IM EXT 50

[Arkayology]

Here's some pics of the cyano (or maybe spirulina?) that is currently in my tank.

 

[Arkayology]

Knowing that this is (probably?) spirulina cyanobacteria, I did a Chemiclean treatment on Monday with lights out and did the 20% water change last night. The chemiclean didn't "kill" the cyano from what I could see - it was still on the sand/rock and still red, but it wasn't spreading. I move some cyano on the sand on Monday and the spot was not covered up by Wednesday. I vacuumed the sand bed and turkey basted the rocks during the water change and then dumped in x3 capfulls each of MB7 and MBclean. I'll post some pics soon of the current state of the tank. What really has frustrated me is not really that I have cyano, but that it (or something in this tank) is making the corals not happy. The zoas are all closed or semi-closed and the RBTA is deflated to a quarter of its size since November. There is very little out there regarding this spirulina cyano other than it doesn't react to hydrogen peroxide (I did two weeks of treatment and it had no impact).

 

[TheLegendaryBarlowe072]

It really sucks that things arent going so well. Unfortuntely I dont Know the fix for your current issues. But I'm sorry yoour going through em. Im coming from the same background as you, 10 years outta the hobby, back again, starting a month or so after you, with nearly the same setup. Its been hard for me not to buy everything I see at my local frag swaps. I wanna go all out, and bring home a new fish whenever I make a trip to the LFS or see a deal on Saltwateraquarium.com. Its even harder when my GF is encourging me to do it lol. But I think the one of the most important things we can do sometimes is to stay out of our own way. More so now then in the last decade when we had live rock starts from fiji. I dont mean that harshly, just your still spending money replacing acros when your zoas arent happy. We need patience and alot of it. Chasing numbers and changing variables can cause as many problems as it can fix. Maybe slow way down and get back to basics. Water Changes. Feeding. Clean the tank. Water Changes. Good Luck I hope things improve soon, I know the feeling of frustration from to many failures.

 

[Arkayology]

It really sucks that things arent going so well. Unfortuntely I dont Know the fix for your current issues. But I'm sorry yoour going through em. Im coming from the same background as you, 10 years outta the hobby, back again, starting a month or so after you, with nearly the same setup. Its been hard for me not to buy everything I see at my local frag swaps. I wanna go all out, and bring home a new fish whenever I make a trip to the LFS or see a deal on Saltwateraquarium.com. Its even harder when my GF is encourging me to do it lol. But I think the one of the most important things we can do sometimes is to stay out of our own way. More so now then in the last decade when we had live rock starts from fiji. I dont mean that harshly, just your still spending money replacing acros when your zoas arent happy. We need patience and alot of it. Chasing numbers and changing variables can cause as many problems as it can fix. Maybe slow way down and get back to basics. Water Changes. Feeding. Clean the tank. Water Changes. Good Luck I hope things improve soon, I know the feeling of frustration from to many failures.

Yeah... I got a bit ahead of myself with this tank. I think it could be because when I left the hobby in 2014, I had a tank full of SPS that was going well as long as I watched the water parameters. With this tank, I thought that I had seeded it enough (IPSF mud and sand, bottled bacteria, etc.) to introduce SPS at the 3 month mark because everything was stable. Well, once I started messing with adding nitrate/phosphate to the tank to up the nutrients is when things went south. Lesson learned (again) - take it slow. I will not be adding any new SPS to this tank until the zoas and RBTA are acting normal again. Until then, it will be as you said - water changes, feeding, cleaning, repeat. I am almost fully stocked when it comes to fish, the only one left is probably a fairy wrasse.

Params after Chemiclean treatment:
dkh - 8.5
CA - 410
Nitrate - 12.1
P04 - .05

 

[Arkayology]

Zoas and BTA are still almost completely closed. One or two heads will open at different times of the day. I don't think it is a flow or lighting issue. I ordered an ATI ICP-OES test to see if there are any trace or major elements that are off. My ALK and Ca are always on point (~8.5dkh and 410-430 Ca) and my Phospate is usually .03-.06 and N03 is consistently around 12-19. I've ruled out pests, as I have not seen anything crawling on them at night and nothing has come off in weekly dips. Plus, the BTA and the zoas are mad. Hermits and fish do not seem to care. The derasa clam is fully open, but growth as slowed some. I have a bottle of phyto in the mail for it. Regardless, something in the water is bothering them I think, so let's see if this can help me figure it out.

I also got a bottle of PNS Deep Cycle. I've broadcasted it in front of the Gyres as well as used a turkey baster to put in right into the sand bed. I also turned off the pumps and dumped some on top of rocks in the DT and sump.

I have read some good things about Aquaforest Life Source, so I figured why not try it? I got a small container of the mud (who would have thought I would pay $25 for 250g of mud from the ocean lol). I look forward to seeing if it does anything. We will see. It could just be snake oil.

 

[Arkayology]

Some poor quality shots using my phone from last night. The tank is still pretty bare. All zoas still closed. BTA and clam not doing too well. ICP-OES test will be delivered today. All fish doing well. Now that the cyano is gone, diatoms are back, which I am fine with. Right now, all I am adding to the tank is Aquaforest Life Source (x1 week), bottled bacteria (PNS Deep Cycle, MB7, Prodibio), and about 1ml/day of AFR.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

Oooh, pretty. Try cranking your whites, the fish will really pop!

 

[Arkayology]

Oooh, pretty. Try cranking your whites, the fish will really pop!

For sure! I go Windex blue at night, which is when this shot was taken. During the day there is a 14k appearance, not too white or blue, which is what I prefer.

 

[reef-rc]

Glad to see you're hanging in there. Looks like it's been a rough ride, but it'll work out.

 

[TheLegendaryBarlowe072]

Whats your par on your frag rack?

 

[Cicatrix]

Following this build. Fingers crossed things work out with the corals.

 

[Arkayology]

Whats your par on your frag rack?

Probably low. I don't know exactly, but I am running the Natura @ 50%. I am guessing around 75-100?

 

[Arkayology]

Glad to see you're hanging in there. Looks like it's been a rough ride, but it'll work out.

Thanks. It is rough - more so than any other tank I've ever had. I am in it for the long haul though. We will get this ship righted.

 

[reef-rc]

Thanks. It is rough - more so than any other tank I've ever had. I am in it for the long haul though. We will get this ship righted.

That's the joy of the hobby, right ;) ? Sometimes, what seems easy turns out to be completely different. Take my IM 150, for example. It's plumbed into the WB 1905, which had been running for 2.5 years before the IM 150 was added. Yet, for some reason, a green film algae developed in the IM 150 about a year in and persisted until recently. Oddly, it ONLY appeared in this tank, even though it was seeded with a large island of rocks and corals (acro and LPS) from the WB 1905 and shared the same internal - water, sump, UV, skimmer, everything—with the WB 1905. It has only been the last 3-4 months that I can say it's finally conquered and as you said got "this ship righted".

 

[Arkayology]

That's the joy of the hobby, right ;) ? Sometimes, what seems easy turns out to be completely different. Take my IM 150, for example. It's plumbed into the WB 1905, which had been running for 2.5 years before the IM 150 was added. Yet, for some reason, a green film algae developed in the IM 150 about a year in and persisted until recently. Oddly, it ONLY appeared in this tank, even though it was seeded with a large island of rocks and corals (acro and LPS) from the WB 1905 and shared the same internal - water, sump, UV, skimmer, everything—with the WB 1905. It has only been the last 3-4 months that I can say it's finally conquered and as you said got "this ship righted".

Yeah, even though things are rough right now, what I like about this hobby is the problem solving. It would be boring without some issue, right? :p It would be different if it were an SPS issue (still is, I believe), but if I can't get zoas to open, something is off. I will figure it out... or it will figure itself out. Having a six month old tank with no color from coral is quite annoying though.

I suspected that the 1/2 cup of GAC that I put in over the weekend to test whether DOC or some pollutant was in the tank was irritating my derasa clam. I took the mesh bag out of the sump yesterday. This morning the derasa clam opened up fully. Small victories. :smiling-face-with-sunglasses:

ATI ICP test sent out. I sampled the RO/DI from my reservoir and not directly from the output from the unit. Where do you all test RO/DI for your ICP tests?

 

[Arkayology]

I just got my ICP result back. There really isn't anything too concerning IMO. RO/DI had nothing in it, which is great to know. Al is elevated a bit and a few things are low. What do you all think?

 

[Arkayology]

I've been suspicious that I may be dealing with some dinos or something similar. There is a light dusting on the sand, nothing stringy. Not really full of air bubbles. It could be what is making the corals mad? Clam is on its way out.

 

[Arkayology]

Update: it's Prymnesium parvum. Not good. It explains the weird coral irritation, snail deaths, and other things that have been weird with this tank. I'm not sure if I should treat or just restart the tank. They are quite toxic.

 

[Arkayology]

OK, so I have some observations and a plan. We will see if the plan is a good one or not.

Observations:

Things are complicated. I originally thought there was a toxin in the water. I thought this because I was able to keep my N03 at ~15ppm and P04 at around .06-.1ppm without dosing. Zoas should have been fine in those params, but they were closed. I did the ICP test and other than flourine, bromine, and some traces being low, there was little to be concerned about; softies should be fine with my params, but they weren't. On Friday, I decided to get some live rock from a local reefer to boost my microfauna. The local also gave me some corals to test whether things can live in my tank or now (I love local reefers - salt of the Earth people). I also found that my N03 and P04 were low, so I dosed some. The next morning, the zoas are opening a little. Not fully open and happy, but at least open-ish. Something is still bugging them, but it is better at this point.

I also got the identification of Prymnesium parvum in my tank. There isn't a lot out there about these things in reef aquariums, but there is a lot about them creating toxic blooms that kill fish in fresh and brackish water all over the world.

From my observations, these things mostly hang out at the top of the sand bed during the day and then go under at night. I've taken samples of the "dust" they create from both the sand, glass, and rocks and looked at them under a microscope. They are present in the film algae on the glass, but they don't seem to move very much (maybe dead, dying?). They are, however, very active on the sand. The rock seems some of them growing on it, but not as bad as the sand. Seeing this, I decided to get a green killing machine UV to run 24/7 in the tank. I also ordered a UV sweeper for the sand. The UV should take care of the sand bed no problem. I am curious to see if the light dusting on the gyres and tank glass moves to the sand bed or if those are mostly dying/dead. I also ordered more pods from someone on Etsy (most reasonable price shipped i've found so far - most places are asking $10 or more for the same amount). Based on my research, Prymnesium parvum will stop reproducing after being subjected to UV. Pods will also eat them sometimes. Interestingly, my tiger conch has been pooping A LOT more than it usual. My guess it is eating these things. My other snails have all died because of it.

That's all for now. I will update once I get this UV sand sweeper and give it a go.

 

[Arkayology]

I got the UV sand sweeper in the mail and finally got around to using it today. I spent about 10min moving it around over my sand bed to kill off some of the Prymnesium parvum. I also have a 9w green killing machine running 24/7 and filter floss in the sump, which has been effective in catching Prymnesium parvum in the water column. I'm not completely sure if this stuff is just in the sand or if it is everywhere. It seems to like light, but the rocks that have the highest PAR don't have any. Also, it doesn't grow in the shaded parts below the rocks, which is interesting. We will see how two or three treatments of this a day with lots of wiping the glass with my flipper will help. Between the Prymnesium parvumand cyanobacteria, my corals are very mad because of either toxins or nutrients constantly bottoming out.

It's sort of fun to use this thing and imagine all these Prymnesium parvum cells dying.