Chlorinated
Non-member
Hi All,
Some background- I have an IM nuvo 20, about 6 years old now. Well established with 2 clowns, lots of softies and LPS and a few SPS mixed in. Only dosing is kalk. Biweekly water changes of 4-5 gallons with RS Blue bucket. Daily feeding with TDO pellets.
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.0
KH 8.8
Cal 420
Mg ?
nitrate 0
Phosphate 0.08
For the last year or so I have been getting on and off bacterial blooms. Not the traditional type where the water is clouded, but a version that coats my glass and filters clogging everything up. My filter floss will fully clog in hours with this clear gel like slime, my reactor for GAC clogs and stops running. Corals seem largely unaffected, but filtration wise it's a nightmare.
We don't burn candles I use air freshener or anything like that in the apartment so this can be ruled out.
It is definitely nutrient driven. The only way I've found to knock it back is to baste my whole sand bed and all my rocks over and over for a couple days constantly changing my floss. After a few days, the tank is back to normal. It will stay this way for a week or 2 and then I get hit with another bloom. As an additional note, I dont have a speck of algae anywhere in my tank. Coralie also isnt growing, coral growth is slow. Colors ok but could be better.
I know having inballanced nutrients can cause all kinds of issues both with algae and bacteria. Every time I test I get phosphate (0.04-0.08) but my nitrate is always undetectable. To get my nitrates up, I feed more, or target feed corals. But...when I do, bacterial bloom the next day.
I'm sure the bacteria is consuming the nitrates before I can detect them, but I can't get my level up. My hope is by raising nitrate, I can get past this stupid bacterial issue.
So, I am looking for advice. No algae is nice, but growth is slow...in a nano not the worst thing I guess...and colors could definitely be better. Thoughts on how to proceed? I'm at a loss so anything would be appreciated!
Some background- I have an IM nuvo 20, about 6 years old now. Well established with 2 clowns, lots of softies and LPS and a few SPS mixed in. Only dosing is kalk. Biweekly water changes of 4-5 gallons with RS Blue bucket. Daily feeding with TDO pellets.
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.0
KH 8.8
Cal 420
Mg ?
nitrate 0
Phosphate 0.08
For the last year or so I have been getting on and off bacterial blooms. Not the traditional type where the water is clouded, but a version that coats my glass and filters clogging everything up. My filter floss will fully clog in hours with this clear gel like slime, my reactor for GAC clogs and stops running. Corals seem largely unaffected, but filtration wise it's a nightmare.
We don't burn candles I use air freshener or anything like that in the apartment so this can be ruled out.
It is definitely nutrient driven. The only way I've found to knock it back is to baste my whole sand bed and all my rocks over and over for a couple days constantly changing my floss. After a few days, the tank is back to normal. It will stay this way for a week or 2 and then I get hit with another bloom. As an additional note, I dont have a speck of algae anywhere in my tank. Coralie also isnt growing, coral growth is slow. Colors ok but could be better.
I know having inballanced nutrients can cause all kinds of issues both with algae and bacteria. Every time I test I get phosphate (0.04-0.08) but my nitrate is always undetectable. To get my nitrates up, I feed more, or target feed corals. But...when I do, bacterial bloom the next day.
I'm sure the bacteria is consuming the nitrates before I can detect them, but I can't get my level up. My hope is by raising nitrate, I can get past this stupid bacterial issue.
So, I am looking for advice. No algae is nice, but growth is slow...in a nano not the worst thing I guess...and colors could definitely be better. Thoughts on how to proceed? I'm at a loss so anything would be appreciated!
