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red algea or dinos not 100% sure need advice

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
so i have my tank running roughly 8 months its a 75gallon display with 30 gallon sump have about 60-80lb of live rock
2 bags of matrix media
protein skimmer
2 AI prime HD lights
3 x 1050gph wave makers 2 in display 1 in the sump
levels are weird - nitrates are 0 i believe the algae is eating it all
nitrites 0
ammonia 0
temp 79
phosphates 0.0 - 0.25 not entirely sure i only have the api test kit showing me 0.0 color..
calcium 400ish
ph 7.8 / alk like 8-10

i havent been doing many water changes due to mixed reviews on forums some say early on do alot of water changes some say dont do too many i roughly do 10 gallons a month some times 15ish
ill take some pictures of the algae asap red slime all over my rocks and building onto the sand now its growing over my colors and such
ive been using a turkey baster to push it off the rocks and hoping into the filter socks but doesnt get all of it i tried siphoning it all out but its a pain taking too much sand out and all just a pain
any advice is good advice i always
 

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
If its slimy I would go with Dinos. If it looks dusty then I would guess diatoms.
 

DEL

Vice President
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Moderator
are there bubbles on the algae? is it just dark red and can be blown away?
 

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
are there bubbles on the algae? is it just dark red and can be blown away?
yup it gets bubbles its dark red / brownish i use a turkey baster and blast it off it the rocks comes off in like chumps or big flakes i guess

so i used that chemiclean stuff added 7 teaspoons turned off my skimmer cause it was going insane even on lowest setting blow alot of it around the tank hoping it gets into my socks its actually working by the looks of it.
i have reduced all my lighting to 10% aswell now and only running blues
 

Salted

NJRC Member
yup it gets bubbles its dark red / brownish i use a turkey baster and blast it off it the rocks comes off in like chumps or big flakes i guess

so i used that chemiclean stuff added 7 teaspoons turned off my skimmer cause it was going insane even on lowest setting blow alot of it around the tank hoping it gets into my socks its actually working by the looks of it.
i have reduced all my lighting to 10% aswell now and only running blues
Chemiclean depletes oxygen in the water. Leave your skimmer on, just take the cup off and let it overflow.
 

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
SO FAR so good the algae has cleared up almost completely few specks here and there in the sand probably from when i was blowing it around and didnt siphon all of it up but everything is looking clean
i have my lights reduced running about 10% tops...
i will slowly be raising my lights week by week maybe 10% a week or even 5%
currently dosing neonitro to raise the nitrites alittle and lower phosphates
i noticed i have a HIGH amount of phosphates my test kit wasnt picking it up correctly had it tested at the fish store coming up around 1.0 ppm so ima combat that
most likely going to get the phosguard stuff heard it works good
hoping to start getting my nitrites to 10-20ppm currently its zero have limited growth.
 
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