Please help, because I’m near the end!

[LC8Sumi]

So I had an okayish tank, but lots of algae issues. My nitrates were about 1-2ppm and phosphates around 0.03. I wanted to get rid of the algae

I’ve did the following in the past 2 months:
- Changed lighting from Kessil hybrid to 8bulb t5 only
- Took my refugium offline
- upgraded my skimmer
- started to use vibrant
- dosed flucanozole
- ran gfo agressively
- replaced CaRx with 2-p

Now the algae did go away perfectly, but the issue is that now my sps are dieing. There is now a dino and cyano outbreak & STN of the sps tissue.

So all was going well, until I’ve decided to use GFO in order to lower my PO4 because of the algae dieoff. This stabilised the PO4 at 0.03-0.06ppm. NO3 at around 5-6ppm.

Then the cyano started, and then a few days later dinos appeared. So I’ve took the GFO offline - because fashion nowdays says to do this. Another couple days later SPS are shreading tissue.

So I’ve measured the levels and NO3 and PO4 are now at 35ppm & 0.12ppm.

I don’t know where to go from here, as everyone would say that dino & cyano are more of a result of low values and/or imbalance, but that does not seem to be the case here.

After 5 years of reefing, 3 years of battling this algae issue, I’m now feeling like I should probably just let it go and quit. I’ve learnt that this hobby is perhaps not for me, I’m probably too dumb for it, because what works for others 100% doesn’t work for me. I’ve always thought I’m the smart and educated guy, because it seems like a lot of people with lot less knowledge don’t have these problems, but I’m now really starting to think, more like fear, that maybe I’m the one who is not smart enough.

 

[motortrendz]

I've had issues with sps fading big time after using vibrant and gfo. If you can get the po4 back down with water changes I'd take the gfo offline and stop the vibrant. And let time do its job. Itll take a few weeks but they should color back up. Maybe dose half doses of aminos.

I've used fluconazole with great success. Its works awesome. Take time but it works. Cant run carbon while it's doing its thing though.

But that's what I've noticed I'm my system. So maybe that info will help you. but everyone's tanks are different.

 

[LC8Sumi]

I've had issues with sps fading big time after using vibrant and gfo. If you can get the po4 back down with water changes I'd take the gfo offline and stop the vibrant. And let time do its job. Itll take a few weeks but they should color back up. Maybe dose half doses of aminos.

I've used fluconazole with great success. Its works awesome. Take time but it works. Cant run carbon while it's doing its thing though.

But that's what I've noticed I'm my system. So maybe that info will help you. but everyone's tanks are different.

Thanks for your thoughts!
Won’t that fuel the dino bloom?

 

[theMeat]

Have your water thoroughly tested by triton or the likes.
If there’s one thing i’v learned in the decades it’s not to act on every issue. Usually putting something into the tank to cure/fix a problem causes others

 

[vetteguy53081]

turn off whites, decrease blues a little and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gals and also add liquid bacteria at same dosage such as Microbacter 7.
You should see a difference in about 4-5 days. You have nothing to lose and this worked easily for me.

 

[brandon429]

Your issue is 1000% size of tank issues, which translates into accessibility. you could just downsize the tank volume before quitting, and move living frags to the accessible tank and we'd turn it all around easily.


if this was a nano reef, accessible, none of this would be happening (unless you were unwilling to access for one reason or another it would be physically possible)

large tanks require you to work through the water due to accessibility issues, and that starvation of algae eventually throws off corals for many keepers. nano tanks can have their algae killed independently of water params, since they're accessible you can just remove the rocks kill algae then be algae free... and no cyano can form in a tank with a clean sandbed history....all this is accessibility issues involving only tank size. you can clean the sandbed from waste in a smaller nano quite easily/saves you having to dose all kinds of meds through the water.

am aware it doesnt help your current setup much, sounds like a lot of work to clean it into compliance but its a back pocket offer if you end up taking this tank down/move what you can to a reef we could easily control and still produce sps.

 

[LC8Sumi]

Forgot to add that the tank is Bare bottom. It’s a reefer 250, so 54g display.

I don’t have access to brightwell products unfortunatelly because I live in europe, and they’re not available here

 

[Mical]

First off, slow down. Go back to the basics, stop the Vibrant, stop the GFO, stop throwing aftermarket variants at nature. You had SPS that were accustomed to a certain pattern and you changed it - Why? We're all on this quest of improving our systems, but sometimes we "go over the top" and create havoc for the inhabitants.

Personally I would start with basic reef parameters, temps etc... a constant lighting schedule, chaeto in the sump, good flow, then sit back and observe. Don't expect miracles overnight or even within a week. Algae is not a bad thing unless it starts to affect your corals.

I'll bet if you did one healthy water change (50%) with a quality salt, set a lighting schedule (& stuck to it), kept flow up to where you had it (when SPS were thriving) & kept temp at 78 degrees & SG at 1.205-.026 - your tank within a month will come back better than ever.

 

[theMeat]

Agree with the above. Would add a 72 hour lights out, complete with wrapping the tank and turning off refuge light. Then blow off all rocks with turkey baster and do your large water change and let it take it’s course.

 

[LC8Sumi]

First off, slow down. Go back to the basics, stop the Vibrant, stop the GFO, stop throwing aftermarket variants at nature. You had SPS that were accustomed to a certain pattern and you changed it - Why? We're all on this quest of improving our systems, but sometimes we "go over the top" and create havoc for the inhabitants.

Personally I would start with basic reef parameters, temps etc... a constant lighting schedule, chaeto in the sump, good flow, then sit back and observe. Don't expect miracles overnight or even within a week. Algae is not a bad thing unless it starts to affect your corals.

I'll bet if you did one healthy water change (50%) with a quality salt, set a lighting schedule (& stuck to it), kept flow up to where you had it (when SPS were thriving) & kept temp at 78 degrees & SG at 1.205-.026 - your tank within a month will come back better than ever.

Thanks. SPS were doing 80%. So not great, but it was good. The algae however was doing great
I’m not puttig the fuge back online, because I’m pretty sure that was one cause of my issue in first place. I know this is against the fashion, but I truely think that it was the tool in my tank doing the N2 cycle and not beneficial bacteria (it has been running since setting up the tank).

People really don’t seem to have any idea what they’re doing and they’re following the trends blindly. And I bet it’s 90% just luck going on.

 

[theMeat]

What did you have in fuge? Bare bottom?

 

[Katrina71]

First, you were smart enough to admit a struggle and ask questions. If you will look on the forum, even EXPERT reefers have had stn and issues. Hang in there.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

After 5 years of reefing, 3 years of battling this algae issue, I’m now feeling like I should probably just let it go and quit. I’ve learnt that this hobby is perhaps not for me, I’m probably too dumb for it, because what works for others 100% doesn’t work for me. I’ve always thought I’m the smart and educated guy, because it seems like a lot of people with lot less knowledge don’t have these problems, but I’m now really starting to think, more like fear, that maybe I’m the one who is not smart enough.

evening,

i definitely can relate. My concern is you are not too dumb. I think you would be hard pressed to find any of us with time in the hobby that can say they have not gone thru something like this. I know I went thru similar things. I left Dino in my tank for years. Once I decided to get rid of it, cyano came, worked on that and turf came along. i have found there is no absolute trigger for things, but usually there is something in common. Most get Dino with low numbers. I had dino with Po4 close to 1 an No3 at 30.

don‘t be down on yourself. wondering what gfo did you use?

 

[Mical]

People really don’t seem to have any idea what they’re doing and they’re following the trends blindly. And I bet it’s 90% just luck going on.

I don't think it's luck, it's more like mimicking nature is the answer. Granted there are alot of "tools" we have access to but they have their "backlashes" too. I try to stick with natural #'s as close as possible without throwing synthetic cures at what I perceive as an issue. Nature ALWAYS wins. IE: you get a cyano outbreak from overfeeding - #1) you can throw Chemiclean at it and deal w/skimmer overflow(s), cloudy tank for days etc... OR you could cut back your feedings for a couple of days until cyano starts to recede. It may take a couple of weeks to it to recede but it took weeks if not months to start. We're always quick to react but most of us don't realize that the issue started weeks or months ago and it's not going to vanish in the time we concentrated on it. I'm guilty as the next reefer, I would like instant results but nature has "her" own timeline and reefing has taught me this.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Did you acclimate your coral to your T5 lights? Sounds like you added a lot of light all at once. That alone will cause problems. I think you simply did to much all at once. GFO is really harsh on a system. I have heard good and bad things about Vibrant. I have watch BRStv's videos on it, it seems like it will work. You just have to take your time with it. Once algea dies, it releases nutrients back into the water, hence your other algea outbreaks.

My recommendation is slow down! I just put a macroalgea reactor on a system with some SPS in it. SPS never really did any good in that system, but now my phosphates and nitrates are in order and my SPS are coloring up quite nicely. You will make it through this, and you will come out of this with a better understanding of how water chemistry works with everything.

 

[ihavecrabs]

First off, slow down. Go back to the basics, stop the Vibrant, stop the GFO, stop throwing aftermarket variants at nature. You had SPS that were accustomed to a certain pattern and you changed it - Why? We're all on this quest of improving our systems, but sometimes we "go over the top" and create havoc for the inhabitants.

Personally I would start with basic reef parameters, temps etc... a constant lighting schedule, chaeto in the sump, good flow, then sit back and observe. Don't expect miracles overnight or even within a week. Algae is not a bad thing unless it starts to affect your corals.

I'll bet if you did one healthy water change (50%) with a quality salt, set a lighting schedule (& stuck to it), kept flow up to where you had it (when SPS were thriving) & kept temp at 78 degrees & SG at 1.205-.026 - your tank within a month will come back better than ever.

+1

I’d rather have algae than dinos any day!

 

[brandon429]

fifty gallons can be drained into a brute can, rendering the entire system accessible that really changes the game. Figured it was 150 gal

That being said, there's still the willingness to access factor and that removes just about every reef tank owner they demand zero access work, they'll sooner take the tank down w loss $ than use access to cure the concurrent conditions. They'll refuse to touch it, rather watch it disintegrate its fascinating behavior we log this in work threads commonly

Reef invasion is psychology before biology, we already have cures documented so to find several reasons not to apply them, to perpetuate an option, is merely choice. Fixing invaders isn’t hard, what’s tough is convincing those who don’t want to be invaded to not be invaded, they hold on with a grip in nearly every case it’s amazing patterning behind tank invasions, worth its own thread in fact

consider saving accessibility restoration for the very last step no need to downsize further. Right before total takedown when everything possible has been dosed, try our cleaning method. It requires totally cleaning your system and detailing rocks back to good condition directly, outside the tank. Dosing no more chems, gfo offline, new water, and a different way of handling algae on round two. Message if you want I’ll show you a work thread with more than one tank restored

That you have no sand really helps big time in cleaning approach

Post full tank shot

We could do to your reef what a dentist does to a bad mouth, several similar actions actually.

 

[tripdad]

Your story is very common near me. People get a stubborn algae, dose vibrant, kill algae, about a week later get blankets of cyano, dose something to kill ctano, then get dinos, etc. Eventually we have all resorted to a good scrubbing of all rocks, some with peroxide wash out of tank, big water changes and get params in line. This story is very common around me. Hang in there, you are very normal and just got caught in a bad cycle. Go back to basics, clean everything well. Good luck.

 

[Daddy-o]

Does Vibrant really have a downside? It is only bacteria?
Cheers! Mark

 

[Salt & Peper]

Dose hydrogen peroxide. Don't over think it!