Algae ID and help

[dcreef]

This green algae started covering my sand bed a couple of weeks ago and has been spreading. Seems like green film algae, but I am not sure as it is not too bad on the glass and really none on the rocks, but stays almost exclusively on the sand. Could it be green cyano? It goes away a bit after lights out but always comes back strong in the morning and when the lights come on. Tank is about a year old and no real changes other than my skimmer was broke for a few weeks but is now back on line and does not seem to be helping. All parameters I test for are in check and I recently replaced all the filters in my RODI, so I don't know why this is happening all of a sudden. Thanks.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

>

class="gc-images" title="image.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[wildernets]

Water flow should help. Can you adjust some in that direction?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

How deep is your sand?

 

[ralph atl]

it appears to me as this, "Neomeris annulata" which is a non issue, btw...but I cannot tell from that photo to be sure...

closer pics? more focused?

 

[dcreef]

Thanks guys.

I will try and add some more flow, but it is weird that it started recently as the flow has been the same for about a year. However, flow might be an answer as there is a spot that my clowns hang out and are constantly moving the sand around and there is absolutely none of it there.

My sand bed is probably about 1 to 2 inches deep in most areas.

I will try and get some better/sharper pics of it tonight and post them, but after googling "Neomeris annulata", it does not really look like that in person. I think it looks more like the green film that typically grows on the glass and I scrub off with my mag float every few days. If I let it grow, it gets denser and darker green and kind of looks furry.

I did a water change on Sunday and really focused on vaccuuming the sand in the areas with the algae and it definitely helped. The algae kind of coats the tops of the individual pieces of sand (I have the Carib Sea special grade reef sand so it is bigger pieces) and it did not really vacuumn much of it up as opposed to mixing it up, but just stirring it up seemed to get rid of it for a couple of days. Unfortunately, I noticed last night that it was starting to come back.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I am going to say it is your sand bed depth. A sand bed should either be under 1" or over 2" to work proper. Sand is not only for looks but also performs vital functions. 1-2 inches is the "no man's" range where bad things like this hapoen. I would suggest adding more sand little by little (about 1/4" a week) til you get to 3". Remember that sand also breaks down over time so you need to add a bit each year to maintain the levels.

 

[ralph atl]

Xyzpdq0121;940281 wrote: I am going to say it is your sand bed depth. A sand bed should either be under 1" or over 2" to work proper. Sand is not only for looks but also performs vital functions. 1-2 inches is the "no man's" range where bad things like this hapoen. I would suggest adding more sand little by little (about 1/4" a week) til you get to 3". Remember that sand also breaks down over time so you need to add a bit each year to maintain the levels.

^^^
that and better nutrient removal systems...

Ok, yes, I see that it's green slime...

 

[dcreef]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to get out a ruler and measure the sand bed depth when I get home as I was just estimating the 1 to 2 inches. If it is closer to 1 inch, could I remove a little instead of adding to get it under the 1" mark? I think I like the idea of less rather than more as it will be easier to vacuum, especially with the big grain size I have.

As far as nutrient export, I have my skimmer running wet as well as a couple of bags of Chemipure Elite and a bag of Purigen in a media rack, which I change out every 3 months. I do a 20% water change every two weeks. Should I change anything there or maybe do more frequent smaller water changes so I can siphon the sand bed more often? I have also been thinking of getting one of those hang on the glass algae turf scrubbers to help with nutrient export, but I have read mixed reviews on how effective they are.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Yes, you can remove some too.. There is differences between running a shallow sand bed tank and a deep sand bed tank. Personally I run a deep sand bed in both my DT and my Fuge. I would recommend at least having one of the two a DSB. But read up on shallow sand bed tanks and maybe someone with more experience running one will chime in (is Jin or glxtrix still around?).

As far as what you are running, I have never run the chemi-pure elite. Looks like a form of carbon with GFO added. That is a bit suspect to me since GFO and Carbon should be ran at different gallons per hour rates for each to be effective. Their claim of maintaining perfect PH also does not make sense to me. Maybe I am missing something here but I would ditch it for high quality carbon, personally, but that is just me. The Purigen is ok and I run some in a sock in my tank.

Smaller more frequent water changes are ALWAYS better IMHO then larger ones spaced a few weeks apart.

As far as an ATS system... I have seen some really cool designs over the years. I have not followed them too much over the past years since they got popular in about 2010 or 2011. The theory is sound but I do not know if they are worth the trouble. Reminds me of a Aptasia box I built with someone once to scrub water. Worked really well. I really should see if it is still in use. But I digress. Personally, I am a simple person. I have ran tanks for years using simple methods and usually recommend starting there and letting the tank run on its own.

 

[ralph atl]

I would do change your media to brs HC GFO (or any) and Rox carbon and use a lot less and change it out weekly. Depending upon levels it exhausts pretty quickly, but either way after a week or 2, bacteria with coat the media and render it ineffective...

Also, I would do larger water changes weekly, 20% to 35% which will help you remove nutrients quickly...
Just make sure Alk (or ph) and temp is its entry to tank water and you'll be fine.
It really helps adding all that O2.

 

[dcreef]

Thanks again. I will do some reading on shallow vs deep sand beds. I had thought I had a shallow one, but I guess I might not have.

I will also look into replacing the bags of chemi pure with some GFO and carbon and changing them more frequently. I have always wondered if that stuff really lasted 3 months like the manufacturer said.

Ralph - when you suggest 20% to 35% weekly water changes, is that just until I get the algae/nutrient issue under control or are you talking permamanently? That is a lot of water/salt.

 

[ralph atl]

Depends how many gallons your tank is, if it's large, then yes, it would not be feasible to do that every week, but at least until you get that stuff controlled do as much as you can...

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Again I would not run gfo and carbon in the same reactor or filter try. Gfo and carbon run best at two different flow rates.

 

[ringo®]

GFO needs a higher flow rate to keep from clumping. Carbon needs a lower rate to keep from bouncing off itself and breaking down. You may be able to mix and match different products to find a combo that works, but having them in dedicated reactors just makes life easier. Carbon is also going to have the shorter service life of the two, so you would have to live with carbon being past its prime, or gfo that gets removed to early. Plenty of other factors that weigh into this, but its something to chew on.