Newbie, sort of ... regardless Need Algae help!

[Atdymoke]

Hello everyone!

I am in need of some assistance with my tank, but first a little background. I've had this tank for about 2 years now and there have been numerous times I've thought about and even posted it up for sale. This is one of those "I hate it" moments. We bought a package deal two years ago with no prior saltwater experience. When we bought the set up we had to seller come and set it all up for us. We have a 125 gallon tank, sump system below, protein skimmer and two power-heads (one left, one on the right). I currently have about 200-250 lbs of live rock landscaped with some bubble coral, frog spawn, devils hand, etc. Since we bought it I had a liter meter 3 installed with an auto water changer set at 1-2 gallon cycle a day, I upgraded the lights to LED and added an R/O water auto fill system to the water change out. I also have a banded shrimp, brittle starfish, a yellow tang and a damsel.

The tank itself is beautiful and I love watching the underwater life, but I'm frustrated with the cycles the tank seems to go through. We have had numerous fish in the tank over the last two years and we keep losing them, algae keeps sparking up, etc. I am including pictures of the algae I currently have.

If you can offer any recommendations please do. I am not an expert on any of this and barely know what equipment I have or the technical terms used so please be patient

 

[Reefing Madness]

That be looking like Dinoflagellates. Bad news there. Get some Kent Tech M, and bring your Magnesium up to 1600.

Oh, and you have Aiptasia mixed in with it.
You can use a bunch of things for that one. Injecting it with Lemon Juice, use Joes Juice, inject it with Vinegar, buy Peppermint Shrimp, Cobberbanded Butterfly fish. Little easier to get rid of than dinos.


How I beat dinoflagellates, and the lessons I learned ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-almost-impossible-get-rid-have-you-beat.html
Problem Dinoflagellates and pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Atdymoke]

Thank you for the reply RM. I'll give the Kent Tech M a shot and see how it works. I'm assuming that the Aiptasia is the "flowery" spindly plants that I see in the last picture? I also have something else growing in the tank (and also the sump), some are white and some are the purple color you see in the picture.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yes, the flowery looking things in with the algae are bad hitch hikers called Aiptasia.
As for the other stuff you have here. Ive no idea on that one. Hopefully we get someone else to chime in and help out. Id throw out a guess and says its some sort of macro algae, but am unsure.

 

[Atdymoke]

Thanks again RM! I also read that people have shut off their lights for a few days. Not sure if this is done in conjunction with the magnesium dosing or in lieu of. Regarding those branches, I've been stumped as well. They just started springing up about a year ago and again they vary in color from purple to white. I thought they were kind of cool, but wanted to know more about what they actually are

 

[veselym]

They might be sponges, I have some white stringy sponge that looks like that...your tank needs help, raise the mag and you can try a lights out for 48 hours and see what it does

get some aiptasia X and nuke all those anemones

 

[boehm742]

Another option to rid yourself of thosenuisance https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...&sa=X&ei=mlD-UpawKqr4yQHO94DYBQ&ved=0CCUQBSgAaiptasia are a handful of peppermint shrimp, or even better yet a copperband butterfly fish.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yes, the 3 day lights out with Kent Tech M is the treatment. You got it. Dosing Hydrogen Peroxide is another treatment.

 

[Atdymoke]

Thanks for the input all. I'm going to find some Kent Tech M and will pick up a butterfly fish tomorrow.

 

[jayhawk]

The tips you are getting are good. It will help you fix the immediate problem. The underlying problem is why the outbreaks? Water quality is essential for your aquarium. You need effective; protein skimming, biological filtration, mechanical filtration, feeding of livestock, element management (phosphate, nitrate, salinity, magnesium, calcium). If you haven't already, get quality test kits and test the 5 parameters listed above. You will likely find that your phosphates are out of line (ideal phosphates are .03 ppm and below). You have some hard work ahead of you but when it's dialed in, you will be much happier as well as the tank inhabitants. Aiptasia are nuisance anemones. A crew of peppermint shrimp will do the trick. If phosphates are the issue, consider running GFO in a reactor. There are some other biological/mechanical methods but GFO performs well.

 

[Atdymoke]

Your right about the "root cause", my tank continues to go through cycles where the fish and corals do really well, the water is crystal clear, the rocks are a nice purple color and then I start losing fish, corals shrink or die and algae starts up all over. I check SG, ammonia, nitrate, nitrites and Ph regularly and the only problem I've ever had was lower Ph (8.1). I run a protein skimmer (which I did just discover was not working, fixed now) I've never focused on magnesium, phosphate, or calcium. Are there Phosphate testers out there? I just picked up a pro magnesium tester yesterday and it was at 1400 (roughly). I also bought a small copper band butterfly and some magnesium doser.

 

[Diamond1]

Hanna makes an easy to use phosphate tester.
The last picture looks like maybe a form of soft coralline algae.
I would suggest really working to lower the phosphates and follow the advice given for dealing with the dinos.
You said you have a sump and 2 power heads. Any Idea how much flow you have in the tank? I ask because you may not have enough and this could be part of the problem with the nutrient build up. Most recommend around 10 times the tank capacity for water flow.

 

[dib]

Bumping to follow. You've got some of the same issues I have.

 

[PaulKreider]

Pepper mint shrimp, a lawn mower goby and watch your feeding and lighting and youl be set! Don't worry!

 

[Singlefin]

How's the auto water changer system doing? Also watch your feeding schedule. Over feeding will definitely give you some headaches.

 

[Atdymoke]

Sounds so simple . I have a Damsel (maybe 1 inch or so) that I swear takes out any crabs or shrimp I add into the tank. Any ideas on how to catch this guy and give to someone else? The only other critters I have are a yellow tang, brittle starfish and a banded shrimp.

 

[Atdymoke]

Sounds so simple . I have a Damsel (maybe 1 inch or so) that I swear takes out any crabs or shrimp I add into the tank. Any ideas on how to catch this guy and give to someone else? The only other critters I have are a yellow tang, brittle starfish and a banded shrimp.

 

[johnanddawn]

To be honest if I were you I would do this


1) Remove half the rock - and recure it. Any corals on that rock can be removed and put on clean frag plus or rubble and kept in the tank.
I would make sure to kill everything on it off by drying, bleaching, vinigar or some othe method. Research "cooking" live rock there are many methods.
2) recure it in a lg garbage container for at least a month after your sure everything on it is dead to resead the bacteria.
3) while that's happening vacuum the sand bed on that half of the tank frequently and make sure there is no aptasia or other pests on the glass, overflow or sump.
4) in a couple months repeat the process with the other half of rock. Take out the stuff in the tank vacuum all the sand and use the clean rock to restart your reef.
5) make sure you have all the aptasia gone from the system! Inspect every piece of coral you put back in and be careful not to reintroduce. I know your question was about the algae but algae although unsightly is not as big of a problem as the aptasia

This will take about 6 months but you will be algae and aptasia free for years to come if you do it right. Any shortcuts and you will be dealing with those pests for ever. It seems like a daunting task, but it will be worth it in the end. Sure a peppermint, or copperband may work on the aptasia, and a Blennie or tang may clean up some algae (as well as many of the other suggestions above) but this is the only sure way.

A big rule in reefing should be start clean and stay clean. The system you bought was not. It's easier to start over at this point and in the end it will be your reef

 

[Atdymoke]

The auto water changer is still giving me problems. I'm not sure how long it's been giving the error, but it continues to read " A SERVICE PUMP A". I have removed the tube/roller housing, taken the rollers out, inspected the tubing and everything seems fine. Not sure what the problem is. Using a Liter Meter III with the water exchange module.

As for cleaning the tank, I may end up getting to the point pretty quick. The tank seemed to be clean and free when I bought it and it has had it's ups and downs over the last two years I've owned it, but I think I'm the one who has probably messed up on something.

 

[Atdymoke]

Need some additional advice here. I would like to slim down on the rock I have (again 200-250 lbs right now) and have more coral. I don't feel that there is enough room right now to add a lot and I have one mushroom that seems to have reached its max. I was thinking of going high in the middle and a lot lower on the sides, which would free up more space for larger coral to flourish. I've included a whole picture of my tank and some additional pics to show the mushroom. I would like to try what JohnandDawn recommended keeping only the rock that could (a) be salvaged and (b) that I can aquascape and at the same time cleaning the algae and aptasia off. You'll also notice a picture of some "balled-up" buds which I have been told are toxic if taken out of the water and handled, but I can't remember the name or how to SAFELY get rid of them.

I would love to hear some ideas of how to properly aquascape this tank or should I leave it at is? Pics or links are always helpful and would also appreciate any tips on the "toxic" plants I have residing?