Phosphate problems, your my 911

[saladshooter]

I have a 75g reef tank with a 30g sump. With in the last 6 weeks I have been getting major algee blooms. The tank has been up and running for about 2 years now. I had this problem when the tank was new, but conquered that by adding a DI unit. I tested the fresh RO water and tests at .03 (good). My main set up is running at a .32 (not good). I have a phosban media filter, and PM Skimmer, circulation with a Votech 40 set in wave mode.
I have done 20% water changes every week for the last 4 weeks. I have cut the lights back. I have changed the Phosban media every other week (not cheap, but what isn't in this hobby). Added a couple more Turbo's, a few Emrals crabs, 50 Nassarius & 50 Periwinkles.
I did add a Kalk reactor, but I don't think that would do anything.
All other parameters (PH, Alk, Nitrates, Nitrites, Amonia, Calcium) are good.
I'm at a loss, any help would be appreciated.
Thanks Bob

[RA]

Adding 50 Nassarius is not a good move. A 75 won't support that many and when they die it will only add to your problem.

[bamf25]

What are your other measurments? What is you nitrate, mg, calcium, etc? Have you added new rock? Changed your food or feeding schedual? Changed you lighting or bulbs recently?

[Sugar Magnolia]

[welcome]

What kind of algae are we talking about here? Nassarius snails will do nothing for algae as they wre not algae eaters.

Can you post a pic so we can see what you are dealing with? Thanks.

[gweston]

When my tank was young, I had some notable phosphate issues. Sounds like you have the right gear though. Here is what I did.

-I use to broadcast feed a lot. That led to problems. I began to more carefully target feed the fish. Not completely, I was just more cautious. I also feed less than I did before. I fed too much. I tend to skip feedings 1 day per week, or for that one day I knock it down to one small feeding. Give the tank a day to 'recover' a bit.

-A well maintained skimmer is a HUGE benefit for keeping phosphates down. My skimmer becomes far less efficient with time. I should do it more often, but about every 6 months I pull the pump out and thoroughly clean it. I rinse out the skimmer (I don't scrub it). I use a pipe cleaning brush on the remora injector to remove build up. I immediately see an improvement.

-I began occasionally dripping Kalkwasser (precipitates phosphate). But when using it, keep a close watch on your PH, Alk, and Ca. This helped reduce phosphate levels.

-Finally, I added a GFO/Carbon reactor. This was mostly after I had my phosphate issues worked out. Water quality improved further... but, a few corals didn't seem to like the new low nutrient environment. I can't seem to keep Xenia and Zoas. But my other corals seem to be doing very well. I previously put GFO and carbon in a filter bag in the sump. I found it to not be too effective. I'm sure it helped, but the reactor worked far better.

My issue was I had a growth of what seemed to be briopsis and red slime. Frequent water changes seemed to oddly make things worse. So I went to a more balanced approach. Normal sized weekly water changes, combined with skimming/reduced nutrients(feeding), and the reactor. In combination it reversed the trend

That is a lot of snails for your tank. I'd suggest a feeding clip, and stick some nori in to supplement their food source. They'll find it if they are hungry enough. I sometimes put nori in when I get home from work, and remove it in the morning before leaving. Again, leaving food/waste in there too long will increase tank nutrient levels. I also put snails into my sump when they seem low on algae to graze on in the display. *but as Magnolia mentioned.. Nasarrius aren't algae grazers. I like margarita, trochus, and nerite snails. Turbos are also great at munching on algae, but they can bulldoze over rock/corals sometimes if they get big.

If a snail dies, pull it out ASAP. They get rancid fast... and boy do they stink. :) The dry heaves are no fun LOL.

[tkeracer619]

Good water parameters don't tell us much. You need to be specific about the water parameters.

If you have some nitrates you might look into dosing vinegar as it will help with both nitrates and phosphates.

You will go through a lot of GFO with levels at .3 Test and change frequently. You can recharge GFO in about a week multiple times with common chemicals. Do a search on it and carbon dosing.

Once you get the levels down to acceptable numbers GFO will last a lot longer and you can probably keep the levels in check with carbon dosing and water changes.