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I need help

I can’t figure out for what reason I’m having so many issues with my tank. Right now I’m having algae build up one the sand and rocks. I wanted to see if someone out the kindness of their heart could stop by my house and take a look and help me figure out what it could be. I have a skimmer. Gfo reactor. Orphek light. I have test kits. I don’t know what i am doing wrong.
 

Trio91

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Pix would help. We've all been there through the ugly stages so shouldn't be anything new to folks
 

Trio91

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It looks like dinos, and your tank is still "young". To me, it seems like the tank needs some more time balance out.

How big is the tank? What's your livestock?
 
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Elos 120xl. It’s about 120 gallons. Live stock- gem tang. Bangai cardinal. Christmas wrasse. Melanarus wrasse. Hippo tang. And that’s it
 

Trio91

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Ru doing any dosing or anything? Aside from gfo, ru running anything else?

Heres my take from the info. The tank is still is still young and hasn't fully matured before livestock was added.

Water changes could help, but may delay the process of fully cycling.

CUC can help, assuming it was "edible" algae that they could eat. To my knowledge, there isn't any cuc that will eat dinos.

Pods will come along with time
 

Trio91

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If you're looking for something now, I'd hit the tank with reflux then chemi clean (to combat the cyano afterwards)

If you want the more natural approach, and this is a personal diagnosis, stop running gfo/carbon and any other chemical additives, and let the tank "ride out" a bit
 

MadReefer

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Chemiclean may he!p with dinos. So it does not look unsightly.
I did a total black out to rid my dinos, battled it for a long time.
 
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Anyone catch the answer for “how old is tank” I somehow don’t see the reply. Yet every one is saying tank seems young. (All of wich is probably true) after all. Virtually all tanks go thru the “ugly” stage. But I’d love to know the actual date it went live. I second the motion. If tank is young. Granulated Ferris Oxide is not the answer. Putting that much iron ore rust in a new setup can and will generally give you more issues than it solves. Also it must be followed up with lots of testing to be sure you are not “stripping” the tank. @Marklugo23 if you see this message. Please don’t be shy. There is NO bad information... only to little to confidently diagnose what’s going on. So lay out anything you can about your setup. The more you put out there. The more answers you will get both in volume and accuracy
Happy reefing my Freind. Best of luck
 
Oh. One more thing. I personally battled one thing or another for Many months. And have been told by many successful Reefers that the one year mark or milestone is a great reference for stability and less trouble. I took that info with a grain of salt and battled away trying to beat the stages that a tank must go thru. And until I stopped fighting it. And concentrated on stability across the board. Or at least on as many things as I could. My tank has never looked better. Never grown better. Never was easier to maintain than it is now. Just over a year old and months of strict stability (with for me an emphasis on alkalinity) In short. For me. Chasing problems and trying to correct what nature throws at you is often the actual problem. Fluctuations are what reef tanks dislike more than anything.
 
This is a good read through, you can ID the algae/bacteria, find out what the cause is, and what to do to fix it:
Most importantly is to know what the cause was and trying to prevent it from happening again!
 

Trio91

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Anyone catch the answer for “how old is tank” I somehow don’t see the reply. Yet every one is saying tank seems young. (All of wich is probably true) after all. Virtually all tanks go thru the “ugly” stage. But I’d love to know the actual date it went live. I second the motion. If tank is young. Granulated Ferris Oxide is not the answer. Putting that much iron ore rust in a new setup can and will generally give you more issues than it solves. Also it must be followed up with lots of testing to be sure you are not “stripping” the tank. @Marklugo23 if you see this message. Please don’t be shy. There is NO bad information... only to little to confidently diagnose what’s going on. So lay out anything you can about your setup. The more you put out there. The more answers you will get both in volume and accuracy
Happy reefing my Freind. Best of luck
Its roughly about 3 months old, it was sent in a PM
 
Its roughly about 3 months old, it was sent in a PM
Thanks. Yes. Agreed. 3 months. Is barley even cycled. Plus if livestock was added prior to the cycle completion that’s just More reason for the condition . I don’t think this tank has a problem at all. Just have to ride it out.
 
This is a good read through, you can ID the algae/bacteria, find out what the cause is, and what to do to fix it:
Most importantly is to know what the cause was and trying to prevent it from happening again!
@Goodair great info. Thanks for posting it.
 
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