New Electric flame scallop for insane phyto bloom

[moretor1]

I have been experiencing a massive phytoplankton bloom over the past few weeks after doing a big clean of my rocks

This has gotten so bad to the point of reducing my tanks visibility to < 3" and is starting to take a toll on my mainly photosynthetic corals

I have tried big water changes but they multiply at an crazy rate

I do not trust algaecide or uv treatment as I have heard many stories of it crashing tanks and I try to avoid additives like that

I was waiting until I moved today because I don't want to stress a new crustacean. I broke down my tank and realized how bad they were doing

Picked this guy up for $20 and he immediately responded to the drip acclimation and is having the time of his life

Didn't even wait until I sat him down to open up

I've started running carbon to help bring my phosphates down more

I wonder how long itll take this guy could clear something as crazy as this

I need to vacuum this but hopefully the detritus will just settle back where it was

 

[moretor1]

Also yes I know I will have to culture phyto for it once it clears the tank. I'll just load a big jug up and put it in the window

Anyone know how much culture volume should sustain a clam? I could do 5 gallons but that seems overkill so I'll probably just stick to 1 gal unless I find a cheap tank

 

[DaJMasta]

It will certainly eat some of it, and any copepods you've got are likely multiplying like crazy (though some species don't actually do well in such a high phyto density), what could be fueling the bloom, though?

Crazy feeding?
Fertilizer dosing?
Water changes with tap water?

Depending on the size of the tank, it may not be able to keep up, but likely I think it would and you should see noticeably more clarity in a couple of days, maybe even a few hours. I don't think they quite go through as much as oysters, but they can probably pull out a lot.

 

[moretor1]

It will certainly eat some of it, and any copepods you've got are likely multiplying like crazy (though some species don't actually do well in such a high phyto density), what could be fueling the bloom, though?

Crazy feeding?
Fertilizer dosing?
Water changes with tap water?

Depending on the size of the tank, it may not be able to keep up, but likely I think it would and you should see noticeably more clarity in a couple of days, maybe even a few hours. I don't think they quite go through as much as oysters, but they can probably pull out a lot.

My tank started out at 4.0 phosphate (not .4) and had a big cyano grow out across all my rocks.
I cleaned out the cyano after a month or so and the sudden availability in nutrients allowed it to take advantage imo, now it's so prolific it has a monopoly on the photosynthetic light

Could some bleeding light from a heat bulb for a snake cause it perhaps? I have a zoo med 100watt basking bulb on the same dresser but not directly shining on the tank (I had to block it because the light would raise the temps)

 

[litsoh]

Alternatively you could just make that a phyto culture tank and have a huge head start. That way you have an excuse to get another tank

 

[moretor1]

Alternatively you could just make that a phyto culture tank and have a huge head start. That way you have an excuse to get another tank

I would need a new job and to refinance this tank to get out of that horrible contract.
No joke like 25% of my check goes to the financing for this tank but I'm only working ~25hrs a week

 

[DaJMasta]

I wouldn't assume the heat lamp would do too much, between not a lot of exposure, not a lot of usable brightness in the visible band (which can be used for photosynthesis), I wouldn't think it is a big contributor.

 

[moretor1]

Day 3 and I think it's starting to clear up a bit. I can slowly start to see more of my rocks

Happy that the scallop chose to chill where I put him. He rotated a few times but is overall stationary

Tomorrow I will most likely do a small wc to help him along once I get my RO water from my old apartment

 

[Jekyl]

Definitely not a normal thing to be happening. Are you using rodi? What are you parameters? How and why did you clean your rocks?

If anything is alive in that tank make sure to add extra surface agitation and something like a bubbler. All that algae will suck up the oxygen.

 

[ReefingDreams]

The only real solution is UV sterilizer. That clam isn't going to put a dent in that. It reproduces too quickly. A Green Killing Machine will work. Most Petco stores even stock them.

 

[moretor1]

Definitely not a normal thing to be happening. Are you using rodi? What are you parameters? How and why did you clean your rocks?

If anything is alive in that tank make sure to add extra surface agitation and something like a bubbler. All that algae will suck up the oxygen.

Yeah i'm using rodi and i only used a pipette to blow junk off my rocks and suck it up
ph 8.2
calc 430
nitrate ~15
phopsphate ~1.5

I'm starting to suspect my frozen foods might be causing the phosphates to be so high. At first i thought it was reefroids but i went a month without them and no change in po4. i havent been feeding much frozen food recently so I am going to try rinsing them and see if it continues to drop

it was over 2ppm a little over a week ago so i do know it's going down but i am using an API test and it kind of sucks

gas exchange is no issue atm because my filter chamber waterfalls into bio balls on top of my pump

 

[moretor1]

Over the past week the scallops health has been on the decline. Last night I did a 30% wc and this morning the scallop is wide open with only the foot visible inside

Going to do a 50% wc today and hope that helps him but I'm not feeling confident. Should this be chalked up to a failed scallop or a parameter issue?

Nothing has changed parameter wise except phos going down

At this point I'm thinking about doing a 25%-50% every other day until things get better

 

[tautog83]

THose dont do well in captivity in general so that was a waste of time really . Huge water change ,use the uv sterilzer from petsmart ( return it after 2 days) then try get some stability

 

[DaJMasta]

How is the scallop not looking good? In my experience, the sign of them starving (the only real ailment I've run into) is when their internal organs start looking thinner/stringier instead of really filling out the space inside (presumably this is the gills specifically.) Mine have done well even in the long term in a tank dosed with phyto and particulate foods, so if there are signs of starvation maybe there is something else missing from their diet.

Have to say, though, fully green water in a saltwater tank is very unusual as a symptom, so I would still suspect some other underlying issue. Do you have a skimmer or other mechanical filtration? I would guess not because they would contribute to removing the phyto, but if you do, it's growing at a truly prolific rate.

 

[moretor1]

THose dont do well in captivity in general so that was a waste of time really . Huge water change ,use the uv sterilzer from petsmart ( return it after 2 days) then try get some stability

They don't do well in captivity because they starve to death in the typical aquarium

Not really the problem here and I've heard UV isn't the best for phyto blooms and I'd rather avoid the uv route for now

How is the scallop not looking good? In my experience, the sign of them starving (the only real ailment I've run into) is when their internal organs start looking thinner/stringier instead of really filling out the space inside (presumably this is the gills specifically.) Mine have done well even in the long term in a tank dosed with phyto and particulate foods, so if there are signs of starvation maybe there is something else missing from their diet.

Have to say, though, fully green water in a saltwater tank is very unusual as a symptom, so I would still suspect some other underlying issue. Do you have a skimmer or other mechanical filtration? I would guess not because they would contribute to removing the phyto, but if you do, it's growing at a truly prolific rate.

No skimmer. The only mechanical filtration is a filter sock. Over the last 3 days the flesh inside has slowly receded inside the shell and today I see 0 "whiskers" and it is showing no reaction to movement

It definitely didn't starve to death so my current guess is the high phosphates may be killing it. I checked today and they are finally under 1ppm and I'm going to do a 50%wc once the water is done heating

I have not been dutiful with my water changes and am going to be finally purchasing an rodi unit so I don't have to make a trip to the lfs and worry about container logistics.

I was morbidly overfeeding my frozen food tbh. I didn't realize it until recently but ~75% of it gets sucked into the filter and most likely becomes a phosphate farm and
I saw Randy's article about how much phosphate 1 cube of common brands can theoretically add

 

[moretor1]

I think I have found my culprit.....

It was my blue legged hermit crab if I had to guess. I saw the one with the black shell on or around the clam on 4 seperate occasions and that's when it would close up

Is it possible my hermits are eating the scallop?

 

[DaJMasta]

They'll eat if its dead, they've never touched my live ones. I've also had them survive in water with 1ppm phosphate or more, though maybe not up to like 3ppm. I would still suspect something else, as I think again, not even high phosphate would have caused a permanent microalgae bloom, especially that lasts weeks even with copepod populations increasing to consume it.

 

[moretor1]

They'll eat if its dead, they've never touched my live ones. I've also had them survive in water with 1ppm phosphate or more, though maybe not up to like 3ppm. I would still suspect something else, as I think again, not even high phosphate would have caused a permanent microalgae bloom, especially that lasts weeks even with copepod populations increasing to consume it.

Not an expert but irc doesn't microalgae double in biomass on avg every 24hrs? And I'm sure at a certain point it reaches a saturation maximum that is limited by light.
That's why when I do big changes I notice a lingering decrease as the phyto is consuming Phosphates to replenish to it's saturated capacity.

Unless the copepods can eat 100x their biomass in less than 24hrs i don't think they ever stood a chance.

I might take a water sample to the local university and see if I can get a microscope picture for a good ID

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

The link below may help you figure out how to get rid of the phyto-bloom - with regards to the flame scallop (and other filter feeders), though, it's not just the quantity of the phytoplankton, but also the size and type/quality of the phytoplankton.

That said, I doubt it was starvation in this case because of how fast it died, but I wouldn't just assume it would get proper nutrition from a random phyto bloom in the tank:

Can you overdose phytoplankton?

I regularly use phytoplankton to feed corals in my 120 gallon mixed reef tank. I realize that my tank is now an oversized phytoplankton reactor. There is a green haze on the glass every 8 hours. Fleece roller is forest green and going quickly. Can you have too much? I usually dose 2-4...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[littlefoxx]

Always been curious about that scallop! Might try one now. They are cool