Newbie algae issue?? Should I be concerned?

[J A' mhuir]

Greetings,
I am a newbie to this hobby but a lifelong aquarium lover. Tank is almost three months old… which is prob the answer lol
My issue: I have a reoccurring brown film algae, i’m not sure if I should be worried or not. I’m not even sure what kind it is.

My tank, inhabitants and parameters, as of a couple days ago and pictures below of the tank right now. Feeding schedule.

Tank: innovative marine, 25 gallon Lagoon.
Nearly three months old
Filtration: only Polly fill, ceramic media balls, and a small pouch of carbon that came with the tank.
Today 08/12 I removed the old GFO pouch
Lighting: Nicrew hyper reef 100w mounted 10 inches above the surface of the water.
Light schedule: 12 PM to 10 PM with a one hour ramping period. 45% blue and 5% white.
Inhabitants: a pair of clown fish, one helfrichi fire-fish.
Corals: all small frags except the GSP
GSP
Zoa
Weeping willow toadstool
Frogspawn
Favia
CUC: one hermit crab, one jumbo nassarius, one astera, one cerith, one trochus
Feeding: one feeding per day, maybe a fifth of a cube of Hikari Omega enriched brine shrimp, 6 pellets. Reef - Roids once per week.

I perform weekly water changes.
New poly fill every 2 to 4 days
Parameters: as of 08/11
Alk: 7.89DKH
Phosphate: 0.07
Nitrate 0
Calcium 480
Mag 1500

Pics here:

Do I need to worry about this or should I just let it run its course?

Thanks for reading and for any suggestions or help

 

[J A' mhuir]

Greetings,
I am a newbie to this hobby but a lifelong aquarium lover. Tank is almost three months old… which is prob the answer lol
My issue: I have a reoccurring brown film algae, i’m not sure if I should be worried or not. I’m not even sure what kind it is.

My tank, inhabitants and parameters, as of a couple days ago and pictures below of the tank right now. Feeding schedule.

Tank: innovative marine, 25 gallon Lagoon.
Nearly three months old
Filtration: only Polly fill, ceramic media balls, and a small pouch of carbon that came with the tank.
Today 08/12 I removed the old GFO pouch
Lighting: Nicrew hyper reef 100w mounted 10 inches above the surface of the water.
Light schedule: 12 PM to 10 PM with a one hour ramping period. 45% blue and 5% white.
Inhabitants: a pair of clown fish, one helfrichi fire-fish.
Corals: all small frags except the GSP
GSP
Zoa
Weeping willow toadstool
Frogspawn
Favia
CUC: one hermit crab, one jumbo nassarius, one astera, one cerith, one trochus
Feeding: one feeding per day, maybe a fifth of a cube of Hikari Omega enriched brine shrimp, 6 pellets. Reef - Roids once per week.

I perform weekly water changes.
New poly fill every 2 to 4 days
Parameters: as of 08/11
Alk: 7.89DKH
Phosphate: 0.07
Nitrate 0
Calcium 480
Mag 1500

Pics here:

Do I need to worry about this or should I just let it run its course?

Thanks for reading and for any suggestions or help

Ohhh and salinity is 35ppm and temp is always 78°

 

[NonstopSoda]

looks like diatoms maybe? with it being 3 months old it might just be the start of the ugly phase and should pass on its own, if you want to get rid of it sooner i would suggest a skimmer and maybe some type of sand sifter for the bed. Also manuel removal would do good too.

 

[J A' mhuir]

looks like diatoms maybe? with it being 3 months old it might just be the start of the ugly phase and should pass on its own, if you want to get rid of it sooner i would suggest a skimmer and maybe some type of sand sifter for the bed. Also manuel removal would do good too.

thanks for your reply. That’s what I think it is. It has come before and gone. Now back for more lol..
I’ve been thinking of a skimmer, I know AIO tanks are hard to find appropriate skimmers.

 

[NonstopSoda]

thanks for your reply. That’s what I think it is. It has come before and gone. Now back for more lol..
I’ve been thinking of a skimmer, I know AIO tanks are hard to find appropriate skimmers.

i recommend any small HOB skimmer would do fine, I use the one that came with my AIO aquatop nano but this one should be good, if it fits https://www.google.com/search?sca_e...one Mini DC Protein Skimmer – Efficient,Visit

 

[J A' mhuir]

i recommend any small HOB skimmer would do fine, I use the one that came with my AIO aquatop nano but this one should be good, if it fits https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=040907f6f53834d3&q=HOB+SKIMMER+AQUATOP&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0BglSNKPbDQcL4Et01QEIYvJ5VGsHgUL_tsKqYywhWXkknveTpaLEIQiU02u5i1FK5Aui8Lbcs6UtNG0K_ZRX5_Sfaez_nbio7ZevU-01UapIxO69dMWeVTKP_UKwkGJCi-gm4_XCwzeGcd3iWHdX18pJO4SCbD0xKKCtmS-V7RqxnCEfTZFtgpF81MF2iMynb0DJhUqRTMt9YhJKKaN0U-I1PLrg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib95r-4_CHAxXJweYEHVD6Av0QtKgLegQIDBAB&biw=1920&bih=963&dpr=1#vhid=nhKBT8633u4OBM&vssid=mosaic:~:text=Aquatop Xyclone Mini DC Protein Skimmer – Efficient,Visit

That won’t fit in the filter chambers but maybe in a HOB system!! Thanks for your thoughts and advice

 

[NonstopSoda]

That won’t fit in the filter chambers but maybe in a HOB system!! Thanks for your thoughts and advice

of course! happy to help, i wish you the best in your reefing journey!

 

[CO2TLEY]

I agree with diatoms. I would watch your no3. Don’t want your diatoms turning into Dinos. I just went through a 3 month battle with Dinos, not fun

 

[J A' mhuir]

I agree with diatoms. I would watch your no3. Don’t want your diatoms turning into Dinos. I just went through a 3 month battle with Dinos, not fun

Where should my Nitrates be?? I’m kind of concerned that my salifert test kit isn’t accurate, I’ve had clear test for a couple weeks now.

Oh Gosh! That’s awful. ! I am glad your tank is doing better now.

 

[NonstopSoda]

Where should my Nitrates be?? I’m kind of concerned that my salifert test kit isn’t accurate, I’ve had clear test for a couple weeks now.

Oh Gosh! That’s awful. ! I am glad your tank is doing better now.

i keep my nitrates at 10-15 ppm, Don't let them bottom out at zero for too long cause then the dinos start taking over from the lack of nutrients. I recommend neonitro if you want to boost your nitrates

 

[J A' mhuir]

i keep my nitrates at 10-15 ppm, Don't let them bottom out at zero for too long cause then the dinos start taking over from the lack of nutrients. I recommend neonitro if you want to boost your nitrates

Thank you! yeah I’ve been trying to feed more but I can’t get nitrates up… I will try that.

 

[CO2TLEY]

Where should my Nitrates be?? I’m kind of concerned that my salifert test kit isn’t accurate, I’ve had clear test for a couple weeks now.

Oh Gosh! That’s awful. ! I am glad your tank is doing better now.

There isn’t necessarily a magic number. I believe most shoot for 10ppm. Youll see successful tanks with 0-30ppm some could even be a little higher. Every tank is different. For some people 0 works, certainly did not for mine lol. I don’t use salifert but they seem pretty reliable from what I’ve seen on the forum

 

[J A' mhuir]

There isn’t necessarily a magic number. I believe most shoot for 10ppm. Youll see successful tanks with 0-30ppm some could even be a little higher. Every tank is different. For some people 0 works, certainly did not for mine lol. I don’t use salifert but they seem pretty reliable from what I’ve seen on the forum

Got ya, I’ll see what I can do to get these things up…. Thanks for your help!!!
I like salifert but I only use it for nitrate…. Thinking of switching to Red Sea as this kit is running out of reagent.

 

[NonstopSoda]

Got ya, I’ll see what I can do to get these things up…. Thanks for your help!!!
I like salifert but I only use it for nitrate…. Thinking of switching to Red Sea as this kit is running out of reagent.

if you're willing to spend the money, i would recommend the Hanna checkers for nitrate! those are top tier : )

 

[J A' mhuir]

if you're willing to spend the money, i would recommend the Hanna checkers for nitrate! those are top tier : )

I use Hannah for phosphate and alkalinity. I have been thinking about it for nitrate. They are so nice.

 

[NonstopSoda]

I use Hannah for phosphate and alkalinity. I have been thinking about it for nitrate. They are so nice.

they're my favorite testing kits available, i just wish the price tag wasnt so big so i could get all of them!

 

[J A' mhuir]

they're my favorite testing kits available, i just wish the price tag wasnt so big so i could get all of them!

I know, it makes my wallet cry

 

[NonstopSoda]

I know, it makes my wallet cry

this whole hobby makes my wallet cry!

 

[J A' mhuir]

this whole hobby makes my wallet cry!

Yes, it does!! Really wasn’t expecting it to be this bad… I knew it was pricey but man it’s crazy…. I also buy new so that’s not helping

 

[ZoWhat]

Only way to beat algae is to starve it out.

Algae feeds on Phosphate

Deep dive research on the many ways to reduce Phosphate to below 0.1 ppm.... but not 0.

0 is bad.

I have a dual method:

1) I dose phytoplankton daily that I brew myself so the phyto eats-up Phosphate before nuisance algae can even get started

2) I dose 30 drop of Lanthium Chloride WEEKLY [made by Blue Life called Phosphate RX (Amazon) ]. The Lanthium quickly bonds Phosphate chemically and gets skimmered out

Both methods keeps my Phosphate numbers well in check

Great range is 0.05 to 0.1 using a Hanna Checker... not not 0