Accidentally Started Phytoplankton Culture? Please help. Lol

[DocPalmer]

Good morning everyone -

To be forward, I think I may have started a phytoplankton culture in my reef tank and need help getting a handle on it. I'll explain why I think this is the case below:

About a month ago I had introduced a white tail kole tang (MY ABSOLUTE DREAM FISH) and he has been an absolute menace to the algae. Exactly as advertised - a true workhorse. Fast forward a few weeks and he, plus my lawnmower blenny and the snails, had chipped away at all of the algae growing along the back wall, as well as on the rocks; now everything is down to a little fuzz. perfect.

Now, my water the past week began to get very cloudy and now has a strong green tint to it (pictures provided below). My initial thought was since all that algae on my back wall was acting as a natural filtration and it was gone (job well done Stanley), that I was having an algae bloom. Now I needed to test my water to make sure there weren't any underlying issues. Parameters all came back strong and everyone seemed to be doing well inside the tank, I just couldn't really see. Knowing my parameters were strong gave me comfort.

During my investigation, within this 1 week period of the water becoming cloudy and green, 1) the algae had been decimated; 2) I had increased the intensity of my Xr15 blues by 5% to 45%; 3) I had increased the flow on the tank by 25%.

It wasn't until I stumbled across a post on reef2reef where someone had overdosed phytoplankton and accidentally began a culture in their tank. Houston I think we found the problem. Beyond my tank's 3 adjustments above, I had then remembered my Oceanmagik from algaebarn was getting close to expiration, so I dumped the rest of the bottle into the tank. I'm starting to see more copepods, and my corals appear to be as extended as they have ever been, including new polyp growth and my hairy mushroom even split.

I can't be certain if this is what has happened, but given the circumstances it seems very possible.

I am seeking R2R's help on how I could/should combat this issue. My thoughts are:

1) Going dark for 72 hours
2) Introducing more copepods to try and naturally get a handle on it
3) ???

Let me know what you guys think. I could really use the help! Pictures below:

Tank Parameters:

Salt: 1.025
No3: 2
KH: 9
PH: 8
Po4: 0.1
CA: 480
Mg: 1470
Temp: 77.5
Tank Size: 110 gallons (80g display, 30g sump)


Here is day after 30% water change:

 

[DocPalmer]

Here is a link to the post that made me think I have the same issue. @AlgaeBarn gave very detailed response:

Live phyto overdose leads to cloudy water?

I have a Red Sea Reefer 170 with about 42 total gallons of water. For 3 weeks now, I've been dosing about 15-20ml of the AlgaeBarn live phyto that came with my 5280 pods combo pack. A week ago, I started seeing my water get a bit cloudy, and today it's totally brown/green. I've tested all my...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Derrick0580]

Turn lights out for a couple days, or try vibrant

 

[DocPalmer]

Turn lights out for a couple days, or try vibrant

Would 72 hours be too long/short?

 

[Chrisv.]

Turn lights out for a couple days, or try vibrant

Maybe *and try vibrant

 

[GARRIGA]

Used with diatom this should clear it up in a day or two although leaving a slight tint will be appreciated by the corals and pods.

Alternatively, could hatch brine shrimp and add then. They will consume it and the inhabitants will consume them. Also a good time to quickly add pods.

People panic when water turns green yet it’s been used for 500 plus years by koi and goldfish fanciers in the Far East to improve their fish. It’s also going to strip your tank of nutrients and trace elements and might want to check that. I wouldn’t panic.

 

[DocPalmer]

I think most importantly: I'm looking for confirmation that this COULD appear to be a phytoplankton issue?

 

[DocPalmer]

Used with diatom this should clear it up in a day or two although leaving a slight tint will be appreciated by the corals and pods.

Alternatively, could hatch brine shrimp and add then. They will consume it and the inhabitants will consume them. Also a good time to quickly add pods.

People panic when water turns green yet it’s been used for 500 plus years by koi and goldfish fanciers in the Far East to improve their fish. It’s also going to strip your tank of nutrients and trace elements and might want to check that. I wouldn’t panic.

I'll look into this thing. Yeah once I tested the water I had ease of mind. My initial reaction was that nitrate or phosphate were off the charts high; confirmed not the case. I saw algaebarn has a BOGO deal on their ecopods so I was considering grabbing that and introducing both to the tank.

 

[fishguy242]

@Eagle_Steve

 

[Eagle_Steve]

the thread linked by @DocPalmer is what you need to look into. @AlgaeBarn lined out exactly what I would do.

The above mentioned polisher above would also work with DE in combination with a lights out and heavy skimming.

If this tank was fish only and no corals, you could use ambient lighting to light the tank, Skim really wet and dose h2o2 to the tank at 1mL per 10 gallons of water. With corals or shrimp, I would not recommend this.

There is also the option of using UV, but the flow rate through the UV would need to be very slow to be effective. Although, if used with lights out, DE filter and very wet skimming, it could clear it up very quickly.

You also need to be ready for a slight spike in nutrients once all of the phyto is dead. This is where very wet skimming comes in. When they die, they typically are skimmed out very easily. But some always gets missed, so just food for thought.

 

[Dcal]

oxygenate heavily if you decide to kill it all

 

[DocPalmer]

the thread linked by @DocPalmer is what you need to look into. @AlgaeBarn lined out exactly what I would do.

The above mentioned polisher above would also work with DE in combination with a lights out and heavy skimming.

If this tank was fish only and no corals, you could use ambient lighting to light the tank, Skim really wet and dose h2o2 to the tank at 1mL per 10 gallons of water. With corals or shrimp, I would not recommend this.

There is also the option of using UV, but the flow rate through the UV would need to be very slow to be effective. Although, if used with lights out, DE filter and very wet skimming, it could clear it up very quickly.

You also need to be ready for a slight spike in nutrients once all of the phyto is dead. This is where very wet skimming comes in. When they die, they typically are skimmed out very easily. But some always gets missed, so just food for thought.

Hello - yes there are several corals and inverts in the tank so I am limited in terms of what can be dosed. Can you please explain what DE stands for? I'm not a very seasoned reefer.

By your response I take it you agree that this appears to be a bloom?

 

[Dburr1014]

Filter floss is your friend in this case. Water changes won't do anything but give more clean water for the algae to populate.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hello - yes there are several corals and inverts in the tank so I am limited in terms of what can be dosed. Can you please explain what DE stands for? I'm not a very seasoned reefer.

By your response I take it you agree that this appears to be a bloom?

It does look to be one. DE = Diatomaceous Earth.

It can be found at some pet stores and most pool supply stores.

 

[DocPalmer]

Filter floss is your friend in this case. Water changes won't do anything but give more clean water for the algae to populate.

My current sump setup is: Intake, filter floss, filter sock, refugium with chaeto, return pump.

 

[Dburr1014]

My current sump setup is: Intake, filter floss, filter sock, refugium with chaeto, return pump.

Make sure you change it out once or twice a day it should get some of that out if not all of it. Going to take some time though.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

My current sump setup is: Intake, filter floss, filter sock, refugium with chaeto, return pump.

No skimmer? If so, you may need to air stone the tank if you plan to knock this out quickly. I would also suggest pointing power heads towards surface to help with gas exchange.

Additionally, if no place for air stone, you can adjust your overflow so that it sucks a little air when draining. This will provide aeration in conjunction with surface agitation from pointing power heads at surface, but allowing air to be sucked into drain, may also turn sump into a skimmer of sorts.

 

[DocPalmer]

No skimmer? If so, you may need to air stone the tank if you plan to knock this out quickly. I would also suggest pointing power heads towards surface to help with gas exchange.

Additionally, if no place for air stone, you can adjust your overflow so that it sucks a little air when draining. This will provide aeration in conjunction with surface agitation from pointing power heads at surface, but allowing air to be sucked into drain, may also turn sump into a skimmer of sorts.

No skimmer. Since introducing the tang a month ago, i've been in a holding period to monitor the tank and see what changes I need to make as things balance and settle. Making additions to my filtration and sump were next on the list. My ideal sump will include a skimmer in conjunction with the refugium. If you think a skimmer will help, I will add it now rather than wait. Do you have recommendations? my LFS had a reef octopus and a red sea skimmer. I'd have to do some research to see which would be best for my size tank.

 

[GARRIGA]

Oscars raised in green water. No filters other than a powerhead to aerate the surface to introduce oxygen at night. Quarter of the tank had plants but the phyto was the main driver. Tank was up for months. Oscars doubled in size. Fish fed 8-10 times daily.

Other than reduced PAR phyto won’t hurt. Just help.

 

[DocPalmer]

Make sure you change it out once or twice a day it should get some of that out if not all of it. Going to take some time though.

Will do. I've read that it isn't necessarily harmful to my inhabitants and that of course is my top priority. Having said that, I would like to resolve sooner than later if possible.