can you guys give me ideas on how to fix my tank?

[outhouse]

i use the basic light that comes with the 13.5 fluval tank

Pretty weak lights for coral. Fine for fish only

 

[MaxTremors]

how often are you supposed to test your water?

It kind of depends on how the tank is doing, how established it is, how much coral growth you’re having, how much you’re feeding, any new additions or changes, etc. Personally, I generally recommend for an established tank (usually at least 6 months to a year old) to test alkalinity and salinity every 2-3 days, nitrates, phosphates, and PH once a week, and magnesium and calcium every two weeks, I also check the temp daily (just look at the digital thermometer). If anything is off, I will test more often (depends on the parameter and how off it is) until it is back to normal. And then everything gets logged into a spread sheet so I can chart any trends and ensure stability.

 

[MaxTremors]

Pretty weak lights for coral. Fine for fish only

It’s okay for soft corals and some LPS, but you’re not going to get great growth or coloration.

 

[FishyFishFish]

You could do 2-4 depending on how strong they are. you can do one at each end and 2 on back wall. You need 2 wavemakers just to keep the surface agitated. At least get 1 more in there pointed up to stir the surface on the opposite side. If it were me, I'd do 3. Amazon the jebao's w-25's I think are not that expensive and they are controllable

You don't need additional powerheads in a Fluval Evo. You already have one more than me!

Pretty weak lights for coral. Fine for fish only

Fine for coral too. In any case that isn't the reason for the algae.


I still think you need test kits. My water is 'fine' but it isn't always the same 'fine'. Trends will tell you what is going on. i.e. do you need more or less water changes? Are your phosphates a little high or ok?

If your water is definitely ok then I would get more Clean-up-Crew to help eat the algae. Then you need to look into whether the red stuff in the sand is Cyano or Dinos.


I hate to say it but in that condition it may benefit from a 'rip clean'. You can search this site for info on how to do that.

 

[MaxTremors]

You don't need additional powerheads in a Fluval Evo. You already have one more than me!



Fine for coral too. In any case that isn't the reason for the algae.


I still think you need test kits. My water is 'fine' but it isn't always the same 'fine'. Trends will tell you what is going on. i.e. do you need more or less water changes? Are your phosphates a little high or ok?

If your water is definitely ok then I would get more Clean-up-Crew to help eat the algae. Then you need to look into whether the red stuff in the sand is Cyano or Dinos.


I hate to say it but in that condition it may benefit from a 'rip clean'. You can search this site for info on how to do that.

In pretty much every scenario, every AiO tank needs an extra power head, even if you upgrade the return pump, it’s likely still not going to be enough flow for most corals.

Edit: though I think 3 in a 13 gallon is way too many, just one would be perfectly adequate.

Also agree with you on the test kits and the CuC!

 

[FishyFishFish]

I tried an extra one (an Aqamai KPS, one of the smallest you can get) and it was too much for my evo.


The OP already has one more, which should be enough; the suggestion of needing 4 is just ludicrous and bad info. The money is better spent elsewhere.

 

[MaxTremors]

I tried an extra one (an Aqamai KPS, one of the smallest you can get) and it was too much for my evo.


The OP already has one more, which should be enough; the suggestion of needing 4 is just ludicrous and bad info. The money is better spent elsewhere.

Yeah, I agree, 3-4 is way, way too much.

 

[fachatga]

how often are you supposed to test your water?

I would recommend testing often at first. Even daily for a few weeks. Test kits can take some practice to use consistently and doing it daily will tell you if you’re doing it right and consistently if you’re seeing small changes or none every day. After that it depends on what’s in the tank. I test alk daily and phos nit and cal weekly. Mag maybe every other week. Salinity just randomly a few times a week. But I was testing a ton at least daily both when I started and when I begin dosing anything new so I really can study and know what effect it has.

 

[Paul B]

What do you feed those fish?

 

[Uzidaisies]

Isn’t 30% water change weekly kind of a lot? Doesn’t seem to be helping anyway. I also don’t understand why there seems to be so much particulate in and on the water if you’re changing that much water every week.

 

[Idech]

I have only one power head in my tank. do you think that having 2 power head in the fluval 13.5 is ok?

I have a Fluval 13.5 with one small powerhead aimed at the surface and I turn the two nozzles up to the surface as well, or at least one, and this give me plenty of agitation at the surface.

You should do the same. I think 2 powerheads would be way too much.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Also, just curious what are these?

 

[Susan Edwards]

regardless of 1 or 2 or 3, stagnant surface is bad and part of the problem I had an aio 60 gal with 3. I have an aio 40 gal with 2. It can't hurt and could help. could also lift the return nozzle up so it is breaking the surface a bit. Whatever, there are major issues happening that need addressing. And depending on corals down the road, 1 may not be enough

 

[aidancoby13]

What do you feed those fish?

pellets mostly

 

[aidancoby13]

Also, just curious what are these?

left is a aiptasia and the right is a peppermint shrimp

 

[LuizW13]

My first step for recommendation to "fix" your tank would be to scrub your rocks during next water change. Just pull the rock out and scrub it in the bucket you siphoned tank water into. Then put the rock back in the tank with new water.

Like, everyone else suggested, having a your own test kits is really really helpful. Just out of curiosity, you when you do buy some, test the saltwater you get from the store.

You should also either point the power head or return nozzle to the surface. This will keep the surface of the water 'clean' and will increase oxygen in the water, and possibly boosting your Ph.

You might also want to reduce the amount of feedings with pellets. Buy some frozen food like Hikari mysis or spirulina brine shrimp and use that as your main food source. I'd bet that your phosphates are a bit high, and pellets would almost certainly be the main contributor to that.

Good luck, you got this!

 

[Dkmoo]

Just by eye test and seeing you only have skimmer. This result is completely normal and expected. Issue is that your accumulated nitrates and phosphates have no where to go. So the only thing that result is algae growth.

"But I have skimmer and I do water change" you say? Well to understand why, you gotta understand that:

1) skimmer doesn't pull out nitrates/phosphates. They pull out organic matters before they break down to nitrates and phosphates. Plus, they do not pull 100% of the waste out of the water..far from it. So, this results in whatever waste thats left in the water breaking down to no3/po4 and it gets stuck in yiur tank and accumulate.

2) water change is ineffective at reducing no3/po4. A 25% wc means 75% of the waste is still in the water which accumulates until it gets high enough where 25% of the total accumulation matches what your fishes generate and thats when equilibrium is reached. At those levels usually algae kicks in to gobble up the excess waste.

"But I only have a light bioload with 2 clowns and feed lightly" you say. Well, that doesn't matter either bc the skimmers effectiveness is a % of available waste instead of an absolute value so there will always be waste that remains and accumulate. Its just a matter of "how long" and "how faste" it accumulates. Bc of this, doing massive water changes and deep cleaning/scrubbing are only short term solutions, your tank will be clean but eventually will end up dirty again without a true solution.

What you need is a direct no3/po4 absorber /export. Right now thats served by the nuisance algae growth which if you are willing to do a deep scrub every few weeks, then that works. Otherwise, its time to invest in a ATS or refugium.

 

[Paul B]

I personally don't think you need test kits right now. You really don't have hardly any coral and those couple of fish are very hardy so the parameters wouldn't mean much to them. Eventually maybe, but not now.

You also change enough water to eliminate any harsh parameter problems. I would immediately throw out those pellets as I feel they are the worst thing you could put in a tank for a variety of reasons. Get yourself some LRS or Rods food. Nothing dry and I don't know how many pellets you are feeding, but I think it's way to many.

The water looks kind of lousy from the pictures and should be crystal clear.

That little bit of cyano doesn't bother me as it is a natural occurrence and I have some of it in my very old tank. It is not poison and won't hurt anything.

If you change your feeding habits and it doesn't look better in a couple of weeks I would install an algae scrubber that you can easily build.
But I really feel in your case, it's mostly the pellets.

Just my opinion of course. But whatever you do, don't add any chemicals to "fix" this as it isn't that bad.
Good Luck

 

[outhouse]

It’s okay for soft corals and some LPS

Not really, they are very weak lights. They are like 10 or 14W lights, that is factually weak for any coral. factually they are very weak.

In any case that isn't the reason for the algae.

In a previous post I made my recommendations for algae, and lighting can and does cause algae.

 

[outhouse]

don't add any chemicals to "fix"

I just had that same brown turf in mine and fluconazole and Vibrant have cleared it up completely, and my 210g tank has not looked this good for years.