glb
7500 Club Member
In its prime, my 40g looked like this (pic from July. 24
I’ve had this tank for almost 10 years and have been feeding for close to 15-20 years. I’ve always been able to keep it in check, doing all the maintenance myself. I built the entire setup myself (tank, stand, plumbing, etc) and it’s always been my pride and joy.
I had a crash (my first big one) in August due to a dosing mistake pushing my alk up to 15 and overfeeding by someone watching it while I was away, pushing the nitrates up to the 20’s. The Ca was low, a terrible breakout of green algae took hold, and 5 months later I’m still not able to stabilize. Now my tank looks like this
I just pulled out of a ton of green hair algae. I lost all the SPS back in August, gradually most of my LPS have died, although a few look fine. I had a terrible breakout of flatworms, and got a spotted mandarin to help, but the tank is still overrun. I won’t consider flatworm exit.
Then, my alk dosing pump wasn’t dosing enough and the alk dropped to 3.3 in October. I gradually brought it back up. The last reading was 7.1, Ca in the 400’s, mg 1350, po4 0.03 ppm, no3 down to 1.5ppm. I’ll test the water again tomorrow for full parameters.
The tank overheated a few weeks ago to 80 due to the return pump heating up then dying. I’ve replaced it since and the circulation is back to normal. Temp has returned to normal.
I realize all of this is my bad due to a heavy work schedule and not enough time for maintenance. Today I turned off the t-5 lights and will leave them off a few days to see if that will slow the algae growth.
I’m a very experienced reefer but I’ve tried everything to get the tank back in balance. I know about the problems of too high or too low nutrients. I know all about appropriate alk, ca, and mg levels. Although I won’t know the specifics until I test tomorrow, I’ve stabilized these all at some point in the last month.
At this point I need to bring in an expert to help me figure out what’s wrong. Does anyone know someone in Miami, FL who can make a house call? I don’t want to give up on my tank but I need some emergency TLC to get it back to the way it used to be.
Please no judgment, I’m sad that it looks this way. Any help is appreciated, and I’ll post new numbers tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I’ve had this tank for almost 10 years and have been feeding for close to 15-20 years. I’ve always been able to keep it in check, doing all the maintenance myself. I built the entire setup myself (tank, stand, plumbing, etc) and it’s always been my pride and joy.
I had a crash (my first big one) in August due to a dosing mistake pushing my alk up to 15 and overfeeding by someone watching it while I was away, pushing the nitrates up to the 20’s. The Ca was low, a terrible breakout of green algae took hold, and 5 months later I’m still not able to stabilize. Now my tank looks like this
I just pulled out of a ton of green hair algae. I lost all the SPS back in August, gradually most of my LPS have died, although a few look fine. I had a terrible breakout of flatworms, and got a spotted mandarin to help, but the tank is still overrun. I won’t consider flatworm exit.
Then, my alk dosing pump wasn’t dosing enough and the alk dropped to 3.3 in October. I gradually brought it back up. The last reading was 7.1, Ca in the 400’s, mg 1350, po4 0.03 ppm, no3 down to 1.5ppm. I’ll test the water again tomorrow for full parameters.
The tank overheated a few weeks ago to 80 due to the return pump heating up then dying. I’ve replaced it since and the circulation is back to normal. Temp has returned to normal.
I realize all of this is my bad due to a heavy work schedule and not enough time for maintenance. Today I turned off the t-5 lights and will leave them off a few days to see if that will slow the algae growth.
I’m a very experienced reefer but I’ve tried everything to get the tank back in balance. I know about the problems of too high or too low nutrients. I know all about appropriate alk, ca, and mg levels. Although I won’t know the specifics until I test tomorrow, I’ve stabilized these all at some point in the last month.
At this point I need to bring in an expert to help me figure out what’s wrong. Does anyone know someone in Miami, FL who can make a house call? I don’t want to give up on my tank but I need some emergency TLC to get it back to the way it used to be.
Please no judgment, I’m sad that it looks this way. Any help is appreciated, and I’ll post new numbers tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
