I’m ready to give my tank away….

[SniffanyB]

Y’all we’ve been battling some type of algae since I’ve had my tank cycled. We beat all the normal first types of algae but then got the dreaded Cyano and got rid of it I thought with the Dr. Tim’s two bottle system. ( I can’t remember the name). Anyway we are now again trying to figure out what to do. I can’t even enjoy my tank because all I’m doing is dealing with EVERY. SINGLE. BAD. THING. that you could come across. We dip all corals and fish before entering tank. We use an RO system, do bi-weekly WCs. I’m starting to lose corals and I’ve lost a fish as well. I’ve taken the best photos I can get to show what I have hoping for all that’s worthy someone might be able to point me in right direction. Our parameters are within range. We have a Redsea Reefer 525XL
redsea 90 LEDs (3)
Icecap k160 skimmer
Redsea Wavemaker 45 (2)
Syncra Sicce return pump (not sure if it’s the 7.0 or 9.0)
I usually feed once a day with the Rods Original and switch it up with the Masstick 40 stick on pellets.


78*
salinity - 34ppt
Ca - 490 ppm
Mg - 1520
NH3/NH4 - 0
No2 - .05
No3 - 50 ppm
pH - 8 (we know this one was low and used our chem to raise it)
dkH - 11.2
Pho’s - 0

These are what they usually are and stay pretty steady within this range. Here are my photos and I have one video to show as well. I will get any other info if it’s needed for help. I LOVE LOVE my tank. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of having. I would hate to give it up but I’m at that point where I almost want to. I’m so frustrated.

 

[Dcal]

How old is the tank, it could still just be the uglies. Id pick up a 10$ tds meter on amazon and make sure youre getting 0 tds out of your ro system.

I had great results dosing live phyto from algae barn as it just out-competed the other algaes, however make sure above possible problems are crossed off first

 

[schuby]

Can you supply more background on the tank by answering these questions?

• How old is it?
• Did you start with dry or live rock?
• Is it bare-bottom or sand?
• Is your phosphate normally zero?
• Is your Alk normally 11.2 dKh?
• Do you run any macro-algae in the sump?
• How many fish, with type and approximate size?
• When you feed fish, how quickly is all the food eaten?
• What chems are you using to raise your PH?

 

[hhaase]

Yeah, been there, and know how frustrating it is. Phosphates show zero, but nitrates are high. And the algae is sucking up the phosphates too quick for your corals to benefit from the nutrients. What you need is a method to export the nitrates. Personally, I find skimmers are great at reducing phosphates but nowhere near as effective with nitrates.

A common method is to use other, more beneficial, micro or macroflora to out-compete the algae. DCal above suggested phytoplankton which is one possibility, another common method is a refugium with a macroalgae such as chaeto. Alternatively, there are algae turf scrubbers, which perform the same task.

-Hans

 

[reddevilant]

^ 100% agree. I have a macro algae tank so I like to keep the water with high nutrients but 50 is a bit too high in my opinion. Generally, I keep nitrates around 25 ppm and it's when it reaches 30 and above that I'll get a little cyano or diatom bloom.

 

[Yevoc]

Yeah that Nitrate is out of hand.

I would start with some water changes and then up your export.

Personal preference would be some kind of algae filter. A fuge, a chaeto reactor, etc. Pretty sure a ball of chaeto in there would be exploding with growth.

That is some happy algae in the display, I would look into why you got to 50 in the first place and improve from there.


PS on the plus side your goni is happier than mine.

 

[hhaase]

Another thing I had missed in my previous post, the zero phosphates is also working against you. Corals do need some phosphates present as well, so this would be negatively affecting your corals also. You want LOW phosphates, but you do want them present. Around 0.1 or lower is a fairly normal range.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

How long is your light cycle? I'd suggest you cut that way back. Also don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, the best way for you to get that algae out of there is to pull it out manually.

 

[SniffanyB]

How old is the tank, it could still just be the uglies. Id pick up a 10$ tds meter on amazon and make sure youre getting 0 tds out of your ro system.

I had great results dosing live phyto from algae barn as it just out-competed the other algaes, however make sure above possible problems are crossed off first

Thanks. It is just over a year old and I do the photo lanky on every other day.

 

[SniffanyB]

Can you supply more background on the tank by answering these questions?

• How old is it? Just over a year
• Did you start with dry or live rock? Both
• Is it bare-bottom or sand? Sand the photos below show the algae on it for reference
• Is your phosphate normally zero? Yes
• Is your Alk normally 11.2 dKh? No it usually closer to 9
• Do you run any macro-algae in the sump? Yes but it dying off as well
• How many fish, with type and approximate size? 1 yellow tang, 5 dart fish, 3 clowns, 1 niger trigger, 1 neon cleaner wrasse, and a purple fish I can’t remember the name. Our blenny died about a month ago
• When you feed fish, how quickly is all the food eaten? Within 5 mins or so
• What chems are you using to raise your PH? We use the aquavitro brand and brightwell aquatics.