Algae help needed

[ReefMadness]

Originally Posted by Llorgon

From reading through the massive thread on battling dinos on reef2reef they seem to recommend ≥0.10 ppm PO4 and ≥5-10 ppm NO3. Seems to be the parameters people have the most success with. From what I can read the GHA is a sign that the tank is leveling out. There is usually a increase in the dinos, then the other algaes slowly start to grow and out compete it. I will have to try and slowly add a few cuc members back as the other algae grows to battle it. But I will wait for more of the dinos to go away first.
I haven't picked up a UV sterilizer yet. I need to get my hands on a microscope first so I can see what kind of dinos I have. Apparently there is one type that doesn't get into the water column and UV sterilizers aren't useful for it. Plus I was hoping to get some hanna test kits on black friday. Will have to see.

R2R is also where I got my information and how I decided on treatment. it's great that you're going follow up on the microscope which is really the most important part.
as you mentioned a UV will be very effective on water column species like amphidinium and you may not even need any further treatment. this is obviously what you're hoping for as some of the people I followed had horrible issues for months and once they added the UV were able to clear their tank in the first few nights.
Unfortunately, UV will have little to no effect at all on prorocentrum which stay in the substrate and where you're better off to establish an environment that encourages algae growth that is too nutrient rich for dinos. this can (and did in the case of my tank) take months where you have a really poor looking tank that is overrun with algae if you don't have something that eats a lot of it.
Also, I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but you can cut a little of the toxicity your inverts take on by running a little activated carbon in the meantime.
good luck!

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by ReefMadness

R2R is also where I got my information and how I decided on treatment. it's great that you're going follow up on the microscope which is really the most important part.
as you mentioned a UV will be very effective on water column species like amphidinium and you may not even need any further treatment. this is obviously what you're hoping for as some of the people I followed had horrible issues for months and once they added the UV were able to clear their tank in the first few nights.
Unfortunately, UV will have little to no effect at all on prorocentrum which stay in the substrate and where you're better off to establish an environment that encourages algae growth that is too nutrient rich for dinos. this can (and did in the case of my tank) take months where you have a really poor looking tank that is overrun with algae if you don't have something that eats a lot of it.
Also, I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but you can cut a little of the toxicity your inverts take on by running a little activated carbon in the meantime.
good luck!

I'm thinking I might try bringing a sample of the dinos to J&l and see if I can get an ID that way. Then I don't need to go out and buy a microscope. I was looking in the tank last night and I do see some dinos floating in the water. Not sure if that means they are the water column species though.



I have been looking into UV sterilizers. I have very limited room under my tank, but I found a few in tank UV sterilizers that aren't expensive and have decent reviews. So I might try that if it turns out the dinos are the ones in the water column.


I have found I am having trouble getting my nitrate and phosphate up and keeping it up. The stuff I got for dosing is supposed to be quite potent, but man, am I using a lot of it twice a day and numbers aren't really moving. Although I think this is to be expected for awhile.

[Llorgon]

Question. Would a 9W in tank UV sterilizer be too small for my 75 gallon tank. I found a slightly used one for $35. Just wondering if it would be too small to be any good or not.

[ReefMadness]

Originally Posted by Llorgon

Question. Would a 9W in tank UV sterilizer be too small for my 75 gallon tank. I found a slightly used one for $35. Just wondering if it would be too small to be any good or not.

you really need to ID the culprit before you choose the treatment.
I don't see a problem with raising your nutrients a bit as zero is a bad place to be for a newer system but growing copious amounts of algae isn't a good idea if you don't have to. same thing for the UV, at this point you don't know for certain if its even required.
I found a children's microscope kit for $23 on amazon that would suit your issue just fine and if you consider the potential for future coral losses due to dinos it is honestly a steal.
also, I understand your urgency to repair the issue but you still have to keep the tanks stability in mind continuously and act methodically. making a bunch of changes and disrupting the biological and chemical stability of the system just sets you back and is the short road to big problems.
you could probably solve a lot of low nutrient issues just simply by adding some new livestock that create waste and letting the tank adjust.