fishmanmike01 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Looking for some advice and perhaps an id on this stuff. I have only a few rocks that persistently grow this crap. All the live rock was soaked in bleach then cooked in muratic acid. Is it phos still leaching from the rock? I'm having a difficult time getting rid of it. Second pic is a video. Edited November 18, 2015 by fishmanmike01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 You sure did good on the rocks it sounds like. Was the sand new? Cannot remember how long your new tank has been running. Algae is perplexing to me, the same advice gets echoed allot but doesn't always work. Increase your nutrient export, lower phosphate etc. I struggled for a long time with dirty old used rock and sand (thought live was better, never again). GFO couldn't touch my phosphate levels, only phosgaurd (aluminum based). Once phosgaurd ran out, phosphate was back up in no time. Finally I pulled the sand and that helped allot. In the frag tank, the issue was flow under the racks. Put a spray bar on a dc 12000 under the racks. That helped the algae and wiped out the hydrioids that were thriving in low flow. The last thing that made a big impact for me in the big tank was buying a bunch of pin cushion urchins and turbo grazers. They really did a number on it. For my son's tank, after the cycle the algae finally came in. It is a 60 cube. We did two 3 day lights out and it would knock it back, but come back stronger. Tossed two scarlet hermits and two pin cushion urchins in his tank. One more lights out and the tank was back under control and remains that way. His tank like yours had bleached/acid rock and is no sand. I tried pretty much everything but those were the highlights. Pretty much anything anyone tried, I probably tried it too. Good luck man, so frustrating. Algae just takes the fun out of a reef tank for sure but you can overcome! I know you can overcome, I saw your last system, you had a great setup and I don't remember any algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Your correct Jeremy,last setup had none. Sand is all new and only specific rocks show this growth. It's really unlike anything i have seen. It's slimy but yet brushes off easily. Comes back in full force every time. Just did a chemi clean treatment to alleviate the issue but it's back once again. Again only on certain pieces. I'm lost at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuttleFishandCoral Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Looks like dinoflagelates algae. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerk1985 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Ive had this same algae in every new tank I have set up. Urchins are a go to for it, they will mow it down fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I might also chime in that if it comes off easy that I would do daily siphons of as much as can be removed this would also be increasing the water change schedule on your tank which when dealing with algae is never a bad thing. Also finding a creature that eats the nuisance algae is helpful as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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