Yet another Algae ID thread

how long... I usually say twice the length of time it takes for it to die. It may come back, but it won't be everywhere, giving you a shot at controlling it again with mag, and manual removal. Oh, I see the closeups now from later on. Byropsis pennata.

 

Ok I will cover up the tank. I'm guessing a few weeks? Btw is this the dread strain that is resistant to mag dosing? Should I do the mag dosing as well? I really don't want to break down the tank and nuke it but I guess I could if I have to. So boil all the liverock for like 10 minutes? What do I do about the tank? Just run bleach water through everything and the equipment? Don't want this to come back.

 

pm replied

 

This is not Bryopsis Penneta and here is where you need to start
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 2.0
Nitrates 20 To high feeding the problem
Phosphate 0.5 To high feeding the problem
Calcium 480 If this is correct ? then thats fine
dkh 12 A tad low Ca is suppressing it Mad needs to be bumped up
Mg 1230 Mag needs to be kept at 1400 to 1500 all the time .

Take power head and blast off the rocks to clean them well all the nooks and crannies . Have you noticed the stuff is growing out of holes and cracks in the rocks ? Stop feeding the system frozen meat and stop all feeding for a week or two get the NO3 down as well as the PO4 and wet skim for a few weeks what skimmer are you using ? and what is the animal load on the system like and what do you feed and how often ? and what type of lamps are you using anything with the word sun in them if so its a bad idea .

What about snails and hermits and emerald crabs how many of what do you have ? Also how about water circulation in the tank how is that ? A lettuce nidi will blast through that stuff very well just can't have lots of power heads while its at work they will float up and become chum..

But you do not have bryopsis Penneta what you have can be totaly cured and I have never had a alage issue I could not beat down . Even the true Penneta we had I went outside the box last Nov just a week befoe my last leg operation and By time Christmas came the Bryopsis Penneta was totally gone ..

Here are a few Photos to explin the difference . What you need to do is slow down and focous on the problem and simply take it one step at a time and not shotgun it with a lot of stuff at once

 

Hey I dont know where the nitrates/phosphates are coming from I'm not feeding anything my tank is still cycling!

 

They come in from waste .. even respiration of animals and could be your rocks are saturated also ? you are chasing your tail here you do not have Bryopsis Penneta of that I'm a 100% sure . As I said I did battle with that . Long story short My wife lost 2 tanks to that over a 7 yr period all from a bunch of L.Rock she got back in the late 90's I think ? I first saw it in 2005 and tried to kill it off out of the 90 gal. that it had a several yr firm hold on no dice ..
I broke it down then set up a smaller tank and brought over 1 coral from that 90.. Big mistake ! But she loves that coral .
Then when o did the 180 I like a idiot brought that same coral over and bleached everything and used nothing from that tank again Big mistake and pretty much documented everything we Tried ..
And me not being able to keep on top of it then it just went wild again .. But we did beat it and was about to restart the system then it blew a seam .. But I lighted the tank like crazy feed it like mad and just did everything wrong to see if It would reappear never did.

Penneta can be beaten but you are not a victim of that species of pest algae

 

Roger, what do you suggest he does for the time being since he is halfway through the cycle? Let it go, then deal with it afterwards, since there's not much he can do about the nitrates till the tank runs it's course?

 

Halfway through a cycle ? I may have read that ? but did not register it LOL , I assumed and we no what they say about that ;D It was an established system ..

Look anyone one here who have ever used my simple methoed knows that algae is always an issue with any new system start up. This is why I tell all who will listen to simply use baserock dry sand and to avoid L/R and sand get a single yellow tailed damsel fish in there and just one! then set back and no skimmer or lighting at all for 5 weeks then cut on the actinics only form then on and fed very little a few times a week , And spend the next 7 weeks dialing in the water parameters .. At about 8 weeks add the snails and hermits . Thats about the time I add the nitrate coils to cycle and cure up also . And the PO4 reactors if they are wanting to stay ahead of the game ..

In this case now knowing its still a baby/infant system cut off the white lighting and use only the actinics . get the PO4 and NO3 under control and let it ride out and if it was L/R used ? then simple blast them clean of any material in the cracks and keep them clean and blasted several times a week . Get an appropriate sized clean up crew in there and let it ride and about 3 to 4 months in start the skimmer up .


Bottom line is get a game plan together and stick with it and not just shotgun all over the place apply the one bullet one kill methods to solve the problem as often as possible. Like said in a earlier post all this is nothing more then a simple pest hair/slime algae found in all newer systems and you will see several others over the next yr or two unless you get ahead of the curve .
Like this tank I just had to replace the new one now has a slight diatom bloom die off setteling on a few areas , Its expected as there maybe wil be some of this same algae ? it was on some of the I got when I got the tank but it seems to be dieing off now..