Frustrated with GHA and poor coral growth in Evo 13.5

[Randalli]

Looking for some help with improving my Evo 13.5 system. I struggle to keep the GHA in check and my LPS and zoanthids grow really slowly or have been receding and disappearing.
The tank is about 14 months old. It was started with about 5 lbs of live rock which came from my 120g tank which is about 15 years old. No sand bed, livestock consists of a few astrea snails, one sharknose goby, a small toadstool, two Duncan, a Favia, a couple plume gorgonians, a micromussa, a salted agave and a couple zoanthids that have receded to almost nothing.
Specific gravity is 1.026, temperature 77F, NO3 is not detectable, PO4 is 0.02, Ca 450, Mg 1350, Alk 8.5 dKH. I'm dosing a few mL of Randy's baking soda solution spread out over a few doses in the night as my Alk had been low and now I'm in the process of reducing the dose a bit to bring it down as I overshot my target. Water changes are about 20% every 2 weeks and I'm using Instant Ocean Reef salt. Using RODI water. No other dosing as my Ca and Mg don't seem to ever move. Light is provided by a single Kessil A180WE, 10 hour period, intensity is set fairly low but I don't have a PAR meter.
My micromussa grew nicely for a little while and then a couple months ago it just sort of stopped, it has about 6-8 heads, each only a bit larger than a pencil eraser and they're not fleshing out like before. The Duncans seem pretty happy but even the favia has kind of stopped pooling outward more but still seems healthy. I have a bit of Brightwell's Microbacter Lattice in chamber 1 and some LR rubble in chamber 2.
I'm hoping to add a Rainford's Goby and a few more inverts to help keep the GHA in check but I'm just frustrated with the lack of growth of my corals.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Duds]

Turbo snails, tuxedo urchins, pitho crabs, and manual removal did the trick for me see if you can find any local or maybe you can have some delivered. I would assume the algae is stunting your corals growth figure that out and you’ll be styling.

 

[Chris A.]

What do you have for a cleanup crew?
Mexican turbo works really well as do blue leg hermits. You can also use some peroxide to target GHA. If rocks are easily removed use a spray bottle of peroxide on it outside the water but don’t do a lot at a time so you don’t kill off too much bacteria at once. Clean up crew is still needed though

 

[Rhawnk]

I also have an evo, and notice I have consistent struggles with GHA/cyano, and poor coral health when I let the nutrients drop, which can happen very quickly in that tank. I work to maintain a NO3 of 10 and a PO4 of just under .1. Only have a pair of clowns in there, so bioload is quite low, dose small amounts of neonitro and neophos to try to keep things consistent. If I manage to keep the numbers stable, my leather and acan growth is off the charts.

The cleanup crew mentioned above also helps, 1 turbo, 1 tuxedo, and a handful of hermits is more than I need.

Happy to see another evo owner in the wild!

 

[Jbissell1289]

I had an evo and my nitrates and phosphates were relatively high and I had very good coral growth. Weekly to bi-weekly waterchanges was enough to keep all parameters in check. I had a pair of clowns, a pair pistol shrimp with a goby. Lots of hermits and snails for clean up crew. if nutrients are too low, I've found coral doesn't grow well.

 

[dilligaf29]

Take the sponge out the back compartment it’s a nitrate factory

 

[Randalli]

Take the sponge out the back compartment it’s a nitrate factory

There is no sponge. Only some LR rubble and Brightwell Microbacter Lattice. I don't have high nitrates.

 

[Randalli]

Turbo snails, tuxedo urchins, pitho crabs, and manual removal did the trick for me see if you can find any local or maybe you can have some delivered. I would assume the algae is stunting your corals growth figure that out and you’ll be styling.

I have some astrea and cerith snails, the hermit crab died. Unfortunately there are absolutely zero LFS in my area. Closest there is requires a 3 hour drive one way. I'm hoping to be able to set aside enough cash to order at least one fish and a few more cleanup crew but the cost of delivery is too high to make it worthwhile on a small order.

 

[Jbissell1289]

Where are you I’m in Ontario? My brother and sister in law are in Oshawa and there is a pretty good lfs there. But I know Ontario is big, lol

 

[mlivvy]

So easy to restart a 14 gallon. I'd scrub the rocks clean then control the nutrients better.

 

[Randalli]

Where are you I’m in Ontario? My brother and sister in law are in Oshawa and there is a pretty good lfs there. But I know Ontario is big, lol

Yeah, I'm way south of Oshawa. No real reef related LFS until you hit Toronto region.

 

[Randalli]

So easy to restart a 14 gallon. I'd scrub the rocks clean then control the nutrients better.

I think I've given the wrong impression. I'm not overrun with GHA. Just trying to keep it in check. It collects in some places that are difficult to manually clean and the gorgonians like collecting it to look like flags on a flagpole. I don't really feel like 0 NO3 and 0.02 PO4 is an example of out of control nutrients. Hopefully I can get the NO3 bumped up a little and find the right balance between NO3 and PO4.

 

[Cpage101]

here is my 2cents for what it’s worth I see just about everyone made suggestions about clean up crew. adding a utilitarian type fish which will graze at the algae possible my keep this in check. Algae will grow in perfect water look at the ocean. Those are supposed to be the #’s we are shooting for but yet the ocean has algae everywhere. @Thales tanks about this all the time which I feel is super interesting and more than just a mind story. where there are utilitarian fish on the reef there is minimal algae but areas where these fish do not inhabit seems to get overgrown with algae. Just something to think about when choosing your next move. Maybe a Lawnmower blenny which can be hit or miss and tough to keep is decides not to graze or lake of algae to eat. I have had success with (1) Mexican turbo snail and some blue leg hermits to get into the crevices. Mexican Turbos can really mow down some algae. I got my last batch from @saltwateraquarium.com and they started chowing down immediately in my 28G tank. Not a stitch of algae to be seen. Hope this helps. Happy Reefing!

 

[Duds]

here is my 2cents for what it’s worth I see just about everyone made suggestions about clean up crew. adding a utilitarian type fish which will graze at the algae possible my keep this in check. Algae will grow in perfect water look at the ocean. Those are supposed to be the #’s we are shooting for but yet the ocean has algae everywhere. @Thales tanks about this all the time which I feel is super interesting and more than just a mind story. where there are utilitarian fish on the reef there is minimal algae but areas where these fish do not inhabit seems to get overgrown with algae. Just something to think about when choosing your next move. Maybe a Lawnmower blenny which can be hit or miss and tough to keep is decides not to graze or lake of algae to eat. I have had success with (1) Mexican turbo snail and some blue leg hermits to get into the crevices. Mexican Turbos can really mow down some algae. I got my last batch from @saltwateraquarium.com and they started chowing down immediately in my 28G tank. Not a stitch of algae to be seen. Hope this helps. Happy Reefing!

Tailspot blenny is my goto live longer and still graze a lot great add on!

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Here's a good reference video from Marc Levenson, put the Mexican turbo on the algae, when it goes off of it, pick it up and put it back on it and so on and so forth. Has always worked for me.

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[Randalli]

Thanks everyone. I tend to avoid the hermit crabs as they always seem to just end up killing my snails and then dying off. I haven't found a hermit that I trust to leave the other inverts alone, even when well fed. Buying just a few snails when they have to be shipped isn't great either since shipping costs more than the snails. Probably just have to wait for some more months and clean around the couch cushions and car seats until I find enough spare change to place a bigger order .

 

[Nanoreef15]

for the size of your tank. it wouldnt be too bad if you start off all over again. Or clean out everything and use water/rocks from other people tank if you dont want to wait.