Am I still in the Ugly Stage??

[Patryk P.]

Hey guys, this Reefer 250 is nearing 4 months and it’s been cycled 3 months. I have a lot of this brown algae and slimy algae that covers the corals a LOT. I turkey baste the corals often to get the algae off them but it just grows back within a day. The corals seem more unhappy especially my zoas when algae grows on them.

Also there is this film algae that grows on my glass everyday that I usually just scrape off everyday so not a big deal but annoying.

Overall, a lot of algae. I’m hoping this is normal and would like feedback and suggestions on what I should do. The corals overall seem happy except for the algae. I last tested the water a few days ago:
Nitrate: 7.4
Phosphate: 0.05
Alk: 8.4
Calcium: 410
Mag: 1290
Ph:8.2

Maybe more cleanup crew or just ride it through? I’ve got 5 Trochus, 12 hermits, 3 tiger conches.

 

[Uncle99]

Ride it out.
Your numbers fine, but I run MG higher at 1400ppm.
Keep everything stable, clean what you can.
Just some time for the guys you can’t see to populate in quantities that will keep rocks and sand clean, without any CUC.

It will come.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Those 2 powerheads look kind of small for your tank, ensure the flow is adequate throughout the tank. Slimy algae makes me think low flow.

You have a flat water surface and I see several fish swimming up near the surface, makes me think you have low oxygen. Do you have a skimmer? If not, you should have heavy flow pointed at the surface to agitate the surface so that oxygen can enter and carbon can exit. A flat water surface is bad for gas exchange.

 

[Patryk P.]

Those 2 powerheads look kind of small for your tank, ensure the flow is adequate throughout the tank. Slimy algae makes me think low flow.

You have a flat water surface and I see several fish swimming up near the surface, makes me think you have low oxygen. Do you have a skimmer? If not, you should have heavy flow pointed at the surface to agitate the surface so that oxygen can enter and carbon can exit. A flat water surface is bad for gas exchange.

Yes I was definitely thinking of getting new power heads. There are cheaper ones but they are recommended for this size tank. Do you recommend any power heads? I’m not trying to break the bank.

And yes I do run a skimmer but only 12 hours due to my nutrients being too low a few weeks ago