24g jbj reef-first problem!

[kayakNCSD]

Ok everything has been going great had the tank up and running for almost 6 weeks. But recently I have been playing with my dimmable 120w led fix and bumped up the intensity. To about half the Mac intensity. Running about 10 hrs of light. The live a rock was established upon setup and haven't lost anything yet.
Stock- pj Cardinal - clown - six line wrasse - 2 Peppermint shrimp - hermits snails etc

Coral
Candy cane
Sunset monti
Frogspawn
Xenias
Devils hand
Neon finger leather

My problem is I am getting a spiderweb looking algae all over it seems to grow on n everything. I do regular water changes 2 weeks. Run a skimmer. Have a jbj mini fuge in I first Chamber only thing I dose is fuji mud and beneficial bacteria.

Is this cyanobacteria?

1est reef would love help befor I lt gets out of hand!!

[dnraiders]

Algae breakouts are common in a new tank. What kind of water are you using(scripps, RO/DI, tap)? I used to run my lights 10hrs and get algae growth. Now that I reduced to 8hrs it hasn't come back.

[kayakNCSD]

Thanks Ill cut it back. I cleaned my 2 filter pads out and rinsed them but for the first yime siphoned up all the gunk settled in the bottom of each chamber seemed like there was alot of decaying build up hope that helps.

Also my candycane is struggling I habe new growth on everything but the candy cane.

[jasonp87]

Do you have a picture of the algae? Have you tested your phosphates? Algae loves PO4 and it can stunt and kill stony corals like your candy cane. Over feeding can lead to rises in PO4 and you should test scripps water for PO4 before doing a water change with it if that is what you are using. Do you have a macro algae in the fuge like cheato that can help absorb PO4?

[kayakNCSD]

I have a large amount of chaeto. It looks like spiderwebs. I think I was over feeding. Doing an immediate water change this morning helped. The growth slowed tremendously. I mean yesterday it was growing fast like brown bubbley sheets with lines of thread like spider webs. I will test for phosphates. Amd get back to the board. Thanks for the speedy respinses. I think I was over zealous with spot feeding my acan and candy canes and yhere was an increase. Makes sense at lwast will test and reply. Thank u again

[jasonp87]

Jeff was telling me too that if you use frozen foods be sure to rinse it in RO/DI prior to putting it in the tank because it can contain a large amount of phosphates.

[kayakNCSD]

Thats my problem I wasnt rinsing the hikari cubes.

[kayakNCSD]

What can I repkace the folter pads with are there any cool diy iptions. Filter floss media baskets etc? Also should I ve using carbon or chemepure?

[jasonp87]

I think marc levenson suggested using rubble rock. That will help filter. I use carbon. I dont have any experience with chemepure. I think you need to start out slow with that stuff.

[Don_J]

All of the recommendations from the previous posts should take care of the algae problem:less food, less light, cheato in the sump, water changes, etc. one thing to keep in mind, algae in the tank will give you a low phos reading... False positive. This is because the algae eats up the phos to survive and thrive and keeps the phos level low. false positive made me think there was something else wrong besides high phos and nitrates in my tank.

[smirkis]

10 hours of light daily at full power (even at 50%) is a lot. i'd cut back the lighting to maybe 6-8 hours a day. the only time i'd run 10+ hours a day is if you have a dimmable fixture.

plus, your tank is only 6 weeks old. expect all kinds of weird growth on a young tank, it should clear up over time. my tank is about 6 months old and i still get random algae growth here n there.

as far as filtering goes, i run no mechanical filtration at all. only biological (live rock) and chemical (protein skimmer/refuge).

[kayakNCSD]

Thanks everybody. Slowed it down tremendously and will be feeding flake foods to lower the waste for a few days.

[kayakNCSD]

Honestly I'm confused about correctly using chemipure or carbon. I have seen various systems on here and YouTube. Does it have a negative impact with corals? Is this something I should be using in my system? If this is to vague please tell me


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[jonzee2006]

yes and no if lights are ramping up and down then a 10hr cycle won't be a problem. It sounds like a diatom bloom and unfortunately its part of setting up a new tank. I would say do all that has been suggested and try MicroBactor from brightwell it'll help build up the good bacteria in your tank to help with denitrification and get you back on track faster. good luck and happy reefing..........p.s. be patient grasshopper lol this is not a hobby of instant gratification there will be a ton of headaches until your tank hits its stride

10 hours of light daily at full power (even at 50%) is a lot. i'd cut back the lighting to maybe 6-8 hours a day. the only time i'd run 10+ hours a day is if you have a dimmable fixture.

plus, your tank is only 6 weeks old. expect all kinds of weird growth on a young tank, it should clear up over time. my tank is about 6 months old and i still get random algae growth here n there.

as far as filtering goes, i run no mechanical filtration at all. only biological (live rock) and chemical (protein skimmer/refuge).

[kayakNCSD]

yes and no if lights are ramping up and down then a 10hr cycle won't be a problem. It sounds like a diatom bloom and unfortunately its part of setting up a new tank. I would say do all that has been suggested and try MicroBactor from brightwell it'll help build up the good bacteria in your tank to help with denitrification and get you back on track faster. good luck and happy reefing..........p.s. be patient grasshopper lol this is not a hobby of instant gratification there will be a ton of headaches until your tank hits its stride

Thank you very much. I just am trying to grasp as much as I can along the way. I am impatient and that is not my best quality lol.


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