Often you need a little gfo or other phosphate reducer every once in awhile to keep the ratio. Phosphate tends to build up in our tanks. What you don't want to do is brong phosphate to zero with a reducer. If there is no phosphate then the carbon dosing won't work (won't lower nitrate. ..it needs both).

Thanks Mindy. I have never bothered much with a phosphate measure, as Im always running gfo anyways. Guess I will have to if I go with the carbon dosing. II find my Salifert test kit not the easiest to read however.

Found this on Prodibio.

"BioPtim
This is your carbon source as found in many other ULN systems. The difference is again you only dose every two weeks. BioPtim contains a multitude of essentials additives for feeding the bacterial colony in your system and in doing so lowering your nitrates and PO4 levels."

Hmmm. Im still going to start with the Zeo carbon source product however. In addition to my Prodibio.

Maybe but I have trouble with adding a unknown about of "carbon source" to the system. Any other carbon driven tank is a daily requirement

Thanks for the comments. Im ordering the Zeo and see how that does.

I don't believe that is bryopsis. For those that are combatting it, the Tech M does work. It took me two attempts before I was successful. It didn't kill it, but it stopped it from returning when I weeded it, so I feel that it worked!

Just FYI, the guy that made the Tech M "proprietary" blend also made the Brightwell stuff, and so both are alleged to work. There is some ingredient in them that isn't found in bulk products, and so generally, the bulk stuff doesn't work well in dealing with bryopsis.

I like the Prodibio BioDigest and BiOptim but I find they are only useful to get from LNS to ULNS. They aren't as powerful as daily-dosed carbon products.

Also, you'll need a different phosphate kit for ULNS. Hanna ULR HI736 is good but you need to know a few tricks to get accurate readings. I've heard good things about the Red Sea Pro Phosphate too and apparently it doesn't require any tricks, but haven't used it myself yet. Soon though...

A few questions if I could. My sps are doing so well Im scared of harming them fighting the algae. But it does need to go. Seems almost impossible to scrub, even using a stainless steel brush.

I have Kent mag coming but if not bryopsis, thats out.

Also have AlgaFix coming but those products scare the pants of me. May be what I have to use though.

What if I buy the Zeo product and fight it that way, going ULNS?

Any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks

I haven't heard of either of those products harming SPS.

Ya thats the impression I got from the threads on RC. But then I can screw anything up.....:lol:

What do you have for CUC Doug? Often all it takes if some beefing up and the algae will be gone, not always a need to mess with parameters.

Sorry Mindy. Not sure what CUC is?

Clean up crew...snails, hermits etc

Oh. DOH ! :lol:

I have lots of trochus snails, several red leg hermits & blues. The algae is to long for the snails. I have a few emeralds who love to eat the algae but they can't keep up to that much. I also have a sea hare that likes glass hard algae instead of what its suppose to be eating.

No fish, as Im in my 2nd month fishless from the velvet disaster. I have 6 shrimp which I feed daily plus the feed keeps the biological alive.

It something would eat it besides the emeralds I would add a bunch of them but don't think thats going to happen.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps69qtv4w4.jpg

Here,s an example. As seen in the pic, its starting to affect my corals. :sad: For whatever reason the coral is not focused correct but algae is, so you get the idea.

Gimme some numbers Doug! :p

I'd be suggesting something that looks like this (this is your 50-gallon right??):

15 Scarlet Hermits
5 Trochus
5 Turbo
3 Spiny Astraea
3 Pyramid Astraea
6 Ring Cowrie
6 Nerite
6 Tongan Nassarius
1 Fighting Conch

The key is variety. :) Don't buy the small-type Nassarius or Cerith snails with hermits in the tank - they are just too easy pickings for hermits. My Scarlet Hermits have never touched any of the above suggested snails. I have all of those in my tanks for years. You will probably have to remove 20% of the above numbers once they've trimmed out all the algae.

I have to skip the last two as its bare bottom.

Uh yeah, skip the sand dwellers. :) I'd add CUC and wait a few weeks to see if that makes the difference or not. It doesn't cost much, and it's easy. :D

Not the easiest to buy unless one of my friends is going by JL.

So I have a CUC order at CC waiting for the rest to come in next week.

Mindy, have you ever used the red leg crabs, similar to the blues, instead of scarlets?

Oh yeah, I forgot you live in Kamloops. Yeah, the red legs are just as murderous as the blue legs. Scarlets are the only ones I keep - they are worth the extra few bucks.

Another thing about this algae is that it will not come out. I scrub with a stainless steel wire toothbrush. We removed a large one covered with it and replaced it, which is now covered in algae anyways.
My friend had it in a tub in the dark for a month and the algae actually grew. He took a large wire brush to it and removed nothing.

ALGAE FROM HELL :twised:

This past year must be making up for the 35 good years I had before..:lol:

I think I have the same stuff - probably the crappy water via our over rated kamloops water treatment plant :)

I just changed my ro filters after a long period and they were not even dirty a bit. I thought we had good water here,esp compared to the crap we had in Brandon.

Everyone here seems to think its great water - probably because the city tells us so. stains toilets and tastes horrible.

of course I'm used to abbotsford water, voted best on earth every couple years

I was just commenting on TDS. May have other problems though. Anyways I solved mine. I have a guy coming for my tank & algae infested rock for his fish only.
I bought Mikes 35g RSM and the good rock. Its a good home for my sps corals and small fishies. :D

You just can't make up your mind which tank to use. :lol:

wish you had a solution - I know the back of my tank and sump is becoming horrible - recently lost much of my SPS except a couple strong ones (monti)

Im happy with my current tank but the algae is horrible. Guess its crap rock now. So instead of replacing the rock in there, just going to the RSM and its good rock.
Mind you, I will likely transfer some of the algae over on my frag plugs and be fighting it anyways..:lol:

How long has the algae been in there? Hasn't this tank only been setup for a couple months? If that's the case, I think it's a pretty rash decision.

The rock has been live for about a year now and was good until this algae from hell. Anywayswe have the RSM running, thanks to my friend, and its clean beautiful coralline rock.