Losing the Little Patience I Still Have

[fsu1dolfan]

So I have been adding this information to my Tank Thread but very little input in a 10+ page thread so i apologize for the reptition but help is needed:


5/25/12
I am dealing with red slime, still constant algae and probably a mixture of diatoms and dinos too. It is not terrible but it has been constant enough to be a nuisance. I have increased the amount of water changes, siphoning out gunk, and trying to manually control it....in a week it starts all over. Before anyone says nutrients or bulbs or light cycle etc etc. Every thing is constant in what i have been doing when my tank was a piece of cake. Everything went down hill after i caused the crash last year. Anyway after some more research and reading i came across Microbe-Lift Special Blend. I really think my tank is just not biologically balanced. I also have a BRS reactor that i was too lazy to hook up when i bought it over a year ago. Also i noticed my Chaeto looking kind of worn down.
Honestly i miss the days when my biggest battle was aiptasias....crazy to even think that.

So here is what i am doing to see if this will fix biological balance in my tank:

1) Dosing Microbe-Lift Special Blend until bottle is done. Following the directions on the bottle and turning off my skimmer. Question: Better to dose with lights on or off...does it matter?

2) Replaced my chaeto with some fresh stuff. Also planning on getting a bottle of pods to help re-seed things.

3) Finally hookup my BRS reactor. I am planning on running GFO. Question - Anyone run both GFO and Carbon on top? Any issues with both in the same reactor or should i just keep the media bag with carbon in the tank?

4) Continue frequent water changes and siphoning out all the crap in there. (Flow should be fine as i am running an MP10 and my return pump is a Rio HF 6)

First dose and chaeto changed last night (5/24/12)...i probably should have taken a picture but i'll try to grab one later today. I am not expecting miracles to take place in 24 hours so it should still look the same.

Just hoping to right the ship...i miss buying corals.
Any thoughts or comments...please let me know!!

6/13/12
It has been 3 weeks of dosing and the fourth coming up this Friday. The reactor is running nicely and water changes every 2 weeks. The Good - The water clarity is spectacular. It stays clear for much longer and the glass is cleaner for longer. Everything looks very healthy and coral growth is still steady. The Bad - The Red slime is still coming back...not as strong but still steady. Algae is still growing as well. I mainly have very thick algae like turf algae mixed with all other types. Every water change i remove as much as i can but it all is still returning.

Yesterday i purchased some RODI from my LFS....mind you for many months now i have been buying from there. When i first purchased the water the TDS was 0. I decided to test it yesterday just on a hunch and i got a reading of 65. So i am going to start buying distilled again. Is it possible that this RODI water is causing the red slime and persistent algae....even with the GFO reactor, new bacteria, and everything else i have been doing to correct this?

Do you think if i change my water to distilled and continue my current regiment that i will see a drastic change?? Honestly i am at the point of buying all new aquacultured live rock. I truly feel that i messed up my live rock after the aquascape last year. Also i havent had hermits for years since they bugged my corals and killed my snails in the past but i am starting to get desperate.

Please Help!!

Recent Round of Parameters:
PH 8.3
Spec Gravity 1.026
Temp: 79-80
Ammonia Nitrates and Nitrites: 0
Mag = 1350
Cal = 400
Alk = 9
Phos - i dont have a good tester but my API shows it as low for what it's worth.

 

[dmatt88]

Just a few questions. How old are ur lights and how much and often do u feed? U mention distilled water. Do u mean ro/di or distilled?

........what, me worry?

 

[kcarberry]

If you have a lot of red slime and large algae growth it could be why your phos is low. Check your water for phos before you add it, this will help make sure that your RODI water isn't adding extra phos. I had to do that this week and found out that my water, salt filtered from my house, has a high level of phos but when I had my tank water tested it was low because the algae was absorbing it. You might try that, with the red slime, I increased water changes and it didn't disappear so I got a treatment from my local LFS. After that I haven't seen it. If you do switch to distilled though it should help considerably. If the red still consists you should see if you can get an antibiotic for it and probably a dose of healthy bacteria to help everything cycle.

Hope this helps you .

 

[FaviaFreak]

I would try Dr. Tim's refresh and waste away as a 1-2 punch.....microbe-lift did nothing for me when I used it but the Dr. Tim's got rid of all my red slime..you can also try KZ Coral Snow

http://www.zeovitusa.com/zstore/index.php/kz-coral-snow-250ml.html

[URL]http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/treat-aquarium-algae/treating-cyanobacteria[/URL]

 

[ritter6788]

I'd bet the water from the LFS is causing your troubles. Even if you're running GFO it's more difficult to remove high phosphates once in the tank instead of adding good source water to begin with and running GFO to maintain. Food and waste increases the phosphate too so you need clean source water to start out with. A RO/DI system with TDS is the best investment you can make for a reef tank IMO. That way you know what's going into your tank. It will pay for itself in no time by not having to buy water.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Just a few questions. How old are ur lights and how much and often do u feed? U mention distilled water. Do u mean ro/di or distilled?

........what, me worry?

The bulb is good...Replaced in February. Feeding is every other day and sometimes longer. I tend to feed a decent amount but i have plenty of nass snails that keep things spotless. Plus i am trying to dial back how much i feed. As for the water - I was using Distilled for the past 3 years. For roughly the past 6 months or so, i have been using the LFS RODI since the TDS good the first few times i checked. I am going to switch back to distilled.

If you have a lot of red slime and large algae growth it could be why your phos is low. Check your water for phos before you add it, this will help make sure that your RODI water isn't adding extra phos. I had to do that this week and found out that my water, salt filtered from my house, has a high level of phos but when I had my tank water tested it was low because the algae was absorbing it. You might try that, with the red slime, I increased water changes and it didn't disappear so I got a treatment from my local LFS. After that I haven't seen it. If you do switch to distilled though it should help considerably. If the red still consists you should see if you can get an antibiotic for it and probably a dose of healthy bacteria to help everything cycle.

Hope this helps you .

Yeah i am definitely switching back to distilled. Never any issues that way. I hate to buy water and the TDS is high...useless water. Heck this even has me thinking that i need to start testing the salt water. That was also perfect in terms of parameters when i first started buying it. I do not mix my own.

I would try Dr. Tim's refresh and waste away as a 1-2 punch.....microbe-lift did nothing for me when I used it but the Dr. Tim's got rid of all my red slime..you can also try KZ Coral Snow

http://www.zeovitusa.com/zstore/index.php/kz-coral-snow-250ml.html

[URL]http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/treat-aquarium-algae/treating-cyanobacteria[/URL]

Isn't Refresh and coral snow the same as Microbe-lift? Just adding bacterias.

I'd bet the water from the LFS is causing your troubles. Even if you're running GFO it's more difficult to remove high phosphates once in the tank instead of adding good source water to begin with and running GFO to maintain. Food and waste increases the phosphate too so you need clean source water to start out with. A RO/DI system with TDS is the best investment you can make for a reef tank IMO. That way you know what's going into your tank. It will pay for itself in no time by not having to buy water.

I completely agree. I might need to look into a system but for now...it will be distilled.


Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[KSzegi]

I'd agree that it is a good possibility that the lfs water is causing your troubles and I second the opinion that you would be wise to invest in your own ro/di unit! If it's slowly disappearing, just keep fighting the fight .... increasing the water changes to weekly from bi-weekly, make sure you are changing out the gfo enough, especially initially while you are trying to pull the excess phosphates out .....

I tried running the gfo and carbon in the same reactor ..... I wouldn't do it again .... ran the carbon back in a media bag until I picked up another reactor for the carbon. If I were you I would run it separate - especially right now since you will most likely have to change out your gfo before the carbon at this stage.

I've not tried the mb7 ..... but I did have good luck with the zeo coral snow/zeobak combination when I had an outbreak that I couldn't figure out the reason for .... You might also want to get a big water change ready and try the 3 day lights out routine to get rid of it while still fighitng the original cause.

 

[k2parkstar]

Your LFS is probably just like my LFS, they allow there TDS to go higher than 0 before they change out their filters. When your making as much water as they do you tend to let things slip a little to make money. I have a reefer friend with is own RO/DI unit and I buy water from him. He makes a little back and I know i'm getting quality water. I've read on more than one occasion that you can get trace amounts of copper in your tank from distilled water as copper tubing is part of the process, so i'd be aware of that, even if you'd had success with it in the past. All the suggestions above are great. Once you know your getting good water, I like the black out method. Just cover your tank in a blanket to ensure no light is getting in and no lights on, no feeding. Let it go like this for two days and then siphon out the algae and do a water change. This should starve your algae and get you a fresh start. Then just keep changing that water. Goodluck, its always a downer when things don't go right and can bring distress to what is supposed to be a relaxing beautiful hobby.

 

[impur]

+1 for the LFS water at the very least contributing to your problems. But I think you are on the right track, just stay diligent. I went thru this before as well, it took me 8m to get rid of my cyano problem. I almost gave up. Get an RO unit as soon as you can, maybe you know someone in your local club that will make water for you? I would suggest upping the water changes to every week.

As for the turf algae, if its the red wiry stuff you might be stuck with it. That stuff lives thru anything.

 

[lpslover]

+1 on the water. You would be amazed what ends up in RO water. I've heard reports of high TDS, PO4, NO3, even Ammonia. I've actually had better success buying fresh RO/DI water from Whole Foods and then mixing the salt water at home. Test a couple sources and see if you can find a clean source of water. Me, I'm looking at buying my own RO/DI unit this fall, I'm so fed up with it all.

Also, if it is an older tank, when was the last time you scrubbed down and rinsed all your rock? I don't know about everyone else, but I seem to hit a two year wall. It seems like everything goes swimmingly for about two years and then issues start popping up with keeping nutrient levels down and algae under control. The only solution I've found when this happens is to take all the rock out, scrub it under running water and vacume the sand to within an inch of its life. Doing so also results in about a 50% water change. Restack the rock, throw in an airstone and dose bacterial starters, live phyto and fresh pods like crazy for a couple weeks. Then the tank seems to restabilize and all is good again. It has worked for me. Good luck.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Quick update: (For the longer verison here is my thread https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/club-cube/34417-fsu1dolfans-biocube-29g-13.html )

Microbe-Lift Special Blend - Didnt seem to do much.

Just ordered some Dr. Tims Refresh and Waste Away to continue the Non-Chemical Fight....for now.

On another note Fish and Corals are doing fine, algae isnt growing as fast anymore, and now using Distilled only.

Just wanted to say thanks again for everyone's input. I will update maybe in another few weeks.

 

[swannyson7]

Glad to hear that you're making some headway! Did switching back to distilled make a big impact on your problems?

 

[Reef Breeders]

1 thing you could try is dosing hydrogen peroxide, 1 ml for every ten gallons. Most of the algae goes away around the 1 year mark in my experience.

 

[spscrazy]

I started using red sea no3 po4 x about a month ago altho I don't have cyano I do have byropsis & gelidium got this product to lower nitrates that were always about 20
after the first week I realized I hadn't had to clean off diatoms on the glass about the 2 week mark the byropsis was getting brown & stopped growing now at about a month the byropsis & gelidium (red turf) are being eaten by the hermits, snails & urchin which they never touched before over all the tank is so much brighter & cleaner nitrates are at ..5 corals are getting much better colors if you don't like the dr tims stuff (I have not used it) you might want to give this a shot

 

[Electrobes]

Let me know if you need a different plan. It'll be painful and a bit long for results.. but it'll prob work.

 

[lpslover]

Glad to hear things are going better. Remember what Dory said: "Just keep swimming."

 

[Pkunk35]

I'd be really surprised if no one suggested this for red slime (cyanobacteria, right?) but have you tried chemi-clean and a water change? It has a good record for wiping out cyano in a very short time. It might help turn the tide if you are having slower grow back.
Its supposed to be reef safe and I can vouch from my past experience and a number of others that it hasn't hurt our coral or fish (not 100% sure of sps safety), although I would do a bit of research on its use and always water change after use of the product. The cyano usually just disintegrates and you can siphon out the main chunks easily.

 

[pumarjr]

+1on the hydrogen peroxide treatment, works like a charm. 1ml to every 10 gal for 5 days. most if not all of your gha/slime/ algae will be gone.

 

[Aquaph8]

I didn't have any luck with the special blend either. I would just give in, use the chemiclean as directed and then follow it up with some coral snow to keep it gone. The stuff works and it's pretty safe when used as directed regardless of its bad rep. As for the other algae, keep your GFO changed monthly, often small water changes with lots of manual removal, and make sure your top off water stays 0 TDS. Also take a turkey bastor to your rocks often and keep them free of junk collecting and stir stuff up so your slimmer can remove it. Be patient with it and stay on top of things and you'll beat it.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Glad to hear things are going better. Remember what Dory said: "Just keep swimming."

LOL i had a good laugh at this. I'll keep working on it!!

Glad to hear that you're making some headway! Did switching back to distilled make a big impact on your problems?

Thanks. I truly feel that Distilled is much better. I have noticed much less HA...granted the red slime could have been choking some of it out...either way i win take it as a small win in a really long game

Let me know if you need a different plan. It'll be painful and a bit long for results.. but it'll prob work.

I know man....it's inevitable!!

I started using red sea no3 po4 x about a month ago altho I don't have cyano I do have byropsis & gelidium got this product to lower nitrates that were always about 20
after the first week I realized I hadn't had to clean off diatoms on the glass about the 2 week mark the byropsis was getting brown & stopped growing now at about a month the byropsis & gelidium (red turf) are being eaten by the hermits, snails & urchin which they never touched before over all the tank is so much brighter & cleaner nitrates are at ..5 corals are getting much better colors if you don't like the dr tims stuff (I have not used it) you might want to give this a shot

Thanks for the suggestion - I will do a little research on this and might give it a try.

1 thing you could try is dosing hydrogen peroxide, 1 ml for every ten gallons. Most of the algae goes away around the 1 year mark in my experience.

I have been thinking about this as well but after reading that entire thread and following everyones results...it seems to work most on diatoms and that is the least of my issues. Although this may be put on my short list of options.

I'd be really surprised if no one suggested this for red slime (cyanobacteria, right?) but have you tried chemi-clean and a water change? It has a good record for wiping out cyano in a very short time. It might help turn the tide if you are having slower grow back.
Its supposed to be reef safe and I can vouch from my past experience and a number of others that it hasn't hurt our coral or fish (not 100% sure of sps safety), although I would do a bit of research on its use and always water change after use of the product. The cyano usually just disintegrates and you can siphon out the main chunks easily.

Yes this is the last resort...whenever i mention chemicals, i am refering products "Chemi-clean" and "UltraLife". They are okay (but has caused problems in some tanks) for fish and corals but bioloically they can mess with the tank.

+1on the hydrogen peroxide treatment, works like a charm. 1ml to every 10 gal for 5 days. most if not all of your gha/slime/ algae will be gone.

Putting it on the list.

I didn't have any luck with the special blend either. I would just give in, use the chemiclean as directed and then follow it up with some coral snow to keep it gone. The stuff works and it's pretty safe when used as directed regardless of its bad rep. As for the other algae, keep your GFO changed monthly, often small water changes with lots of manual removal, and make sure your top off water stays 0 TDS. Also take a turkey bastor to your rocks often and keep them free of junk collecting and stir stuff up so your slimmer can remove it. Be patient with it and stay on top of things and you'll beat it.

The chemicals are last resort before i make the jump to new rock. As for the other tips, thanks...i am trying to do it more frequently.