White algae

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 01:43 PM

Hi, just want to pick everyones brain. Have a white algae that coats the glass and sump. Wipes away very easy but returns within a few days. I dose the tank(some people agree some people dont not really looking to make this the topic of discussion). Water parameters are good l. Nitrates and ammonia 0. Calcium, alkalinity etc all in line. Phosphates are a little high .4. Just changed beads in reactor. Have tried cutting down lighting time and intensity. Any thoughts? Have been battling this algae for 6 months or so.

bertoni · 05/27/2018, 01:59 PM

That sounds like a bacterial growth, although it could be an alga. Is it solid, or more like a jelly? Are you dosing a carbon source into the tank? Carbon dosing sometimes causes bacterial blooms.

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 02:06 PM

No just dosing red sea nopox

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 02:08 PM

More jelly like

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 02:12 PM

I take that back evidently nopox is considered carbon dosing

Lsufan · 05/27/2018, 02:41 PM

It’s more then likely bacterial growth related to the carbon dosing like bertoni posted. Why are u dosing nopox?

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 02:44 PM

To avoid water changes. They are costly and time consuming.

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 04:37 PM

So theoretically if i cut down the dose it will go away?

hegeh · 05/27/2018, 05:13 PM

Theoretically yes.. are you running FOWLR or reef corals?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 05:15 PM

Some softies. Mushrooms, hammers, zoas.

Lsufan · 05/27/2018, 08:18 PM

If u explain more about your system we will be able to help more. Things like size of the tank, bioload, how long it has been setup & equipment as far as if u are using a skimmer & such.

To answer your question, backing off should help with the bacterial growth. I know u said u don’t want a discussion about dosing the nopox but that is really what it comes down to. From the sounds of it I wouldn’t dose it at all. I would keep a eye on calcium, mag & alk & dose for that as needed & leave the carbon dosing alone for now, especially if it is a young tank. If your nitrates are truly zero then there is no need & will cause more harm then good. U will find the corals that u have will do better with some nutrients in the tank & it seems u may be driving already low nutrients even lower with the carbon dosing. That won’t be good long term for your coral. If your po4 is truly .4 then your po4 & no3 are way out of balance. That is another reason I would stop the nopox & try & let the no 3 come up a little then go from there.

I also don’t see nopox helping with fewer water changes eighther. While water changes help for nutrient export, they are to replace the trace elements that don’t come with dosing alk, calcium or mag. Nopox won’t do any of that. Honestly, it sounds like a LFS has sold u on the nopox so they can make a sale. If u truly want to carbon dose there are far cheaper ways of doing so that doesn’t come from a LFS. They won’t tell u that because they want to keep selling u nopox.

Ls1chevy · 05/27/2018, 08:49 PM

220 gallon tank. Been running for 3 plus years ive had for about a year and a half. Sump with two filter socks, protein skimmer, and running reactor with phos lock. Tank has some soft corals.
2 wrasses
Zebra eel
Snowflake eel
Clown trigger
Niger trigger
Undulate trigger
Lionfish
Dogface puffer
All fish are juveniles. I know once the undulate gets bigger theres a chance hes going to have to be moved depending on personality. I dose red sea alk,mag, and calcium as needed. Corals growing and doing well. Havent done a water change in a year so the nopox seems to be working. Only issue i have with the tank is this white algae.

bertoni · 05/27/2018, 10:31 PM

The NOPOx might be causing the bloom. It's a mix of vodka and vinegar. You could try cutting back on it gradually to see whether that helps. I'd probably start there, personally. Every tank responds differently, though.

Lsufan · 05/27/2018, 10:56 PM

U can try cutting the dosage to see if it helps. I would still research as much as u can on carbon dosing so U have a better understanding what u are doing with the nopox. I’m no expert on carbon dosing because I have always been able to keep my nutrients down without it, but by carbon dosing u need both no3 & po4 for the bacteria to work efficiently. Right now your po4 & no3 are way out of balance if your tests are correct & u could be nitrate limited with a excess of po4.

U can look up ”redfield ratio” to get a better understanding but in short it relates to C:N:P ratios in 106:16:1. So the bacteria uptakes no3 at a faster rate then po4 at a rate of 16 to 1. It seems in your case nitrate is limited so your phosphate & carbon will not be the incorporated into new bacteria as effeciently as if there was a nitrate source. So by backing off the carbon dosing & trying to raise the no3 it should make the bacteria work more efficiently & start lowering your po4. U could also try changing out the gfo more often to lower po4 to help get them balanced. I have never used phoslock but if it is a polymer modified resin it can remove parts of the nopox, so u may want to check.

bertoni · 05/27/2018, 11:40 PM

The Redfield Ratio might not apply here. It is for phytoplankton populations. The basic idea that more nitrogen is consume than phosphorus per unit mass is true, though.

Ls1chevy · 05/28/2018, 07:18 AM

Ok thanks. Will try backing off. Right now Im at 8ml a day which is technically like a minimum dose. Should i back down to 4ml a day?

bertoni · 05/28/2018, 04:23 PM

That'd be a reasonable experiment. I am not sure whether NOPOX is causing the problem, so I'd move carefully. From your description, the tank is doing well enough, so I'd be cautious.

outssider · 05/28/2018, 04:37 PM

something not sounding right here......8ml of nopox into a 220 gal tank is a very small dose for that size tank.....something else is happening here...

bertoni · 05/28/2018, 04:49 PM

That does sound like a very small dose. I haven't had to use carbon dosing, though. If the dose is very small, stopping it should be safe enough.

Ls1chevy · 05/28/2018, 07:21 PM

Yes lowest dose labeled for tank that size. I got the nitrates down to 5 through water changes and dosed 8ml a day of nopox ever since. Now nitrates bounce around 0 and 1 whenever checked.

05/27/2018, 01:43 PM	#1
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	White algae Hi, just want to pick everyones brain. Have a white algae that coats the glass and sump. Wipes away very easy but returns within a few days. I dose the tank(some people agree some people dont not really looking to make this the topic of discussion). Water parameters are good l. Nitrates and ammonia 0. Calcium, alkalinity etc all in line. Phosphates are a little high .4. Just changed beads in reactor. Have tried cutting down lighting time and intensity. Any thoughts? Have been battling this algae for 6 months or so.

05/27/2018, 01:59 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That sounds like a bacterial growth, although it could be an alga. Is it solid, or more like a jelly? Are you dosing a carbon source into the tank? Carbon dosing sometimes causes bacterial blooms. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni Last edited by bertoni; 05/27/2018 at 02:07 PM.

05/27/2018, 10:31 PM	#13
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The NOPOx might be causing the bloom. It's a mix of vodka and vinegar. You could try cutting back on it gradually to see whether that helps. I'd probably start there, personally. Every tank responds differently, though. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/27/2018, 11:40 PM	#15
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The Redfield Ratio might not apply here. It is for phytoplankton populations. The basic idea that more nitrogen is consume than phosphorus per unit mass is true, though. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/28/2018, 04:23 PM	#17
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That'd be a reasonable experiment. I am not sure whether NOPOX is causing the problem, so I'd move carefully. From your description, the tank is doing well enough, so I'd be cautious. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/27/2018, 02:06 PM	#3
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	No just dosing red sea nopox

05/27/2018, 02:08 PM	#4
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	More jelly like

05/27/2018, 02:12 PM	#5
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	I take that back evidently nopox is considered carbon dosing

05/27/2018, 02:41 PM	#6
Lsufan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Baton Rouge Posts: 1,410	It’s more then likely bacterial growth related to the carbon dosing like bertoni posted. Why are u dosing nopox?

05/27/2018, 02:44 PM	#7
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	To avoid water changes. They are costly and time consuming.

05/27/2018, 04:37 PM	#8
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	So theoretically if i cut down the dose it will go away?

05/27/2018, 05:13 PM	#9
hegeh Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 223	Theoretically yes.. are you running FOWLR or reef corals? Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

05/27/2018, 05:15 PM	#10
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	Some softies. Mushrooms, hammers, zoas.

05/27/2018, 08:18 PM	#11
Lsufan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Baton Rouge Posts: 1,410	If u explain more about your system we will be able to help more. Things like size of the tank, bioload, how long it has been setup & equipment as far as if u are using a skimmer & such. To answer your question, backing off should help with the bacterial growth. I know u said u don’t want a discussion about dosing the nopox but that is really what it comes down to. From the sounds of it I wouldn’t dose it at all. I would keep a eye on calcium, mag & alk & dose for that as needed & leave the carbon dosing alone for now, especially if it is a young tank. If your nitrates are truly zero then there is no need & will cause more harm then good. U will find the corals that u have will do better with some nutrients in the tank & it seems u may be driving already low nutrients even lower with the carbon dosing. That won’t be good long term for your coral. If your po4 is truly .4 then your po4 & no3 are way out of balance. That is another reason I would stop the nopox & try & let the no 3 come up a little then go from there. I also don’t see nopox helping with fewer water changes eighther. While water changes help for nutrient export, they are to replace the trace elements that don’t come with dosing alk, calcium or mag. Nopox won’t do any of that. Honestly, it sounds like a LFS has sold u on the nopox so they can make a sale. If u truly want to carbon dose there are far cheaper ways of doing so that doesn’t come from a LFS. They won’t tell u that because they want to keep selling u nopox.

05/27/2018, 08:49 PM	#12
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	220 gallon tank. Been running for 3 plus years ive had for about a year and a half. Sump with two filter socks, protein skimmer, and running reactor with phos lock. Tank has some soft corals. 2 wrasses Zebra eel Snowflake eel Clown trigger Niger trigger Undulate trigger Lionfish Dogface puffer All fish are juveniles. I know once the undulate gets bigger theres a chance hes going to have to be moved depending on personality. I dose red sea alk,mag, and calcium as needed. Corals growing and doing well. Havent done a water change in a year so the nopox seems to be working. Only issue i have with the tank is this white algae.

05/27/2018, 10:56 PM	#14
Lsufan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Baton Rouge Posts: 1,410	U can try cutting the dosage to see if it helps. I would still research as much as u can on carbon dosing so U have a better understanding what u are doing with the nopox. I’m no expert on carbon dosing because I have always been able to keep my nutrients down without it, but by carbon dosing u need both no3 & po4 for the bacteria to work efficiently. Right now your po4 & no3 are way out of balance if your tests are correct & u could be nitrate limited with a excess of po4. U can look up ”redfield ratio” to get a better understanding but in short it relates to C:N:P ratios in 106:16:1. So the bacteria uptakes no3 at a faster rate then po4 at a rate of 16 to 1. It seems in your case nitrate is limited so your phosphate & carbon will not be the incorporated into new bacteria as effeciently as if there was a nitrate source. So by backing off the carbon dosing & trying to raise the no3 it should make the bacteria work more efficiently & start lowering your po4. U could also try changing out the gfo more often to lower po4 to help get them balanced. I have never used phoslock but if it is a polymer modified resin it can remove parts of the nopox, so u may want to check.

05/28/2018, 07:18 AM	#16
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	Ok thanks. Will try backing off. Right now Im at 8ml a day which is technically like a minimum dose. Should i back down to 4ml a day?

05/28/2018, 04:37 PM	#18
outssider Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Reseda, Ca. Posts: 1,717	something not sounding right here......8ml of nopox into a 220 gal tank is a very small dose for that size tank.....something else is happening here...

05/28/2018, 04:49 PM	#19
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That does sound like a very small dose. I haven't had to use carbon dosing, though. If the dose is very small, stopping it should be safe enough. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/28/2018, 07:21 PM	#20
Ls1chevy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 24	Yes lowest dose labeled for tank that size. I got the nitrates down to 5 through water changes and dosed 8ml a day of nopox ever since. Now nitrates bounce around 0 and 1 whenever checked.