Help with my dads tank

[loweryphil]

Ok, so my dads tank was set up for christmas the week before so very new, hes a beginner and this is his first tank. I dont want him to leave the hobby but his tank looks.....well ill let you judge. He has loads of hair Algea and it just looks terrible. Any advice how to get it looking better?

 

[Diesel]

It ain't looking bad but can you guve me some more Indio?
What I'm looking for is,
Po4?
No3?
Amount of fish?
What kind of light and how long stays it on?
Use of sump and skimmer?
Any other reactors i need to know of?

 

[Dancingmad]

Please give us the parameters, tell us a little about the maintenance routine(water changes, testing frequency, lighting period), and maybe some of the gear (Reactors, media, refugium, dosing, etc). Do you mind taking a closer picture of the rock on the left? Its hard to tell if that's a feather duster or a pesky aiptasia.

It really doesn't look that bad for a couple months ago to be honest. I've had tanks in my time reefin' that could have passed as a planted tanks - especially early on :D

 

[loweryphil]

I tested his water and both nitrate and posphates came back as zero which i found VERY odd as i thought both would be high. Hes using a kent nano skimmer. The lighting is on from 6am to 10pm which ill tell him to shorten. Ive put some filter media to remove silicate and phosphate in a filter sock in there for him and he changes the water about 20l weekly. He has 2 clowns, a dotty back 2 peppermints, a red starfish a chocolate starfish, 7 snails and 5 hermits oh and 3 blue things that look like regal tangs but aren't. Forgot the name. "Phew"

 

[Mandrew]

looks to me like he needs a magnet cleaner and a good water change. It doesnt look all that bad to me, but the lighting schedule is WAY too long, by like 8 hours.

 

[Diesel]

I tested his water and both nitrate and posphates came back as zero which i found VERY odd as i thought both would be high. Hes using a kent nano skimmer. The lighting is on from 6am to 10pm which ill tell him to shorten. Ive put some filter media to remove silicate and phosphate in a filter sock in there for him and he changes the water about 20l weekly. He has 2 clowns, a dotty back 2 peppermints, a red starfish a chocolate starfish, 7 snails and 5 hermits oh and 3 blue things that look like regal tangs but aren't. Forgot the name. "Phew"

Yes sir I was afraid for that.
Your test come back 0.0 but it doesn't mean there isn't any in the water column cause the algae is taking it before you cam measure it.
Make sense right:) yet you have some Po4 and No3 in there that your algae is thriving on.
So if I read that correct no CORALS??
Change schedule for lighting to noon to 10pm.
What kind of lights we talking here?
Pics are great and tell me thousand words.
You media ain't doing anything other than removing big particles from your water.
Now if we talking like a GFO media than yes.
I hope not if they are Tangs as that's like putting 3 sharks in a nano, tangs need large tanks starting from 120 gallon and up.
Send a picture from one of the three fish.
I just looked at the FTS (full tank shot) and we dealing with 3 yellow tail damsels not tangs ;).

Ok what we can do is we need to check the new mixed salt water that goes in on for a water change on Po4 and No3?
What kind of test kits you using?
If you mixed it your self what kind of water you using, faucet or RODI and if so what is the TDS from that water?
Also reduce the light but I will ask you to go three days of total darkness.
I know this is boring but see it as a very stormy day on the reef.
Turn lights off and cover tank with a dark sheet or towel.
Algae won't grow without light and three days might be enough to kill it all.
In that period we don't feed the fish or peek but leave everything running as pumps and filters but not the lights.
After three days remove what you have over the tank to cover it from the light and turn on light on a reduced schedule.
Use some Prime as directed on the bottle to spike the bacteria load (any kind of bacteria for salt water works)
Also I like to point out that you might need to remove some fish and my suggestion is 2 of the blue fish as they in later time will go after each other and only one blue will survive that struggle.
Don't put any more fish in there after wards.
Clean filters more often and make sure skimmer is working properly to remove nasty proteins from the water.
Keep up the water changes but remember I need to know the test results first from your new mix salt water as stated above.

 

[BoneXriffic]

Yes sir I was afraid for that.
Your test come back 0.0 but it doesn't mean there isn't any in the water column cause the algae is taking it before you cam measure it.
Make sense right:) yet you have some Po4 and No3 in there that your algae is thriving on.
So if I read that correct no CORALS??
Change schedule for lighting to noon to 10pm.
What kind of lights we talking here?
Pics are great and tell me thousand words.
You media ain't doing anything other than removing big particles from your water.
Now if we talking like a GFO media than yes.
I hope not if they are Tangs as that's like putting 3 sharks in a nano, tangs need large tanks starting from 120 gallon and up.
Send a picture from one of the three fish.
I just looked at the FTS (full tank shot) and we dealing with 3 yellow tail damsels not tangs ;).

Ok what we can do is we need to check the new mixed salt water that goes in on for a water change on Po4 and No3?
What kind of test kits you using?
If you mixed it your self what kind of water you using, faucet or RODI and if so what is the TDS from that water?
Also reduce the light but I will ask you to go three days of total darkness.
I know this is boring but see it as a very stormy day on the reef.
Turn lights off and cover tank with a dark sheet or towel.
Algae won't grow without light and three days might be enough to kill it all.
In that period we don't feed the fish or peek but leave everything running as pumps and filters but not the lights.
After three days remove what you have over the tank to cover it from the light and turn on light on a reduced schedule.
Use some Prime as directed on the bottle to spike the bacteria load (any kind of bacteria for salt water works)
Also I like to point out that you might need to remove some fish and my suggestion is 2 of the blue fish as they in later time will go after each other and only one blue will survive that struggle.
Don't put any more fish in there after wards.
Clean filters more often and make sure skimmer is working properly to remove nasty proteins from the water.
Keep up the water changes but remember I need to know the test results first from your new mix salt water as stated above.

You left him drooling and munbling ughhhh

 

[TonapahNorth]

This is aptasia it will be frustrating later if you don't deal with it It's caused many would be reefers to quit. Try to remove it by chipping away rubble since it's isolated. Or alternatively you can cover it with a kalkwasser paste or even some super glue. Be sure to get it all. Follow the advice from @Diesel and try Phosgard. This appears to be the natural cycle of the brown uglies with a lot of silicates which could be complicated by the deep sand bed particularly if you didn't rinse the sand before putting it in. The sand bed looks quite deep on the left side.

Read this https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-is-my-sand-still-brown.287970/page-4#post-3514925

 

[Nohate]

More maintenance, algea scrubber, more skimming, or if none, some skimming, water changes, done

 

[Sean Shimer]

I believe the other three fish are yellowtail damselfish from the pictures

 

[loweryphil]

Thanks guys. The lights are out and hes noticing an improvement ive told him to stop feeding. I bought him some hermits and turbos too. I came to the conclusion that he was having way too much light and way over feeding as the bottom was caked in left over food. Not anymore due to the CUC. I find it odd that his had a major bloom and my tank set up a week after never got that bad. Ok bigger and more water but still.

 

[Dancingmad]

Cool deal! Lets get an update pic after a week or two! If yall are blacking out the tank for 3 days i suggest hitting the rocks with a turkey baster to blow away/suspend dead algea any bacteria - clean the glass and water change. After the blackout of course. I also like to run a filter sock for a few hours after a deep cleaning in my tank. Pull it out and youve removed even more nutrients that could cause a subsequent bloom.

Good luck bud! Hope your dad sticks with it!

 

[Nick92515]

Good advoce already, tank actually looks very normal for a young tank. It seems as some better maintenance and cleaning will have this tank tip top.