Diatoms or Dino’s?

[ReefAddict16]

I'm going to drop in my most referenced article here, which might help...

Read #15: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/

The nitrogen cycle is only the startup of a SW tank cycle. The next 6-12 months is a maturing phase, and it's typically in this time frame where algae outbreaks occur and things can sort of roller-coaster, and if you stock the tank up too quickly, you might see corals randomly dying & fish getting sick, etc...one can very easily fall into the trap of chasing problems = making more problems => giving up and selling everything off.

Long-term stability and balance are the keys, and you just can't shortcut the process significantly. That's always the #1 thing to keep in mind!

But as far as fighting off the problem, that can be tricky because you first have to identify the root cause of the issue, which can be one or several of a plethora of reasons.


^^ good advice

Thank you for that. I guess I just have to wait until my tank matures.
Would you recommend me cutting down on my photoperiod and waterchanges?

 

[KenO]

Ew...I'm not proud of that. (There's a ton of threads out there...I see you're not alone.)

I'm always stunned whenI find out what folks will put in their tanks...and recommend for others.

But I'm glad it at least worked as advertised on the hydroids.

Sadly, miracle cures are never miracles even when they do seem to cure something. Fenbendazole is a de-wormer with major side-effects (works on e.g. sheep....but deaths have been reported on e.g. sheep), so you probably nuked every wormy critter in your tank and maybe more – a lot of your unseen CUC and critters which bring stability to a tank in the long run.

See if you can at least order or beg some bristleworms online (vendor or person...that outfit in Hawaii that came up a few posts back had briostleworms and more) or from someone local. Maybe even better, or at least a good addition, would be some detritus from a healthy tank – to restore at least a little of what was lost.

yes on the skimmer – they aren't very good at removing waste, but they are crucial for aeration. A very underestimated function.

I'd take down the GFO.

Fendbendazole takes a really long time (months) to exit a tank. It gets absorbed into the rock. I used it to eliminate blue cloves. To see if it is still active get a piece of Xenia or GSP. If it is still active, the Xenia will die within 24-36 hours. Even doing 100% WC's will not remove the med since it is in the rocks. Run carbon and replace weekly. Don't add new bristleworms, etc until the Xenia stays alive.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

The first thing most reefers do to battle algae and cyano,s, considered a nuisance, is removing or limiting phosphates . Removing phosphates influences all living creatures in the aquarium. Those creatures needing it the most have also a very effective and fast pathway to get it but are not very effective in using it as they live where it is unlimited available. Other creatures in competition for the same building materials have developed other pathways in there continues battle for the left overs. They are very effective in using what is for them limited available, they are used to survive in nutrient limited conditions and have the ability to store a lot of reserves when the needed nutrients become available, enough to survive a period of shortness. As an example, a lot of cyano's can store phosphate for 4 cell divisions, which means they are able to increase there biomass 32x even when there is no phosphate available for them.
What will happen when the main consumers of phosphate start to die off? The reefer will at first be happy as he has battled with success general algae growth in his aquarium system. What a month later?
The use of GFO changes the biological balances and favours outbreaks of those who are able to store phosphate and other building materials when these materials become available ( after feeding). GFO may not only remove phosphate but a lot off other elements as there is iron, silicon, etc
Correct (enough) feeding, taking in account the protein produced by the system, the time ( patience) for installing a balanced food chain ( photo autothrops + consumers) will solve most problems. Also a skimmer creates an unbalance which is difficult to correct on a natural way.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Get some green emerald crabs! Also a Sea Hare can ink in your tank causing it to crash. Happened to me back in 2004

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

Would you recommend me cutting down on my photoperiod and waterchanges?

Well there's a couple schools of thought on both of these.

Water changes: typically you'll see "there's not a problem that can't be solved by doing enough water changes" but I've seen other opinions posted more frequently as of late that are the opposite of this; basically saying that in at least some cases, water changes can fuel issues. I can't claim to know everything here but just throwing it out there that there is valid rationale for not doing water changes in certain situations.

Lighting: The way I see this, you can either A) cut the lighting way down and use media to remove nutrients over time, removing the fuel source or B) crank up the lights and just let the algae have at it...let the algae do the job directly on the source of the nutrients (the rock/sand/etc) until there's nothing left for it to consume, let herbivores eat the algae and then remove the waste products the herbivores produce (using your everyday filtration systems). The latter just seems like the more efficient system to me, circle of life and nature and stuff like that (real scientific, I know) and while you are still relying on filtration to remove the waste, it's likely a more efficient use of that versus option A

 

[mcarroll]

I'm going to drop in my most referenced article here, which might help...

Read #15: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/

eb on that link = Eric Borneman, btw, for anyone not old.

This is pretty much what I've seen three other people say, independent from Eric's graphic from that link:

I think I've posted that sequence or one very similar to it here 3-4 times...without looking up my old posts I'd say almost verbatim ....and if I ever saw that graphic before it was around 2004....my memory isn't that good...so I don't think I was copying.

I'm pretty sure this used to be kinda the way to start a tank – at least among a signifant minority, if not everyeone. I know it's how I started mine.

There's typically no analog for live rock in a freshwater tank, but the essential startup model he outlined still works pretty darned well on freshwater tanks too.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

I might just start using that pic instead of linking to the article (especially since it's on a site associated with another forum....)

 

[mcarroll]

I might just start using that pic instead of linking to the article (especially since it's on a site associated with another forum....)

I think he mentioned that it was a slide from a power point he'd use at talks.

Reading old stuff like that sometimes leaved me wondering how we got to the point where we are now.

 

[Dburr1014]

Wow, I read the whole thread.

You mentioned 5 fish, what fish are they?
Are you using activated carbon? You should but 1st do a large water change 20/30%. In another week, do another water change. This will start to get you in balance.
Post your progress.

 

[ReefAddict16]

Get some green emerald crabs! Also a Sea Hare can ink in your tank causing it to crash. Happened to me back in 2004

I have two and one was picking at my sps. So I threw him in the sump.
The other doesn’t really seem to do much. He does like to chill on the acros at night though.

 

[ReefAddict16]

Wow, I read the whole thread.

You mentioned 5 fish, what fish are they?
Are you using activated carbon? You should but 1st do a large water change 20/30%. In another week, do another water change. This will start to get you in balance.
Post your progress.

They are two clownfish, two cardinals and a flame hawk. I do run carbon in a bag. Removed the GFO to let the tank balance itself.
I removed most of the brown algae off my frags a couple days ago and now most of it seemed to turn green. Also cut down the photoperiod from 11 to 9 hours. 2 hours reefbrite, 7 hours t5’s.

 

[ReefAddict16]

5/25/18:

 

[Dburr1014]

They are two clownfish, two cardinals and a flame hawk. I do run carbon in a bag. Removed the GFO to let the tank balance itself.
I removed most of the brown algae off my frags a couple days ago and now most of it seemed to turn green. Also cut down the photoperiod from 11 to 9 hours. 2 hours reefbrite, 7 hours t5’s.

Good.
Removing gfo is good but the tank won't balance itself. Do a big water change.
Good to cut light down to 9 hours for now too. I wouldn't go any less than that for now.
Those 5 fish aren't too much for your tank for now. Don't add any more for at least a year.
Manually Removing the hair when you can will be a big plus. Sounds like you are on your way to clear this up.
After the water change I would add some snails to help eat up some of that hair.

 

[ReefAddict16]

Unfortunately had to take the tank down due to financial reasons... I’ll be back and start right this time.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]