Algae bloom and Clown Discoloration

[cdfjr1975]

One of my Clownfish started to change color and hang out in one corner of the tank near the top. I developed an algae bloom and have been trying to fight it with NoPoX and water changes. Only changing weekly since it is mainly in the water column, but beginning to see it on the rocks, and the nerrite snails are taking an interest.

The only inhabitants are a few snails, maybe two hermits and the two clowns in a 100 gallon tank. I had a clean up crew but most died.

I have zero phosphate but have above 64 Nitrate.

Going to begin 20 gallon daily water changes to combat this bloom.

Should I rehome my clowns to a quarantine tank while I do this. One is perfectly fine but one is definitely stressed. I have a sponge in my so so I should easily be able to start a hospital tank.

She was pure black yesterday, but has been changing colors today.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Check your ammonia
Add air stone

Recommend not feeding so much
Do you have a skimmer?
How old is the tank?
What’s your filtration like?

 

[Garf]

NOPOX could be feeding the bloom it’s bacterial.

 

[cdfjr1975]

Thanks for the comments. Below is some more detail based on the comments.

Have air stone in sump because of NoPoX
I'm stopping the NoPoX because I know it can cause the blooms. Overdosed one night and saw a massive change. Since I'm doing water changes daily it should help the nitrates and my phosphate is zero.
Ammonia is zero
I have a skimmer in the sump. No filter socks
Tank has been up since October 2018. They were in a 20 gallon for a year before this tank.
Auto feed in the morning then use the auto feeder to manually feed at night so I can watch them. They can usually eat 2 manual presses. I have tried frozen but they don't eat it so I stick with pellets.

 

[cdfjr1975]

I put her into the hospital tank I set up. Took one day longer then anticipated because the hang on back filter pump was not working. Used a bottle of instant bacteria and sponge from sump. She started swimming, eating and getting her color back. The smaller male clown decided to take his revenge and torment her before I got to move her, so it was good timing to get it running. Starting daily water changes to reduce the nitrates to better levels. Snails are all over the algae on the rocks.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Do a 50 or 60g wc...not algae bloom. You have cloudy water. All that die off from your cuc and cycle. Do a wc. Not some. A lot.
Hths
D

 

[cdfjr1975]

Do a 50 or 60g wc...not algae bloom. You have cloudy water. All that die off from your cuc and cycle. Do a wc. Not some. A lot.
Hths
D

I don't have the capacity to do that much unless I rehouse both. I can drain the appropriate amount but it will take a few days to do a massive water change. I'm game though. Black sunshine is doing great in quarantine. Almost back to full color but looking good, eating good, and swimming like normal.

I will begin tomorrow and update later.

 

[cdfjr1975]

So I did a massive water change and some smaller ones since. I can still see particles floating in the water so it is still cloudy. I'm now down to 10-20 nitrates. Phosphate is still zero, probably the algae on rocks using it. The spread on the rocks have stopped, but what was there still remains, that's why I feel it is eating the phosphate. The one clown in the tank is happy and the other is still in the hospital tank. She shows no sign of disease now that she has been moved so I'm ready to bring her back.

Guessing I should do another massive change to get nitrates down. And hopefully this will subside. The cloudiness is getting worse between the weekly water changes instead of maintaining.

 

[cdfjr1975]

Update with good news. The tank looks much better. Water changes brought the nitrates down and made the water look much clearer. Black sunshine showed no signs of illness in quarantine and has responded well to the improved water conditions in the DT. Lesson learned about not taking for granted water changes. On a weekly cycle now and so far much better.