[entire reef issue] Losing a looong battle, about to give up. (black paint algae, everthing dying)

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

You don't have to worry about magnesium until u get into stoney skeleton coral needing it.
The flakes contain lots of phosphates.
You've changed salt mix. Changing the chemistry.
Everything ur saying seems to be ok or checking out. I like the carbon as long as u change it out enough. Or run every now and again. Don't let it just sit in ur tank.

Let the tank be. Let it do its thing so to speak. Have you tried this?
Wish I was more help sorry. I feel like I'm no help. LOL
-d

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Sorry for the delay, I checked with customs and they told me the chance of something liquid passing through is minimal (it would be a fluke on their part). They are too worried about drugs or something, but the customs person didn't want to explain further.

I checked with 2 local laboratories, in both cases they are using a different kind of testing machine (atomic absorption), and both rejected my request because the salinity in the water would interfere with the results.

Living in the 3rd world sucks for stuff like this

I have family in Argentina. I know what you mean about the customs. Do you know anyone traveling to USA or Europe, or can you find someone? Have them bring it in a suitcase. Unfortunately my next visitor won’t be until May.

 

[MOAIAP]

You don't have to worry about magnesium until u get into stoney skeleton coral needing it.
...
-d

Not at all, what you are saying is more or less what I've been doing, so it's also the advoice I would give myself, it's just that I feel like it's not working :/

 

[MOAIAP]

I have family in Argentina. I know what you mean about the customs. Do you know anyone traveling to USA or Europe, or can you find someone? Have them bring it in a suitcase. Unfortunately my next visitor won’t be until May.

I will ask around!

 

[Hermie]

Hello, any update on your tank? I hope it turned around for you all

 

[MOAIAP]

Hello, any update on your tank? I hope it turned around for you all

Hello! Thanks for asking!

We ended up replacing everything but the glass, including live rock. It went well for a month or two.... but now it seems to not be doing so well.
It went through the normal brown algae because it re-cycled, and I have some cyano now... I'm not worried about that, but the black paint añlgae thing seems to be making a comeback, so I'm battling it with physical cleaning and patience.
If this doesn't work, I think we'll just switch to fish-only tank

 

[ZaneTer]

Have you checked for stray voltage?

I know it’s a bit of an outlier but you seem to have done pretty much all the usual checks.

Have you checked your refractometer with calibration fluid?

 

[brandon429]

post full tank shots pls so we can see what we have going on

 

[Michael Gilbreath]

do you have magnet based power heads wonder if maybe one of the magnets is breaking down because of saltwater just a thought.

 

[MOAIAP]

Not sure if updating this will bump it, but since the last posting we re-started again from scratch... for 3 months it went well, and on the 4th the black stuff re-appeared.

I think my mistake was to re-add some of the original (dried for months and disinfected) rock to use it as base rock, I never thought this stuff could survive that... I added it at the very beginning of this restart, it's been in the tank for about 4 months now.

Here's a few pictures:
Pictures about a week and a half ago:

Pictures today:


And the reddit post I made a couple days ago, without much success IDing the stuff:

 

[Crustaceon]

It honestly looks like your rocks are going through the uglies. I’d just hold those parameters and see if coralline takes over. What’s probably happening is phosphate is leeching out of the rock and it’s a perfect spot for that darker algae to set up shop. When the supply of Po4 is exhausted, that algae will probably go away on its own. Your priority should be looking for coralline algae growth. That can take four-six months sometimes before it really takes off and starts outcompeting other algae on the rocks.

 

[Ardeus]

Are you sure that black algae isn't a sponge? I had a black sponge growing on a couple of rocks (very hard to remove) with zoas and it was killing them.

I then killed it by accident when I treated a small case of cyano with azythromycine, it turned light yellow overnight.

 

[Paratrooper Lutz]

I would try and filter with Carcoal and a polishing floss, maybe a GFO, do a 20% Water Change and Definately add a UV light that will kill the Particles of Algae floating in the water I would run the UV Light at least 8 hours a day for a month. I am no expert but I've dealt with Algae blooms in the past. OVERFEEDING can cause water to become unstable also. I've also began using a product called "Vibrant" made by Underwater Creations Inc. It's basically Bacteria made to starve hair algae and such but it's reef safe for Fish and Corals. Vibrant is not a quick fix but if added as directed as a Maintenance additive, it works wonders. Also consider building your own Algae Scrubber, fairly simply to make and simply to maintain as you just Harvest, Remove Algae as it grows on the Screen. Do a search for DIY Algae Scrubber depending on the size of your water volume and Daily Feeding will determine the size needed on type System. I love Algae Scrubbers as they are cheap to maintain once the initial cost of Purchasing the Materials for DIY or buying a Manufactured one is out of the way. Just look for Grow Lights for a DIY on Amazon look for a 4:1 Red:Blue Light Ratio and run it on a daily timer, I suggest you run the lights opposite of your Tank lights at Night. Also there is an Algae Reactor somewhere here on R2R that utilizes a simple Tubular Reactor with grow LEDs wrapped around the Reactor and either Chaeto or a Macro Algae grown inside the Reactor and Harvested every 2 to 3 Weeks and can be feed to any fish that will eat Algae. Anyways Please don't get frustrated and Give Up, I think most of us Reefing Hobbyist have run into issues like what your dealing with and that's the great thing about R2R and the Web Solutions are just a click away. It wasn't that simple back when I first got into the Hobby 25 years ago.
Good Luck and Happy Reefing,
ParatrooperLUTZ or just Dean
PS. I've just gotten back into the hobby again after a 20 year Break from the Hobby and upgraded from a little 29 Gallon Reef Tank to my new to me 75 Gallon Reef Sytem

 

[MOAIAP]

Are you sure that black algae isn't a sponge? I had a black sponge growing on a couple of rocks (very hard to remove) with zoas and it was killing them.

I then killed it by accident when I treated a small case of cyano with azythromycine, it turned light yellow overnight.

Last iteration of the issue I medicated that, and it didn't help

Also it's not spongy at all, its not really slimy either. It's texture is smooth and hard, similar to coralline, maybe a bit more sleek.

 

[MOAIAP]

...

Thanks for the reply!

I already had a little piece of cheaeto, I've now set it tumbling in the sump with a led growlight, hope it helps some!

 

[Paratrooper Lutz]

Thanks for the reply!

I already had a little piece of cheaeto, I've now set it tumbling in the sump with a led growlight, hope it helps some!

Try out the VIBRANT if its available to , you there in Argentina. Also I'm sure You can get a UV light to run in your sump they sell them at pond stores also it will clear up free floating Algae.

 

[MOAIAP]

Try out the VIBRANT if its available to , you there in Argentina. Also I'm sure You can get a UV light to run in your sump they sell them at pond stores also it will clear up free floating Algae.

From What I read on the website, vibrant is basically live bacteria:
Vibrant Ingredients -
95% Cultured Bacteria Blend
1% Amino Acids (Aspartic Acid)
0.5% Vinegar
3.5% RO/DI Water

I'm using a similar product from aquaforest called "pro bio S"