- Joined
- Oct 13, 2019
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Alrighty guys, so! First post, new to yall. I am a rather active member of fishlore but I was recently referred by my lfs to R2R. As posts in my forum are normally limited to my freshwater tanks i figured why not give this a go.
Gonna start out with background for the tank then dive into the issues. Before continuing. I'm sorry for the length of this post.
So!
15gal fluval flex tank: 5 months operational: started with live rock: lomine 50watt coral light: Aquatic life 115 skimmer: standard 100w heater: running carbon: 100-10micron filter sponges in rear of tank: 50 micron filter sock for overflow: purigen: ATO: basic 15w grow light for fuge: Jebao Ow-10. Just a basic list of relevant components to the tank. Not all of them...just relevant.
Sump/fuge- 4gal tupperware that houses the chaeto, skimmer, filter sock, and heater.
I use salifert kits to test for nitrate and ammonia. Seachems kit for phosphate. And API master kit to double check previous levels or test other components. I do not test for specific elements like magnesium, calcium, etc. Haven't gotten that far.
Tank composition:
2 Darwin Ocellaris clown fish (the only fish). 5 nerite snails, about 10 dwarf ceriths, 1 emerald crab, and a couple of other snails I dont remember the name of.
corals: Xenia (growing strongly), Zoa's (also growing), GSP (recently added trying to get my crab to stop picking at).
I obtained all the cleaners due to a massive outbreak of bubble and green algae. I have not yet solved this issue and thus is why I'm here.
levels:
As I said I dont test for the more complex minerals in the water but my parameters for the basics are as follows
ph: 8.2 nitrate: 0-1.25 swings between water changes nitrite: 0 ammonia: 0 phosphate: .5
Cheif complaint:
I have a big problem with bubble algae and green algae. While these issues are standard in new tanks I have had a continuous issue for the past 3 months. I have tried to combat the issue with the introduction of the cleaner crew (first thing), carbon (second thing), and phosban (third thing).
I started feeding the clowns every other day with reef renzy nano. I also stopped target feeding my corals with reef roids. I do have a well-established population of pods. They are very prevalent and I see the full grown adults (1/4 inch) roaming the rock from time to time.
After water changes which are performed every week I see a brand new coating of bubble algae in massive amounts. Everything that I just siphoned off the rock is like haha....you thought (insert offensive word) and by the next day is growing completely back. I can clearly see the areas where the snails clean and that has generally kept the glass cleaned but the rocks are another story. They are much more jagged and the snails have a harder time cleaning out all the crevices.
I'm one to think okay my light is too bright...fine turn it down...algae still grows strongly on the sand...soooo....not the light intensity? I added some fresh sand and stirred up the old sand to see if I could bury it but nope the algae just came back through. While it has somewhat receded after adding the chemical methods it still can grow as thick as a 1/4 inch on parts of the rock.
Well, that's all I can think of right now. Hit me with it reef2reef, show me all my problems and help me fight this.
Only thing. I'm trying not to spend a ton more money on this tank unless absolutely necessary. Pics attached
Edit: last pic is of the clowns newly added. They have since grown and are showing their true darker black.
Gonna start out with background for the tank then dive into the issues. Before continuing. I'm sorry for the length of this post.
So!
15gal fluval flex tank: 5 months operational: started with live rock: lomine 50watt coral light: Aquatic life 115 skimmer: standard 100w heater: running carbon: 100-10micron filter sponges in rear of tank: 50 micron filter sock for overflow: purigen: ATO: basic 15w grow light for fuge: Jebao Ow-10. Just a basic list of relevant components to the tank. Not all of them...just relevant.
Sump/fuge- 4gal tupperware that houses the chaeto, skimmer, filter sock, and heater.
I use salifert kits to test for nitrate and ammonia. Seachems kit for phosphate. And API master kit to double check previous levels or test other components. I do not test for specific elements like magnesium, calcium, etc. Haven't gotten that far.
Tank composition:
2 Darwin Ocellaris clown fish (the only fish). 5 nerite snails, about 10 dwarf ceriths, 1 emerald crab, and a couple of other snails I dont remember the name of.
corals: Xenia (growing strongly), Zoa's (also growing), GSP (recently added trying to get my crab to stop picking at).
I obtained all the cleaners due to a massive outbreak of bubble and green algae. I have not yet solved this issue and thus is why I'm here.
levels:
As I said I dont test for the more complex minerals in the water but my parameters for the basics are as follows
ph: 8.2 nitrate: 0-1.25 swings between water changes nitrite: 0 ammonia: 0 phosphate: .5
Cheif complaint:
I have a big problem with bubble algae and green algae. While these issues are standard in new tanks I have had a continuous issue for the past 3 months. I have tried to combat the issue with the introduction of the cleaner crew (first thing), carbon (second thing), and phosban (third thing).
I started feeding the clowns every other day with reef renzy nano. I also stopped target feeding my corals with reef roids. I do have a well-established population of pods. They are very prevalent and I see the full grown adults (1/4 inch) roaming the rock from time to time.
After water changes which are performed every week I see a brand new coating of bubble algae in massive amounts. Everything that I just siphoned off the rock is like haha....you thought (insert offensive word) and by the next day is growing completely back. I can clearly see the areas where the snails clean and that has generally kept the glass cleaned but the rocks are another story. They are much more jagged and the snails have a harder time cleaning out all the crevices.
I'm one to think okay my light is too bright...fine turn it down...algae still grows strongly on the sand...soooo....not the light intensity? I added some fresh sand and stirred up the old sand to see if I could bury it but nope the algae just came back through. While it has somewhat receded after adding the chemical methods it still can grow as thick as a 1/4 inch on parts of the rock.
Well, that's all I can think of right now. Hit me with it reef2reef, show me all my problems and help me fight this.
Only thing. I'm trying not to spend a ton more money on this tank unless absolutely necessary. Pics attached
Edit: last pic is of the clowns newly added. They have since grown and are showing their true darker black.