also have a wrasse that hides several times a day, and my clownfish digs constantly. I also have a sand sifting starfish but I doubt he is churning up enough.
I have a cheato refugium which is on a 14hr reverse cycle and has doubled in size in the last 2 weeks. I don’t use a skimmer due to a previous low nutrient issue.
My nitrates test at 3ppm (Nyos and Salifert) and my phosphate at 0.02ppm (Hanna ULR)
I used to do a 10% weekly water change but have not done this for 3 weeks to increase my nutrients from 0 and 0 (N and P respectively)
The tank has been running for 3 months. However it was a transfer of an established system that had been running for 8 years. This tank was started with a new bag of live sand.
What would be a good move? I’ve been considering getting UV but surely I can do this with better husbandry?