Need help, what is this?

[Kozman]

I have 40 gallon tank, 2 clowns, 2 damsels. A few corals, Duncan, favia, hammer and zoa's. My reading 1.026 salt, alk 9.8, Calc 500, mag 1470, no3- 5, po4, .22. Tank is about 6 months running, been doing weekly 10 to 15 percent water changes. I have this bloom, not sure what it is, any ideas. Fluval marine 3.0 lights, one hour ramp up, 6 hours on, one hour ramp down. Purple, cyan, blues ramped to 90 percent, white 50 percent.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Cyanno or diatoms

 

[Idech]

Or both. Get a microscope if they don’t go away with basic treatment methods.

 

[Kozman]

Being new at this, what do you consider "basic treatment methods". I read a ton of threads and YouTube, problem is I get 100 different answers to resolve algae, like blackout, chemical treatments, water changes, let it run it course ect, very confusing . Any help much appreciated. Thx

 

[Idech]

Being new at this, what do you consider "basic treatment methods". I read a ton of threads and YouTube, problem is I get 100 different answers to resolve algae, like blackout, chemical treatments, water changes, let it run it course ect, very confusing . Any help much appreciated. Thx

I’ve never had cyano but for types of dinos that respond to it, there is peroxyde you can try. @vetteguy53081 has the recipe.

You should also set-up a UV directly in your display (temporarily) this will help in some types.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have 40 gallon tank, 2 clowns, 2 damsels. A few corals, Duncan, favia, hammer and zoa's. My reading 1.026 salt, alk 9.8, Calc 500, mag 1470, no3- 5, po4, .22. Tank is about 6 months running, been doing weekly 10 to 15 percent water changes. I have this bloom, not sure what it is, any ideas. Fluval marine 3.0 lights, one hour ramp up, 6 hours on, one hour ramp down. Purple, cyan, blues ramped to 90 percent, white 50 percent.

Appears to be cyano.
Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skim mate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the 5 days, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[Kozman]

Thanks for the reply, can I use Microbacter7 as the liquid bacteria?. I have a bottle that i got when i started the tank.

 

[Kozman]

...Also can I leave the blue lights on if I turn off the white lights, or do all lights have to be off?. Do I wait a week to do a water change so the bacteria can do it's job?

 

[Kozman]

Looking to close this out but want to be sure I'm doing this right. I started dosing mictobacter7 and peroxide since Wednesday, haven't seen improvement as of yet. Do I totally turn off all lights or can I have blues on, I'm just worried about my corals..and when should I do water change?

 

[Kozman]

Just an update, it's been 6 days of dosing MB7 and Hydrogen Peroxide per Vetteguy and things have improved 90 percent. Most of the sand and rock cleared up of cyano and dinos. The only loss was a Cardinal fish, I don't think it's related to dosing, he has been looking not so good for a week prior. Should I do a water change soon?, what are next steps..

 

[Kozman]

Revised, as soon as I turned the white lights up today, I noticed the sand was still covered but maybe 50 percent gone, not 90 percent gone. I got too excited and jumped the gun. So do I still stick with this process for a few more day or go nuclear with Chemiclean or UltraLife Slime?

 

[Kozman]

Anyone???, Newbie needs advise, could really need the help, I'm sure someone been thru this sernario before. It's going on 2 weeks, should I be concerned dosing bacteria and peroxide not working well, should I try another approach, see latest pic.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Love the candy cane

 

[vetteguy53081]

Revised, as soon as I turned the white lights up today, I noticed the sand was still covered but maybe 50 percent gone, not 90 percent gone. I got too excited and jumped the gun. So do I still stick with this process for a few more day or go nuclear with Chemiclean or UltraLife Slime?

These are photosynthetic and needs a blackout as mentioned. Also do a light siphoning of surface and clean filters daily

 

[Kozman]

The light was on only for the picture. I was running blues only for the last week at 10 percent for 6 hours and then completely off.

 

[Kozman]

Just an update, I have not seen much improvement on the cyano/diatoms, I've been dosing the MB7 and Hydrogen Peroxide for 10 plus days, did a water change yesterday and still looks ugly. How long do I keep up with dosing?. Anything else I can Do?,, just wait it out?

 

[Kozman]

Latest pic, I lost a hammer coral last night, Duncan is closed up, what do I do next?

 

[Kozman]

Latest update, used Chemiclean and 48 hours later no change, still looks the same, at my wit's end here, what next?

 

[Kozman]

So a week has passed and still dealing with this issue. My water parameters are, salt 1.026, Calc 440, alk 9.0, mag 1410, no3 5, po4 0.40. .I did the 3 day blue lights only, dosed microbacter 7 and Hydrogen Peroxide for 2 weeks and did a Chemiclean and water change and still the same. I went to 2 different LFS and they thought maybe Diatoms since Chemiclean did nothing. I'm currently just trying Chemipure Elite to reduce phos and a possible silicates issue. See pic and please note light is only only for detail of stuff on rock and sand. Please advise on next steps. Thx

 

[Kozman]

..so another month and a half goes by and I still have this issue, can diatoms last 3 months?. Still doing water changes, numbers are good, salt1.025, ph 8.1, NO3 8, PO4, .05, Calc 428, Mag 1350, Alk 10.20. The only thing that could throw this off was that I add a sizeable dry rock scape in October...did that cause the tank to recycle?