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Unread 04/12/2020, 04:40 PM   #1
Boochika
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Brown Algae Forming in Sand (again)

Long story: this has been an issue for me for about 12 months. I usually pull out what I can at water changes things look good but always seems to return. Earlier this month I replaced my entire sand bed with fresh sand. I'm showing zero nitrates and around .05-.03 phosphates. Tank only has 6 small fish and a few coral frags (Duncan, frogspawn, gsp).

I've been doing weekly water changes and dosing red sea nopox. This seems to slow algae but doesn't eliminate it completely.

I have 2 powerheads, an 850 gph koralia and a 1500 gph koralia.

The 850 is inline with the return and the 1500 going against it.

I'm a little lost with what to do next. Do I need better powerheads and flow? Is there not enough space around rocks at the bottom to allow flow through? Do I need more clean up crew buddies? I have several snails in the sand but no algae eating cuc as far as I know. I also have a few hermit crabs. I tried an urchin but he hid and never came out.

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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/12/2020, 08:41 PM   #2
Bruce51
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take a picture with blue lights off and white lights on


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Unread 04/14/2020, 03:57 PM   #3
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce51 View Post
take a picture with blue lights off and white lights on
See below. Hopefully better pics. I feel like if I had 2 more powerheads it's wouldn't happen but I don't have enough experience to know that. I also don't want to blast my tank as it's planned to be an lps tank primarily.

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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/14/2020, 04:30 PM   #4
Vinny Kreyling
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Looks OK to me.


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Unread 04/14/2020, 05:55 PM   #5
taby15
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Maybe diatoms,but if phosphates dropped to undetectable levels may have given way for dinosaurs to thrive


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Unread 04/15/2020, 07:08 PM   #6
vetteguy53081
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Simple diatoms. reduce the white light intensity a little, add some sand sifting blue leg hermits and for the next week, add 1ml per 10 gallon of Hydrogen Peroxide. Should dissolve this for you


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Unread 04/15/2020, 10:04 PM   #7
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vetteguy53081 View Post
Simple diatoms. reduce the white light intensity a little, add some sand sifting blue leg hermits and for the next week, add 1ml per 10 gallon of Hydrogen Peroxide. Should dissolve this for you
Thanks Vette. Should I only dose the peroxide once?

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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/15/2020, 10:19 PM   #8
vetteguy53081
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Thanks Vette. Should I only dose the peroxide once?

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Every night for a week


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Unread 04/23/2020, 02:03 PM   #9
bhazard1
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Get some nassarius snails as well. They'll help turn the sand over.

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Unread 04/23/2020, 02:33 PM   #10
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhazard1 View Post
Get some nassarius snails as well. They'll help turn the sand over.

Sent from my HD1910 using Tapatalk
I just got some nassarius, nerite, and blue hermit crabs.

I'm going to pull what I can out and see how it goes. Also got a new powerhead (Tunze 6105) that is definitely keeping stuff more suspended.

I didn't dose hydrogen peroxide as I read some things about some possible detrimental effects of dosing it right into the tank.

After I do all this though, it does always seem to come back. Which is frustrating. I feed half a cube a day. zero TDS in RODI. Zero nitrates and phosphates in water change water.

I've even tried alternate tests to verify. I'm wondering if replacing the sand bed (even though I rinsed it out really well) it's still leaching some silica.


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/23/2020, 08:44 PM   #11
bhazard1
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Could try phosphate minus from BRS? Maybe that will be the kick you need.

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Unread 04/23/2020, 10:31 PM   #12
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhazard1 View Post
Could try phosphate minus from BRS? Maybe that will be the kick you need.

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I already have low phosphates at .03.

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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/24/2020, 08:29 AM   #13
bhazard1
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Says it removes silica as well. Haven't tried myself though

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Unread 04/24/2020, 10:27 AM   #14
Boochika
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Oh that's a good shout. Maybe I will give it a try. i'll have a look online at it.


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 04/24/2020, 12:23 PM   #15
bhazard1
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Hope it works out for you. These things can be so frustrating.

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Unread 04/24/2020, 01:09 PM   #16
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhazard1 View Post
Hope it works out for you. These things can be so frustrating.

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It is!

I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks. Hardly feed my fish. Clean rocks and sand monthly and the stuff always creeps back. I'm hoping it's just from some weird ugly cycle from moving my tank 10 months back but who knows.


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 05/02/2020, 01:04 AM   #17
coralcruze2020
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Not sure if anyone mentioned it but I think the grain size of your sand is too big.


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Unread 05/03/2020, 08:41 AM   #18
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coralcruze2020 View Post
Not sure if anyone mentioned it but I think the grain size of your sand is too big.
No one has.mentioned that. It's some pretty beefy crushed coral. What should I replace it with?


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 05/24/2020, 08:42 PM   #19
bhazard1
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Did you happen to try that phosphate minus?


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Unread 05/25/2020, 08:41 AM   #20
Vinny Kreyling
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Tropic Eden sand from Premium Aquatics


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250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.
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Unread 05/26/2020, 11:02 AM   #21
Boochika
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I have tried phosphate E as well as turning up the flow. Nothing seems to help. Phosphates bounce between .06 and .03 currently. Removing algae in the sand by hand until I don't have any sand left basically.


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 05/26/2020, 11:03 AM   #22
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny Kreyling View Post
Tropic Eden sand from Premium Aquatics
Not sure I understand this post, could you elaborate?


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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Unread 05/26/2020, 11:48 AM   #23
Vinny Kreyling
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You asked what sand to replace the current one with.


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250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.
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Unread 05/27/2020, 02:30 AM   #24
kungfujoe
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Following


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Unread 05/27/2020, 08:14 AM   #25
Boochika
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny Kreyling View Post
You asked what sand to replace the current one with.
There's a lot of options, which would be better and how would this stop the algae issues?


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Tunze 9410 Skimmer, Syncra Silent 4.0, Herbie method (Bottom Drilled), 30 gallon sump.

Anyone know about assessor fish? Seems cool but I haven't seen much about them on the forum

Current Tank Info: 80 gallon simple set up with sump filtration
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