algae in a Biocube 32...

bigpfist · Jul 21, 2020

I am back into saltwater fish after a hiatus of over a decade. I invested in a Biocube 32 and it has been up and running for about 4 months. I have 2 chromis, a clown, and a host of snails in addition to 3 scarlet crabs.

After about a month and a half I developed green film all over my liverock and now on the sand there is brown algae. It's starting to bubble underneath the algae and the bubbles get released and rise to the top. I do a 10% water change once a week. pH is at 8.0, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0. I think the algae is consuming all of the nitrate; at least that is what my LFS said.

I have put a phosphorus remover in the back (chamber 1) which I took out because it didn't seem to be working, and now I have an Algone packet resting on top of my filter in chamber 2. I started the tank with treated tap water and now I do my water changes with saltwater premixed from the LFS>

I have read several places that the algae will go away after some time as long as you keep up on water changes. Is that true? Will it eventually go away? I know it's a big problem with new tanks.

I think one problem I may have is over feeding! I feed 1-2xs per day, and now I think I'll cut to once a day. I have my clown which is new and I want to be sure it gets enough to eat. This clown is the 5th one I have gotten for the tank...all the others died.

Any ideas or suggestions you have would really be appreciated!
Mike

Big_Mclargehuge · Jul 21, 2020

Is there any way you could post pics? I'm new to the hobby but also have a biocube 32 and have had 2 clowns for about 2 months. They are doing really well. Feeding once a day should be plenty. They don't need much. The fact that you're on your fifth clown makes me wonder if something is wrong in your tank. You didn't mention salinity. What is your salinity at? Water temp? Maybe the place you're getting the fish from isn't getting healthy fish in. I had a diatom bloom and now i have to scrub my glass every couple of days to remove green algae and the rocks have a bit over them. It seems like just the ugly phase on my end. I wouldn't add any other chemical filtration. Water changes, 100 micron filter pad, and just recently carbon is all i run. Post some pics and maybe we can see whats going on!

bigpfist · Jul 21, 2020

Thanks for the response!

Salinity is right at 1.023 and the temperature is usually at 78. I have a chiller, so if it ever gets up to 79, it drops down to 76...but it stays at 78 most of the time. As you can see from the photo it's pretty bad. I am thinking of skipping a water change this week to try and get the little clown more acclimated (I just got it on Friday last week).

Parent_usmc · Jul 21, 2020

My biocube went threw the same thing. About 4 months in I was fighting the same stuff. I did run purigen in the back in a small media bag. I purchased an in tank media basket that greatly helped in the filtration. After a month of fighting and doing 5 gallon water changes weekly the tank was super clean. Also I got a conch snail that really stirred up the sand bed . Hope that helps

bigpfist · Jul 21, 2020

Parent_usmc said:
My biocube went threw the same thing. About 4 months in I was fighting the same stuff. I did run purigen in the back in a small media bag. I purchased an in tank media basket that greatly helped in the filtration. After a month of fighting and doing 5 gallon water changes weekly the tank was super clean. Also I got a conch snail that really stirred up the sand bed . Hope that helps

Thanks! My snails are able to plow out the sand pretty well, but they do their best to scurry out of the sand as soon as possible. Is there any way to encourage them to stay on the sand? They seem to really like the glass and live rock. I used to have a 120 and a 60 gallon tank...this is the first time I have ever had algae!

Parent_usmc · Jul 21, 2020

Most of my regular snails just live in the rock the conch are the only ones that really stay under the sand. Some fish do the same also, something to look into