NOPOX & GFO... getting hair algae

[cbj25isback]

I am running GFO in a reactor and manually dosing 2ml NOPOX daily on my 50 gallon cube, total volume is prob 50 to 60 gallons with the sump and displacement from the rocks so I usually go with 60 when dosing. I started running these two about a month ago and in the past few days ive started seeing a little hair algae. I did just change all of the filtration in my 5-stage RODI and it’s still pumping out 3 or 4 TDS. I’ve probably ran 30 gallons of production water through it so far. Just got a lawnmower blenny that is picking when he gets an opportunity while settling in with the tank mates (thanks for the mirror idea from a previous post), Im in the process of siphoning the sandbed and need to work on getting all of the detritus out of the sump (any ideas here without using a wet/dry) don’t want to do huge water changes as I do 5 gallons every third day. Tomorrow I’m going to pick up 20 astera and 3-5 turbos depending on their size. Am I missing anything? Moving too fast? I just don’t want this to get bad. It’s still at the point where only a reefer would notice it. Also pulled all my frags and many of my other corals today and gave them a little scrub down with a tooth brush and a little paint brush when I got closer to the actual coral.

 

[dball711]

Are you running a DI stage on your RO, if so the TDS should be zero. You could do a water change through the sump to suck out all the settled detritus. I do this on mine quarterly.

 

[cbj25isback]

I am running DI. I was doing that today, I need to get the present detritus out of the sump. I’m going to check the output of my production water with a hand held TDS meter to see if my in-line is out oh whack.

Any other ideas?

 

[FutureInterest]

Did you replace your membrane as well? You should be at 0-1 tds after switching all those filters out and running di. Is your di getting rapidly spent?

Once you get your source water fixed then its just a matter of good husbandry to get it under control. That being said... all healthy reefs grow algae. You do need enough grazers to take care of it.

 

[cbj25isback]

I did. I’ve prob replaced 20+ di resins in the bast decade, don’t know what going on with this one. Any other things I could do that aren’t extreme measures or do you think the tds in the water is the culprit. Running my xr15 for 8 hours a day on AB setting at 75% max intensity the only alteration I made is that it begins its rampdown into actinics 2 hours early than the template

 

[dball711]

seems like you're doing all the right things, most likely the nutrients are out of balance. Meaning there's more now to contribute to the HA growth. I feed my tanks heavily but between an oversized skimmer, nutrient export via Cheato harvesting and 2 water changes weekly that I have no problems with any unwanted algae.

Maybe up the NOPOX to 3 or 4 mg's daily and see how that goes. Again it seems like you doing all the right things, get a new DI cartridge, get the snails, up the NOPOX and see how it looks in 2 weeks.

And post some pics please, would love to see your tank.

 

[jcook54]

I'm know I'm like a broken record but I've found blue leg hermits to be the most effective tool at getting rid of the clumpy GHA that grows on rocks. If I had to guess, the GHA that you have (only a reefer would notice) is probably how much I have all the time. I've always got some and it doesn't bother me too much. In fact, I let it grow in the back right corner of my tank and siphons it out at every water change. When it got outta hand in my system, I did exactly what you're doing but slower. Siphon the sandbed and clean your sump but don't do it all in one weekend. How long have you been dosing NOPOX? What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[cbj25isback]

NOPOX for about 5 - 6 weeks. Nitrate hovers between 5-10ppm (API). Phosphate is at .07ppm (Hanna Checker)

Here are the pictures...

FTS


Sump, zoomed in bottom, in-between baffles (*** Middle chamber has some miracle mud in it that I am going to slowly work out but a lot of detritus build up as well.)







GHA:

Above zoa, right side of rock, near micro lord

 

[jcook54]

Lookin' good overall man! Glad to see you paying attention to a potential issue while it's still manageable. In my experience, the NOPOX took about 2 months to start doing it's thing. I dose a similar amount because I was worried about overdoing it. If it were my system, I'd tackle the sump first and then the sand bed. Have you considerd a goby/pistol shrimp combo? They keep my sand bed stirred up pretty good around the rocks and everything else I can siphon out with an old school gravel vac.

 

[cbj25isback]

Thanks. I have a watchman goby but he is very reclusive. Got some astera, cerith, nasdarius and turbos today. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thinking about draining the sump, removing everything scooping out the detritus the adding the same water back in through a clean filter sock

 

[FutureInterest]

I think you're on the right track. That's not a lot of HA, you just need to increase your grazers I think. In my experience lawnmower blennys suck... You would think with a name like that they'd be hair algae hoovers... but I've had nothing but failures with them. A smaller zebrasoma tang like a purple would do wonders.

 

[jcook54]

Thanks. I have a watchman goby but he is very reclusive. Got some astera, cerith, nasdarius and turbos today. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thinking about draining the sump, removing everything scooping out the detritus the adding the same water back in through a clean filter sock

I use a small battery operated transfer pump that you can get at Harbor Freight for $10. It works alright. But the small impeller does get clogged with bits and pieces of shells, worm tubes or pretty much anything that's not sludge. I run a filter sock so most of what settles in my sump is truly that sludge detritus. It looks like your sump has a decent amount of debris in it so this might not be the best option for you at this point but once you get the larger items removed, it's worth checking out.

 

[cbj25isback]

I was thinking about a purple or some sort of bristletooth tang. I might have found my problem. Did some research on RC and R2R and I think I have a problem with how my DI filter is sitting in the canister. I opened it up and there were a bunch of little media beads. The filter pad was ajar and the plastic thing that hold it together was loose. Reworked it and it reworked its way back to where it was originally. Should I just toss this DI and throw another in?

You can see the little beads in the threading of the connection or do you think plumbers tape might do the trick?

 

[seand]

I see what appears to be a lot of reef saver rock. If memory serves I believe that stuff is known to have phosphate seeping issues.

 

[cbj25isback]

The top third is the Caribsea life rock (added in January). Everything else is rock I’ve used in the past that I bleached and cured last spring. Tank startarted last July

 

[seand]

@cbj25isback I will try to remember to look later for the article, seems like his tank was a couple years old when it started. Then I believe others chimed in talking about how it’s mined. However don’t get me to lying I’m gonna see if I can find it.

 

[ichthyoid]

Calcium phosphate precipitated on rock is practically insoluble. However, it may be released by bacteria via their production of organic acids, especially citric acid.
I'd start by vacuuming out that sump.
If that doesn't get the nitrogen headed down, then I'd begin carbon dosing.

 

[cbj25isback]

Check, check! I am carbon dosing with nopox. I guess I’ll just keep it clean, monitor and keep doing small frequent water changes. Eventually it will all precipitate out. Lesson revisited and relearned! Thanks everyone!

Still wondering about my DI. Anyone with thoughts on that situation?

 

[cbj25isback]

@cbj25isback I will try to remember to look later for the article, seems like his tank was a couple years old when it started. Then I believe others chimed in talking about how it’s mined. However don’t get me to lying I’m gonna see if I can find it.

Would love to see the article if you can dig it up!