Brown slime algae?

[HisKid]

I have this problem with brown algae. Its not hairy, its a coating slimey substance with a lot of nitrogen bubles trapped in it. I thought it was cyno when it first started to bloom, so I used a full treatment of chemi-clean (two doses in accordance with the recommended usage instructions) but it had no effect on the algae bloom. I tested my water and other than a low oxygen content, its perfect. I even took a sample to my LFS for a sanity check.

Temp is a contant 80 deg F (it never moves up or down more than .5 degrees)
Phos 0
SG 1.023
PH 8.23
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
ORP 288 (Low oxygen content - should be between 350 and 450)
CA 480 (A tad high but I keep it here for coral prop so its my norm)

The trace elements like Iron, Magnesium, and so on are also right on...

180Gal Full Oceanic setup (stand/tank/sump) with 2200 gph flow from 2 external 1100gph closed loops.

I skim 1200gph in a passive loop located in my sump on post filtered water.

My filtration system consists of a refugium with 3 different kinds of calurpa under a 65watt 50/50 light fixture which I leave on 24/7, 4" agra-alive biomedia in the bottom of my sump, A two stage prefilter, a 15 watt closed loop uv sterilizer, and the affore mentioned protien skimmer. My water has no noticable smell.

I use MH/HQI 10,000K bulbs dual actinic bulbs and white moonlights
450 watts MH/HQI's (8Hrs)
384 watts Dual Actinic's (12Hrs)
8 watts moonlight (12Hrs)

I clean my tank regularly and use an auto-top-off system from a 10gal tank which I keep in my stand.

So thats about all I can think of right now. Any idea what the problem might be?

TIA,

HisKid

 

[HisKid]

bump

 

[Len]

It's probably dinoflagellates. You can't add any chemicals to kill this stuff since it's the same organism responsible for coral photosynthesis (zooxanthallae).

I've found elevating pH and alk helps. If you aren't dripping kalkwasser, that may do the trick. The low ORP and oxygen saturation is also of concern for dinos and cyano. I'm not sure what skimmer you are using, but increasing the skimming can help. Make sure to draw in fresh air and not air from within a cabinet or uncirculated room. You may also want to do a big water change to help the ORP, siphoning out whatever detritius and algae you can.

 

[HisKid]

Thanks for the reply. I did a little searching and your theory seems to be a good one. I suppose I could put a tube on my skimmer for drawing air from the room instead of inside the stand.

I havent dosed Kalkwasser in a while, cause my CA level is holding at 480. How high do you think I could take it before causing issues?

My DKh is at 180. What should I take it to? I have heard that it can go as high as 300 and still be considered to be in the safe zone. Since I use Kent DKh buffer, it should raise the PH levels too.

Should I take the PH above 8.4?

Thanks for the advice,

HisKid

 

[Len]

I'd watch the Ca level, but your dkH has some room before any problems (up to 300 is fine). You may want to discontinue the Kent buffer while starting the Kalk, then add it back in the regiment if necessary. pH of 8.4 -8.6 may do the trick for the algae.