NEED HELP - Algae

[saltyfilmfolks]

A question I have is in my aquarium I have a giant piece of live rock, this thing is absolutely covered in algae but for this tank size it seems a bit much (based on hbtanzo) it takes up 30% ish of my sand bed basically. Is there anyway I could remove it and ad smaller pieces? I have 2 5-10lb ish pieces of DRY ROCK. I don't wanna kill any bacteria but this rock I underestimated my "guessed weight" and it's probably in the range of 20lbs alone possibly, I don't have a scale hahaha

Off topic and not too important in my current standing, but just a quick question I've wondered

Yes you can pull it all out and just scrub it all and do a reset.
The only concern becomes stirring up detritus from the sand bed if you haven done a deep clean in a while.

Adding a dry rock will require it to be cycled. Not a problem but you'll weaken the biofilter a bit

If you scrub add bacteria use the same sand and some of the old rock it should be ok.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Fwiw you can slow the flow a bit o the filter if your doing a deep clean you probably don't need to use the filter.

 

[moseley75]

Could you get a hammer and chisel and break the large piece into smaller ones?

 

[Zack857]

Sorry guys have been out of service, I have other rocks in the tank but less than 2lbs, so I think that would be okay, the filter has media as well so maybe that can hold up until the new rock is cycled

 

[jeffmr4]

Looks like dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria to me. Things I would check,

- those aren't freshwater lights are they? saltwater requires a different spectrum.
- you should only feed what your fish can completely consume. you should probably feed once per day. if you are feeding that whole cube, that is too much.
- do you vacuum your sand? you should do that with every water change.
- you could have bad live rock. where did you get the rock and what kind is it?
- use some kind of mechanical filtration and make sure you are getting flow through the whole tank. (often this is a big contributer to cyano)

Scrubbing and scraping will remove the things temporarily but if your nutrient levels remain high, it will continue to come back. I wouldn't use phosguard or add snails. Doing the latter will only increase your bioload.

Feed less, do multiple water changes vacuuming all the sand, check your lighting, add flow and mechanical filtration. If none of this works after a month or so, you could try using chemiclean.

Good luck!

 

[Zack857]

My light is the stock Fluval Evo Marine light suitable for corals.

I do feed that whole cube but I have started to feel it's a bit much, but I tend to thaw it all and not use it all.

I vacuum my sand and some times I stir it up before siphoning.

I got dry rock from Amazon in bulk and then let it cycle in my tank before adding anything.

I use the stock in tank filter (over flow/sump/unsure of what to call it) and it has coarse sponge, ceramic media, and carbon all tucked away into its own compartment. I have a power head with two separate heads, one pointed into the tank, one agitating the surface for good o2 exchange.

I think I'll maybe turn my lights off a hour or two earlier and possibly feed every other day? If not just feeding less than typical, I use about 70-80% of the cube unless it's a small cube.

 

[Cory]

It doesnt matter what you feed your fish, all food adds phosphourus. Its just a matter of time before something uses it like algae or coral.

 

[Uwharrie]

I had similar problems. main cause was overfeeding. I feed 1/4 cube every other day. (three fish) a few extra small pellets on alt days. I have never had any luck with snails. I do have a couple of emerald crabs that clean up as well as a brittle star

 

[Forsaken77]

My light is the stock Fluval Evo Marine light suitable for corals.

I do feed that whole cube but I have started to feel it's a bit much, but I tend to thaw it all and not use it all.

I vacuum my sand and some times I stir it up before siphoning.

I got dry rock from Amazon in bulk and then let it cycle in my tank before adding anything.

I use the stock in tank filter (over flow/sump/unsure of what to call it) and it has coarse sponge, ceramic media, and carbon all tucked away into its own compartment. I have a power head with two separate heads, one pointed into the tank, one agitating the surface for good o2 exchange.

I think I'll maybe turn my lights off a hour or two earlier and possibly feed every other day? If not just feeding less than typical, I use about 70-80% of the cube unless it's a small cube.

What nobody mentioned is it would've been much better to leave your lights off during the cycling period. You shouldn't have added livestock until it was complete.

You should maybe also think about getting the inTank media basket for this tank. It forces the water through the media. You can get it at Marinedepot.com or from inTank themselves.

I have have 2 of the Evo 13.5 tanks that I use as quarantine tanks and have those baskets. They're even developing something for chamber 2 of the filter.

You definitely need a small powerhead in there, like the Koralia nano. It's cheap. You also want to use aragonite sand so it will keep your Ph up high enough. Maybe a 20 pound THOROUGHLY RINSED bag.

If you're doing a reset, it may be wise to scrub the rock clean, get a bottle of Microbacter-7 bacteria and put the rock in 5 gallons of heated saltwater in a bucket for a day to seed the rock with bacteria. Just do very small amounts of bacteria because it's a very small tank. Stir the bucket around every few hours if you don't have a small powerhead to do it.

That stock sponge is a piece of garbage imo. You will constantly have to rinse it because it'll trap detritus deep in it. You also don't need to razor the glass, you can just use a foam pad made for glass or cut up the sponge and use that if you get the inTank media basket. Then you can put filter floss in the 1st 2 chambers of the basket, carbon in the bottom and in the filters 2nd chamber add some Seachem Matrix for biological in a very porous bag.

I talked to the owner of inTank that makes the media baskets (I have one for both of my tanks and set one up in my niece's Fluval Spec-V tank I got her) and he said Fluvals stock filters are such crap in the all in one tanks that they keep him in business. Plus they make baskets for Biocubes and other tanks. They're not cheap, like $55 a basket, but worth it. Also with the stock sponge, there is no way for water to flow through any media. The stock system is just junk in the back, besides the return pump.

And the cyano will suck rite up off the sand, so you don't need to stir it. Just syphon it well.

There's many ways to accomplish getting the tank in order. Just remember that being you're using such a small tank, your parameters can change drastically in hours until it stabilizes. Even then, it's more work than a bigger tank because everything is so much more concentrated and you're dealing with species that are significantly more sensitive to those changes than freshwater. Honestly, it would be best if someone like a fish store or friend could hold your livestock while you reset your tank. Because they're adding more nutrients and waste than the good bacteria can handle.

 

[Forsaken77]

Also, 1 cube of food is way too much for that small of a tank. You also should dilute the cube in a cup of RODI or tank water beforehand and either use a turkey baster to suck up the food and squirt it into the tank, or use a plastic spoon and let as much water drain from the food before adding it. There are sooo many phosphates in frozen foods. That's why you want to defrost it in water and just remove the food without the fillers.

 

[Zack857]

I don't use the typical "frozen cube" that comes out of those tinfoil prepackaged cubes, I use fresh frozen food that comes in a sheet and I use a piece half the size of a thumb nail with a 5ml syringe (no needle) to feed my clowns, then whatever else falls is crab/Snail food, I used a whole cube when I had 6 discus lol.

I will look into getting a power head, I thought the sprayers would be enough, do you recommend pointing them both into the tank? I have one up one down for good service agitation for o2 purposes.

Thanks for the good info I'll look into some of the other products you mentioned, but I got lost on the filter part, so I have the stock Evo with a heater in the first chamber of the filter, then in the second is where that black sponge that has cut out holes in it for the stock carbon and media bags, and then the return pump in the 3rd chamber. Which part of that did you say sucked and what should I do to fix it, I'm sorry I just got confused!

Thanks so much everyone!

P.S. I waited till the tank was cycled to add fish, I've done a lot with fresh water so I carried over the basics with me to salt water.

 

[Zack857]

Hey guys, tank is going good, finished the water change and haven't been running my light for almost a day now.

I set up my Fluval 110 HOB filter, it wasn't leveling right on the side of the tank so I had to put a book in between the tank and filter so I could level it (pic).

I'm nervous this is an irregular pressure point and is going to either crack the glass or pull the silicon seams apart. Anyone with knowledge to this? Thanks

This is a big filter, meant for MUCH bigger tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

looks like the water is clear and the funk is out. so ditch the filter unless you cleaning more.
The little leveling thingy was missing I assume?

 

[Zack857]

looks like the water is clear and the funk is out. so ditch the filter unless you cleaning more.
The little leveling thingy was missing I assume?

I had the leveling thing but even the longest point wouldn't level it completely so I just ditched it and put a book in it LOL

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

haha. Duct tape!!
Tank look 100% better btw.

 

[Zack857]

That's right! And thank you! A few hours of cleaning and scrubbing got most of it gone, now is the task of keeping it away