Phosphate issue I assume?

[amrakweno]

My levels are as follows, I test about twice a week..
Ph8.1 Ak 7.7 - 8.3 1 squeeze difference of the salifert syringe true pink color was 8.3 calcium 415-430 nitrites 0 ammonia 0 nitrates between 0-5 I don't have a test kit for mag but once a week I'll take my water to LFS for double check and my mag has always been about 1300 or more but always triple my calcium. I also do 20 percent water change monthly to every 3 weeks. (100 g tank). I don't actually have a phosphate test but LFS tests em and once they were high ( I can't remember what they were at) but they suggest some media to lower it. I got a sock and some media also don't remember name but it was small white balls about a cups worth and I put in my sump for 4 days I believe and returned to LFS and phosphates were at 0 a few tests (I go every Friday ) so 2 tests they showed about 0.03 phosphates. Also my water that i use for top offs and water changes are comming out at 1 tdm was 0 ill prob change my filters in my rodi at 5 or so. I haves protein skimmer for 125 gallon tank just to note. I had a red algae problem in my refugium and it will show back up if I take the powerheads out of the fuge. My chaeto ball is directly in the path where it flows into the return chamber. It does have small spots where the red algae has a choke on it and hasn't let go but for the most part the chaeto is deep green and growing slowly I believe (have never had to trim). So to my question I notice small green algae starting to grow on my rock we'll 1 of them looks like my beard after about a day or so and notice it's spreading. I'm assuming this is a start to green hair algae. Also my back wall has I believe the same growing on it. I scraped it last time I saw it but am just letting it stay there now. It's not getting long and stringy just short and green. I DO NOT OVERFEED. I have 2 ocelarus clowns, 1 royal gramma , 1 starry blenny, 1 diamond goby, 1 clown goby, 1 magnificent foxface, cleaner and fire shrimp, 1 torch sps 1 hammer sps 1 mushroom, 1 gsp , 1 rainbow BTA they get feed every other day they all eat pellets , mysis , and brine. I also put 2 small clips of seaweed for the blenny and foxface but only enough that they can eat whole I'm watching . The seaweed on clips is gone 30 mins after I feed. So overfeeding is not happening. How do I get this algae to go away without a reactor or chemical treatment? I've heard the tank needs a small amount of phosphates I'm no expert and don't know what for but I can see why little is good for some reason as nature has some I'm sure. So that's why I could see not getting a phosban reactor or media of sorts, wouldn't that be bad for the tank if I took all phosphates out of the tank with a reactor? And plus I know that chemicals and media are just band aids and not getting to source what ever that may be... I'd like to find a "solution" if you will. And I'm kinda at a loss. I hope I was somewhat clear about my issue and didn't ramble on to much. All opinions and such are appreciated. If I missed anything that you are curious of please ask. Edit* my tanks been up about 6 month

[amrakweno]

Here's a pic of the tank too http://imgur.com/5NIdTGH

[amrakweno]

bump

[Reef Frog]

Sounds like a normal thing in a half year old tank. Unless snails & algae eating fish can't take care of it, you will need to export nutrients somehow. And it is the PO4 fueling the majority of algae growth.

Since you don't want to run a reactor or any media at all, a properly sized macro algae refugium or especially an ATS i(algae turf scrubber DIY) is a good option. Carbon dosimg or bio pellets are also worth looking into for consideration. But GFO in a reactor will work great & is easy to maintain IMO. Personally I would do that.

Blowing off the rocks to get detrius into the water & filtering it out on a regular basis is also beneficial in the long term.

[amrakweno]

It's not the fact that I don't want to run a reactor it's just that I'm assuming I would be 1 taking all the phosphates out of the tank, isn't that bad ? 2 I would just be band aiding a greater issue ? Which is where I'm at a loss I don't overfeed , I do regular water changes and when I do water changes I blow off all rock and clean all my filters. Or could it just be the age my tank is at, 6 months another bloom of something ? (Diatoms first, snails more snails, coraline algae , now hair algae or some kind of the sort? I've never had a tank past mine so maybe this is a stage and I'll have another I dunno stage in another month or 2 ? Maybe somebody with an aged tank could shed some light on that. Again I'm not against a reactor or whatever is recommended for phosphate issues if it's not going to be bad as it is good? What are the positives of .03 phosphates in a tank? And what when I'm assuming a reactor is on it and takes them to 0 will that do to my tank besides stunt algae growth. Again I'm very thankful for all feedback as I spend most of my days googling stuff and on these forums for more knowledge. EDIT* my clean up crew consists of 1 scarlet hermit crab(1 died) 2 astras 2 nassarius 1 emerald that I haven't seen since putting him in there and 4 turbo snails. 100 gallon tank should I get more of a type of snail or something of the sort?

[mlott132]

Just part of your tank maturing. Mine went through the same thing. Drove me nuts! I just kept picking the algae off during water changes and then over time all was gone. A phosphate level of 0.03 is nothing to worry about. As long as they don't go above 0.05 you should be OK. What kind of light do you have on your fuge? May also want to increase your clean up crew.