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TexChuck · 11/04/2017, 09:59 PM

Hi all !

I've made some mistakes and am now dealing with a nuisance algae outbreak. This was a month ago after pulling my purigen for a few days:

I got lazy with my export. My skimmer was performing poorly for ~6 weeks (it's good now), and I decided to run some purigen to compensate. I also slowed WC's to 5g every 2-3 weeks. Purigen kept no3 at 0, but killed my macro in the fuge box. After 3 failed attempts at macro and some thickheadedness on my side, I gave up and have run the purigen since, thinking nutrients were controlled. I pulled the purigen a week and a half ago, and the first 2 pictures are what happened after a

I now have bubble and gha at a minimum. I'm removing what I can manually, and I've stepped up WC's to every few days.

My plan: keep with the aggressive WC schedule, remove the purigen once the algae regrowth slows, and add chaeto back to the fuge in back. Manually remove as much gha and bubble algae as possible.

I'm looking at turf scrubber diy plans too, as an upgrade to the macro (and skimmer?) in section 2.

I considered running gfo in addition to the purigen - surely the algae was eating the po4, and the system wasn't keeping up with the purigen? I also was convinced for 24 hours I had Dino, and looked at h2o2 dosing.

I'll share pics again once I eliminate the algae ! (And the purigen) Here are some pics from today -- I did a 10g WC 24h ago:

--

I'm still contemplating next fish. Tailspot Blenny and Possum Wrasse are at the top of the list. I also like the Pink-Streaked Wrasse. I'm not adding anything until my chemistry is stable and the algae is diminished.

My Jaebo powerhead died after 8 months. I have replaced with a MP-10. I'm very happy with this pump, and also understand why people like running two.

I'm running saturated limewater in my ato pump. KH 7, Ca 400, Mg 1320, pH 8.2, NO3 0, PO4 .08 (Redsea). I had been reading low KH of 5 for a bit, but brought this up with more WC's.

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11/04/2017, 09:59 PM	#43
TexChuck Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Texas Posts: 107	TexChuck's 32g BC Hi all ! I've made some mistakes and am now dealing with a nuisance algae outbreak. This was a month ago after pulling my purigen for a few days: I got lazy with my export. My skimmer was performing poorly for ~6 weeks (it's good now), and I decided to run some purigen to compensate. I also slowed WC's to 5g every 2-3 weeks. Purigen kept no3 at 0, but killed my macro in the fuge box. After 3 failed attempts at macro and some thickheadedness on my side, I gave up and have run the purigen since, thinking nutrients were controlled. I pulled the purigen a week and a half ago, and the first 2 pictures are what happened after a I now have bubble and gha at a minimum. I'm removing what I can manually, and I've stepped up WC's to every few days. My plan: keep with the aggressive WC schedule, remove the purigen once the algae regrowth slows, and add chaeto back to the fuge in back. Manually remove as much gha and bubble algae as possible. I'm looking at turf scrubber diy plans too, as an upgrade to the macro (and skimmer?) in section 2. I considered running gfo in addition to the purigen - surely the algae was eating the po4, and the system wasn't keeping up with the purigen? I also was convinced for 24 hours I had Dino, and looked at h2o2 dosing. I'll share pics again once I eliminate the algae ! (And the purigen) Here are some pics from today -- I did a 10g WC 24h ago: -- I'm still contemplating next fish. Tailspot Blenny and Possum Wrasse are at the top of the list. I also like the Pink-Streaked Wrasse. I'm not adding anything until my chemistry is stable and the algae is diminished. My Jaebo powerhead died after 8 months. I have replaced with a MP-10. I'm very happy with this pump, and also understand why people like running two. I'm running saturated limewater in my ato pump. KH 7, Ca 400, Mg 1320, pH 8.2, NO3 0, PO4 .08 (Redsea). I had been reading low KH of 5 for a bit, but brought this up with more WC's. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Last edited by TexChuck; 11/04/2017 at 11:37 PM.