GHA- should I try vinegar? Im very very new...

[Jennyw]

Hello,
We got a used (1 year old) tank of CL. It came with live rock, CUC, sand, water, and one fish (that subsequently died, maybe of parasite). We got it December 19. Since it was precycled, we added fish. It is a biocube 32, with stock LED lights. I keep the bright lights on 8 hours a day, but just reduced it to 5. Its too soon to tell if the reduction is helping

We now have two cute clownfish in the tank too. I have a bit of an algae problem. It likes to grow on my clove coral, but also on rocks.

I test parameters every few days with the API master test kit. I routinely get 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite, 0 phosphate, 0 ammonia. (although ammonia got to .25 once) We generally do not overfeed. (There was one accident where some food settled on the ground. I am sure the CUC was very happy) But I still have LOTS of algae. Turning off the lights helps, but only until I turn them back on a couple days later.

One other thing to note: the LFS has sold me two coral frags- one was green and has slowly gotten rather brown. I think it is still alive. The other was bright pink, and was fine for a couple days. Then, within hours turned white. I could watch it fade. I don't know why it turned white and died.

Should I try dosing with vinegar to try to fight the algae? Ive tried pulling it off, but its so short that it just floats away and I end up damaging the coral. Ive tried a toothbrush too- its not much help. There is also some reddish algae something in there....

 

[Jennyw]

OH! I forgot. Salinity is 1.025 (refractometer), temp is 79.5. Running a skimmer. Its just a biocube, so no fancy filtration...

 

[DudeBruh]

What worked for me was raising my light 4 inches and buying a sea hare

Edit skimmed through your post and didn’t read it all. My experience was with GHA and things were healthy and happy. You have other health issues going on and I’m no expert. That being said I would confirm your doing the api test correctly, as I’ve seen people not read instructions thoroughly or add second set of drops. Also use a secondary method to test amonia as many get false readings. The algae can also mask phosphate and nitrate readings, which is usually the root cause.

 

[andrewkw]

Do you have a protein skimmer? Dosing vinegar will only work if you have a skimmer. That being said since you are "very very new" I would give it a little more time. What you could do for now is buy a couple of snails but just a few you don't need too many for such a small tank. I see lots of shells but unsure if any include living snails. Are you using RO/DI water for saltwater and top off? Since the rock is used you don't know the history of it and it may be leaching phosphates. 0 on your test kit is either because it's a poor quality kit (it is) and or the algae is eating is feeding on the phosphate before it shows up in the water.

Do a few water changes with good sourced water, give it a little time then go from there. If things don't improve in say 4-6 weeks take another step.

 

[Jennyw]

Do you have a protein skimmer? Dosing vinegar will only work if you have a skimmer. That being said since you are "very very new" I would give it a little more time. What you could do for now is buy a couple of snails but just a few you don't need too many for such a small tank. I see lots of shells but unsure if any include living snails. Are you using RO/DI water for saltwater and top off? Since the rock is used you don't know the history of it and it may be leaching phosphates. 0 on your test kit is either because it's a poor quality kit (it is) and or the algae is eating is feeding on the phosphate before it shows up in the water.

Do a few water changes with good sourced water, give it a little time then go from there. If things don't improve in say 4-6 weeks take another step.

I use water from the LFS, 20 percent water change a week. They tell me it is RODI
Yes, have a skimmer
Yes, have snails. Had 4 big ones, but now only two. And a bunch of little bumblebees. Not sure how many. They don't like this stuff. They wont eat it.

 

[Jennyw]

What worked for me was raising my light 4 inches and buying a sea hare

Edit skimmed through your post and didn’t read it all. My experience was with GHA and things were healthy and happy. You have other health issues going on and I’m no expert. That being said I would confirm your doing the api test correctly, as I’ve seen people not read instructions thoroughly or add second set of drops. Also use a secondary method to test amonia as many get false readings. The algae can also mask phosphate and nitrate readings, which is usually the root cause.

I think I am doing the tests correctly: my husband and I both have science backgrounds, and have read, and re-read and re- re- read the the instructions. Im very careful.
I cant really raise the lights....its a biocube. I can look into sea hares, but I thought a lot of people didn't like them.
Yes, I think the algae are masking the readings. What do I do about it? Im changing water every week- 20 percent, with RODI, and feeding sparingly. And have a skimmer

 

[Jennyw]

so, you think it is more like a mini cycle and I should do nothing and wait? I can do that.... do I just keep ripping it off my poor coral? It looks so sad when it gets covered in that crap

 

[DudeBruh]

Some other info would help people help. What kind of light is it, how long have you been running the tank, and what is it they sell you at LfS. Is it sealed or are they saying they’re just productions RODI water in jugs??? And what is your current clean up crew.

A sea Hare is probably too much for the little algae you have in that size tank. They eat monster amounts

 

[Jennyw]

Some other info would help people help. What kind of light is it, how long have you been running the tank, and what is it they sell you at LfS. Is it sealed or are they saying they’re just productions RODI water in jugs??? And what is your current clean up crew.

A sea is probably too much for the little algae you have in that size tank. They eat monster amounts

Stock LED lights that came with the biocube. Ive had it since dec 19th, its about a year old. Not sure what you are asking about what the LFS sold me? Its a big tank that has water- one is salt, the other is just rodi. You turn a valve and water comes out. It goes into jugs you bring with you. Its a 1.25 a gallon.
The CUC is two snails and a bunch of bumblebee snails and a bunch of hermit crabs. SOme of the hermits have blue legs. some have red/orange legs

 

[Jennyw]

would more pics help? im sorry I don't remember the types of snails. one was a turbo, but it died. I might remember the other snails name if I saw it.

 

[DudeBruh]

Being that it was off CL and nothing is certain, I would do like what was said above and let it settle since so new. A month isn’t much of time table, a mini cycle is very plausible. Just keep up with water changes and in the mean time there is plenty to read about. Posting a picture of the snails could help Have someone ID them so you can game plan a rounded cleanup crew when things do settle down.

May also be beneificial to grab a Salifert test kit for things like phosphate and nitrates in the future. I think people mostly applaud seachem for the ammonia testing.

I’m relatively new also after a few year hiatus and most valuable advice is to practice patience , or only bad happens fast in these tanks.

 

[Idoc]

I use water from the LFS, 20 percent water change a week. They tell me it is RODI
Yes, have a skimmer
Yes, have snails. Had 4 big ones, but now only two. And a bunch of little bumblebees. Not sure how many. They don't like this stuff. They wont eat it.

Bumblebee snails are carnivores! They don't eat algae... they hunt other snails. Not a good thing in your tank right now. If you really want a bumblebee snail, limit it to one in the tank.

Also watch your snails...if they are dying, you could be getting dinos occuring in the tank rather than GHA. A few types of dinos give off toxins that kill snails. If this is the case, you will need to run a little carbon in a bag to help absorb the toxins. Your pics are very suspicious for this vs gha.

The red stuff is more than likely cyanobacteria. It forms in low nutrient systems.

 

[Jennyw]

Bumblebee snails are carnivores! They don't eat algae... they hunt other snails. Not a good thing in your tank right now. If you really want a bumblebee snail, limit it to one in the tank.

Also watch your snails...if they are dying, you could be getting dinos occuring in the tank rather than GHA. A few types of dinos give off toxins that kill snails. If this is the case, you will need to run a little carbon in a bag to help absorb the toxins. Your pics are very suspicious for this vs gha.

The red stuff is more than likely cyanobacteria. It forms in low nutrient systems.

There isnt much I can do about the bumblebees. I didn't buy them- they came with the tank. Aside from taking them out and killing them....
I have chemiclean aquarium treatment (came with the tank). He said he had used it for cyanobacteria. I also have stuff for dino too.... I can try that if it would be helpful. I just worry about ignoring the problem because it is smothering the coral.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Hi Jennyw! Nice tank, we run a 32 as well. Did your lfs test your water and jot down the results for you? First thing I would suggest is investing into a better test kit, salifert, red Sea and Hanna has a couple of testers are nice. The stock lights from what we experianced will be ok for some of your easier corals. What are you running in your Chambers and can you give us a full tank shot and just out of curiosity the corals your lfs store sold you.

 

[Jennyw]

Hi Jennyw! Nice tank, we run a 32 as well. Did your lfs test your water and jot down the results for you? First thing I would suggest is investing into a better test kit, salifert, red Sea and Hanna has a couple of testers are nice. The stock lights from what we experianced will be ok for some of your easier corals. What are you running in your Chambers and can you give us a full tank shot and just out of curiosity the corals your lfs store sold you.

Okay. Here's the test kits and other stuff that came with the tank (not include equipment and the 20 kinds of food he gave us too)

 

[Jennyw]

Okay. Here's the test kits and other stuff that came with the tank (not include equipment and the 20 kinds of food he gave us too)

I've been testing myself, and I'm pretty certain we are testing correctly.

 

[Jennyw]

Here's the existing clove Coral. I'm going to go try for better pics of the othwrs

 

[Jennyw]

The greenish one on the left used to be pink. The brownish pink one used to be green

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I wouldnt dose anything right now until you figure out what's going on. It doesn't look to bad from the pics, I would continue to do the water changes as mention earlier and pic it off the rocks. Can you take a sample of your water into your lfs and have them do a sanity check? I'm not a fan of the API test kits. Have them jot the info down so we can see what's going on. Nice tank, it will take a little time to fix it so don't get discouraged. Also you never did mention what you are running in your back Chambers? Filter media?

 

[Jennyw]

I can do that. Out of curiosity, do I need to go all the way to the lfs or can Petco test the water? It's much closer. Do you know how much they charge for water testing, in general?

Um, in the back...not certain what you're asking about. I included a picture of the skimmer, and I have a fluval heater, hydor koralia circulation and wave pumpv(240gph)