Algae! I need a plan!

definitely rodi filter!

 

I've had success with using this phosphate remover. I usually drip 5 to 10ml diluted in gallon of rodi water over several hours into a 10 micron filter sock. Long term I got an algae scrubber up an running now, but the phos free will make an immediate impact. Even if you got the rodi water straight, you still need to get the tank corrected for the long haul. Got to get the phosphate and nitrate really low to starve the algae out of the tank.

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For the long-term, RO/DI is the way to go. Since you already have the RO filter, you only need the DI unit. You can find them sold separately anywhere that has water purification systems.

 

+1,I would also manually remove as much as possible,as the algae dies off it will help by not letting as many nutrients back into the water column released by the dying/decaying algae,plus your cuc will be more likely to assist with mopping up the remains.Other than algae grazing fish,snails and crabs usually won't touch it after it gets so long.

 

That looks like bryopsis to me as well. I have been battling an algae problem as well but mine turned out to be a turf algae (which is just as bad or maybe worse). I bought turbo snails, lawnmower blenny, kholes tang, emerald crab and a tuxedo sea urchin. Nothing touched the stuff. Spend all the money you want on a cuc but I dont think its going to solve your problem. I tried algaecides and even took my mag. up to 1700 for 2 months but that didn't work either. There is a peroxide cure out there but I just did not have the courage to try it (you might). I can tell you the 0.0 phosphate and nitrate readings don't mean a thing when u have the much algae in your tank. I think for you the DI is a must. You can add one to your current RO system for under 100 bucks. I ended up trashing the wet dry trickle system in my sump and replacing it with a phosphate reactor and an Aquaripure nitrate removal filter. I also took some livestock out of the tank and increased the frequency of my water changes. I probably also need to cut my lighting cycle lower than 11 hours a day and start rinsing my frozen food but hey still stubborn on some stuff. I am going the starvation route. It has been less than 2 months but my turf algae is about 50% of what it once was. I hate to tell you but it's a LONG road back from a problem that bad. If you find a short cut please tell me. You have also got to pull as much of that stuff out by hand as you can and when is starts dying pull that stuff out too. For gods sake don't let it start decaying in your tank. Good luck and keep us posted on your methods and what progress your making.

 

I can assure you its not to much for them, my stuff was not as long as yours, but on rocks that were real bad, I would move snails and relocate them to more troubled areas and it was amazing watching them eat that stuff, first time around they left lots of pieces and spots left over, but as food got in short demand, they knew where to go, I would bet the snails would get rid of it much faster compared to waiting for it to die off from cleaner water.

 

pico reef pest algae problem challenge - Reef Central Online Community

 

I agree, the starvation route is slow. I only hope it will be a permanent solution.

 

I missed the first post about the OC having that high of of a Phos reading. First thing's first, get your phos down (which you already know) The RODI unit will do that for ya. Second thing is to keep things slow. If any of that algae is choking out your corals, then by all means pull it away from them. The turbo snails WILL help. Also, now that you have identified your water changes as the introduction of the Phos, half of the battle is over. Keep up with your water changes on a weekly basis from here, and in a few weeks you'll see a huge change. The last thing you want to do is to have all of this disappear over night, and have a system crash. Once again, take it slow. This algae took some time to get like this, and it'll take the time needed to get back.

 

Phosphates are filtered with granular ferric oxide or algae growth and harvest usually, removal by water change will lower the number. Collecting and removing particulate matter helps though, I would keep that up.