Everything was going so well... help!

[BC-reefer]

Hi folks,

Tank was doing great but have now been battling algae for the past 3-4 wks. Had some losses since then which could be from related issues (or not?). The algae was only on the sand bed at first. I would stir the sand as part of my daily maintenance and was doing water changes every 2-3 wks. Algae slowly got worse and now is at the point that it is almost covering entire sand bed again an hour or two after sifting. However, corals and fish were all fine but it seems maybe i have made things worse trying to beat the algae (or unlucky coincedence).

Hoping i can get some advice to get back on track

System info;
Tank is IM30L (~25 gallons) and has been running for 5 months. I have marine orbit pro lights. 2 eflux powerheads; one on each end of tank. Im ghost skimmer running in back. On one side i have intank floss holder running filter floss. Other side i have filter floss/chemi pure blue/purigen in the 3 levels of the holder. I dose calc and mag every few wks based on test results. Feed frozen every day or so. Corals get reef roids once a wk. change filter floss every few wks when i empty the skimmer.

Livestock;
2 x black ocellaris
Firefish
Six spot goby
2 cleaner shrimp
Half dozen snails
Half dozen crabs
* had more CUC but seem to have lost a few

Corals;
Frogspawn
Frag of orange zoas (~15 polyps)
Green cup coral
Torch coral frag
Candy cane frags (origally 2 heads and now 5)
Few fuzzy mushrooms that came on a rock
Been sticking to basic corals and mostly small frags

Parameters; salifert test kits and refractometer
78 degrees, SG 1.026
Ammonia - 0
Calc - 450
Mag - 1300
Nitrates - ~0
Phosphates - 0 ( i think it is reading 0 or very close.)
kH - 7.7 (was 9 in dec and has slowly dropped)
Nitrite - 0
pH - 8

I started with sifting sand twice daily instead of once and did a few water changes with no changes to algae growth. Corals and fish were all happy and healthy for a few wks but then i noticed that zoas were not opening and lps werent looking as happy. The algae covers the sand within an hour of the lights being on and then proceeds to get long snotty bits that wave in the flow. By evening it starts to spread to lower rocks. I blow it off and sift sand every night. Because of the dark reddy/orange tinge and how it was thick and slimey i thought maybe cyano. Tried chemi clean and thats when problems started. Dosed the right amount and didnt see any changes. Woke up on day three to dead six spot goby and one dead cleaner shrimp. Goby had been eating fine and showed no signs of a pathogen. Other shrimp was fine. Only thing i noticed was SG was down to 1.024 after i had put some rodi in the night before. Did a 20% wc that night. No change to algae growth. Corals are looking unhappy still. Checked the parameters and got the above results. Another 20%wc two days later.
Algae is still as bad and corals are still looking not happy. Im at a loss as to next steps? Thinking of waiting and another wc and swapping chemi pure next weekend.

Only causes i can think of;
- i was feeding a bit heavier around xmas to get nutrients up. Cause of algae?
- slight swing in SG last week from 1.026 to 1.024 (is that enough to kill a goby and shrimp?)
- Alk has dropped from 9.3 to 7.7 since early dec. could that be causing any of this?
- lastly there was a power outage in mid jan where the pumps, lights and powerheads were not running for 7 hours. I manually churned water every hr during that time.

I use rodi water that i buy from a water store.

Pics of algae in below post...dinos?

Thx,
BCR

 

[BC-reefer]

Pics of the algae. Note that those are not air bubbles in the algae, just pieces of sand. There is some hair algae also but the cuc had been munching on it

 

[Denisk]

To be honest it kind of looks like diatoms. There are so many strains of Dino but I had one personally that lived in the sand during the day. (You can look at my Dino thread and see the pictures and or just read what I went through)

But either way, I would probably feed a little less. I’m not sure how much frozen you’re feeding (so try to be a little more specific) but with the fish you have, you can even feed ever other day and hold off on the Reef roids.

How long has this system been running for?

 

[brandon429]

Since you have a nano:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445


It's not possible you would ever have any form of sandbed invasion after doing that. I'm going on 13th yr invasion free. I can see the ha on the zo frag

It's important we kill off the gha too, when the tank is parted out, like we show in the thread. All your algae is fixed, and the fuel for it...not just the diatoms. See your nano as an accessible whole unit...not just a single param or two to target, this makes a nano invader free 100% of its life. It's not that algae are bad or signal something wrong in a newer tank, it's that you have the option to be algae free, posted above, or you have the ability to leave it in the tank and see if it goes away on its own or via cuc.

We have made darn sure anyone who wants a compliant sandbed can make that occur, before lunch today in fact if so wanted. We know how to control tank cycles, so losing animals is no longer a reason to feel like no action is avail. We either want our invasions where they are and leave them in place, or we don't, and action threads exist. That's algae control for this year in my opinion.

 

[BC-reefer]

To be honest it kind of looks like diatoms. There are so many strains of Dino but I had one personally that lived in the sand during the day. (You can look at my Dino thread and see the pictures and or just read what I went through)

But either way, I would probably feed a little less. I’m not sure how much frozen you’re feeding (so try to be a little more specific) but with the fish you have, you can even feed ever other day and hold off on the Reef roids.

How long has this system been running for?

System has been running for 5 months. i feed frozen mysis - one cube a day. Also target feed corals reef roids once a week

the pics were taken an hour after sifting sand so it is just coming back. i will post some pics after a day of build up when it is looking snotty and thick

 

[BC-reefer]

Since you have a nano:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445


It's not possible you would ever have any form of sandbed invasion after doing that. I'm going on 13th yr invasion free. I can see the ha on the zo frag

It's important we kill off the gha too, when the tank is parted out, like we show in the thread. All your algae is fixed, and the fuel for it...not just the diatoms. See your nano as an accessible whole unit...not just a single param or two to target, this makes a nano invader free 100% of its life. It's not that algae are bad or signal something wrong in a newer tank, it's that you have the option to be algae free, posted above, or you have the ability to leave it in the tank and see if it goes away on its own or via cuc.

We have made darn sure anyone who wants a compliant sandbed can make that occur, before lunch today in fact if so wanted. We know how to control tank cycles, so losing animals is no longer a reason to feel like no action is avail. We either want our invasions where they are and leave them in place, or we don't, and action threads exist. That's algae control for this year in my opinion.

Yes, i actually read through your whole thread last night so glad you posted here. With my rock setup and limited coral (low $$ risk), i could take the whole tank down, rinse the sand and set it back up with new water in a day. I am still wrapping my head around this approach as it really goes against everything we are taught about aiming for an "established, well balanced ecosystem".

Also, your writing style and delivery is top notch. almost poetic and very enjoyable to read

thx,
BCR

 

[Denisk]

System has been running for 5 months. i feed frozen mysis - one cube a day. Also target feed corals reef roids once a week

the pics were taken an hour after sifting sand so it is just coming back. i will post some pics after a day of build up when it is looking snotty and thick

Yeah one cube of mysis a day is way to much especially when only doing water changes once every two to three weeks. I’ll feed a cube and some Nori in a 90 gallon. 5 months is also fairly new in my opinion.

But I would definitely post more pics. If you feel like it gets snotty and think, it may be Dino. You’d have to try and get some more pics.

 

[BC-reefer]

Yeah one cube of mysis a day is way to much especially when only doing water changes once every two to three weeks. I’ll feed a cube and some Nori in a 90 gallon. 5 months is also fairly new in my opinion.

But I would definitely post more pics. If you feel like it gets snotty and think, it may be Dino. You’d have to try and get some more pics.

that's good feedback, thanks. also worth mentioning, i was intentionally feeding a bit heavier. My phos and nitrates were reading 0 and i was reading that i may be "too clean" and should aim to get the water just a tad dirtier for strong coral growth. maybe i over did it

 

[NikoO]

I think you have dinos, I have them right now and I'm about to start dosing 3% hydrogen peroxide @ 1ml per 10 gallons of water

 

[Denisk]

that's good feedback, thanks. also worth mentioning, i was intentionally feeding a bit heavier. My phos and nitrates were reading 0 and i was reading that i may be "too clean" and should aim to get the water just a tad dirtier for strong coral growth. maybe i over did it

No problem!

 

[BC-reefer]

I think you have dinos, I have them right now and I'm about to start dosing 3% hydrogen peroxide @ 1ml per 10 gallons of water

did you try a UV sterilizer before that?

 

[Neo Jeo]

This is what I would do:

Cut back on feeding. Every other day or every 3 days. Do water changes every week for a few weeks then to every other week. Every 3 weeks is to long. I would also turn up the flow in the tank. Also turn your lights off a few hours early for a few days as well. How long you running your lights now?

Just my thoughts.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

For the time being , is stop feeding the corals, just the fish. Test the tds of the water.
I’d also reduce the amount Po4 removers.
Add good bacterias. Dr Tim’s and bio spira are my go tos.

IMO , is just new tank uglies. Or a phase. They happen.

IMO. It’s not that bad. You could do a restart , but I don’t think it’s that bad.

 

[Vahanyos]

I don’t think a restart is necessary. Do not dose anything, and just do water changes weekly. 20% should be fine.

Feed way less and only what your fish consume. I don’t think you need to dose any extra food for corals just yet. Your tank is still new and needs to establish on a natural cycle. Your fish poop will feed the corals. Limit feeding, stop dosing extra stuff, keep your lights on a couple hours less a day, and continue water changes weekly. 0 nitrates is not a bad thing. Keep it consistent at 0 and your coral will adjust and thrive in 0 nitrates. My water is “too clean” , and I too am getting zero nitrate readings but I let my tank establish by just doing water changes only and everything is doing okay. I still get diatoms sometimes in the sand after a year bu it goes away. It’s an indication that I’m feeding too much so I cut back and see good results in a week or two.

Dosing in my opinion is for established tanks that cannot get their necessary supplements from only water changes. For example a heavily stocked sps tank where corals are eating too much of it.

Just my two cents

 

[BC-reefer]

More pics... this is what i come home to after work

 

[Raxnar]

Sure is not pretty, not quite the same as what I've got going on. mine doesn't really get hairy or stringy like that. perhaps mine is not Dino and just diatom's again. I'll show you some pics at work tomorrow.

 

[Vahanyos]

I would tough it out. Maybe do water changes every 5 days instead of a week. You can try to manually remove it with a turkey Baster if you can’t stand the sight of it lol, but that’s it

 

[Vahanyos]

I would also try leaving the lights off for a full day, once a week. I think that might help

 

[BC-reefer]

For the time being , is stop feeding the corals, just the fish. Test the tds of the water.
I’d also reduce the amount Po4 removers.
Add good bacterias. Dr Tim’s and bio spira are my go tos.

IMO , is just new tank uglies. Or a phase. They happen.

IMO. It’s not that bad. You could do a restart , but I don’t think it’s that bad.

Ok thx appreciate it. I was also not concerned until i woke up to a dead goby and shrimp. The goby wqs my favourite too... alot of character. And since then a torch has died and my frogspawn (favourite coral) is unhappy. Thus, my mindset changed from wait it out to i need to fix this

 

[BC-reefer]

I would also try leaving the lights off for a full day, once a week. I think that might help

Tried that last week, no lights for a full day and seemed to not slow it down at all