Please Help: Reeftank spiraling downwards

[markon87]

Hi all!

I have an issue with my reef tank. It's a 20-gal mixed reef with anemones.
So in mid-July, all of a sudden, my anemones started splitting and moving around the tank. It's not the first time my anemones split but it was the first time they moved so much. In a few days, 3 of them died. I removed the dead anemones and did a few big water changes in the course of a few weeks. Two anemones survived and are in a quarantine box. They seem better there.

At the same time, my toadstool leather stopped opening and the other corals also started opening less. Only the Holywood stunned chalice coral seems to be going fine.
I started seeing more and more hair algae and also some brick-red slime over the rocks (please see attached photos). I keep doing a 20% weekly water change but things seem to spiral downwards. I tested the water with test kits that I have.

Ammonia: 0
Salinity: 1.025
Phosphate: 0.012 ppm (Hanna test kit, reagents expired 4 months ago)
Nitrates: 0 (NYOS test kit)
pH: 8 (API test kit)

Do you guys have any idea what this slimy thing could be? Any ideas on how to get rid of it and this hair algae and get my corals to open up again?

 

[blaxsun]

There's hair algae for sure, but some of this could also be dinos.

 

[The_Paradox]

If you don’t already, now would be the time to throw some carbon in ASAP.

 

[markon87]

If you don’t already, now would be the time to throw some carbon in ASAP.

I have cartridges with some carbon that go into HOB Marineland filter. They have a bit of carbon inside. Do you think that's enough or should I get something like chemipure? Or maybe even just carbon in a bag?

 

[The_Paradox]

I have cartridges with some carbon that go into HOB Marineland filter. They have a bit of carbon inside. Do you think that's enough or should I get something like chemipure? Or maybe even just carbon in a bag?

If they are fresh they should be good. If not bag some GAC and throw it in.

 

[Marquarium]

Do you have a good amount of cleanup crew to help with the algae?

And what are you feeding your fish and corals?

 

[brandon429]

You need to rip clean that tank. Anything shy is half the quality outcome. Here’s several:

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[markon87]

Do you have a good amount of cleanup crew to help with the algae?

And what are you feeding your fish and corals?

I used to have a bunch of snails and hermit crabs but seems like they started dying off. So maybe it's dino issue.
I'm feeding frozen brine shrimps, pellets and reef roids for corals.

 

[brandon429]

The number one thing we’d change for the reassembly is your lighting power, intensity / duration and spectrum


your tank is early stage eutrophic, that pic shows several markers

this only means your export needs to be stepped up, for the degree of feeding and bioloading you use, it doesn’t mean you’ve approached it wrong those are healthy corals. Your rock isn’t matured, with algae excluding coralline, we’d guide it that way though. Begin with a rip clean, change up game after. Your sandbed needs cleaning for sure, to intercept dinos as well.

another thread centered around tank rehab:

Old tank syndrome is vanquished in reefing now

the cause of old tank syndrome is compounding whole waste particles that blanket the interstitial sand grain zones and plug up the channels in live rocks- in some cases it's sheer overgrowth allowed from various invasions that plugs up the surface area on live rock combined with a thin veneer of...

www.reef2reef.com

all rip cleans. Just sold from a different angle. Every thread I do is a rip clean sold from a different angle, because they work so well. Our before pics look like yours. A rip clean is the waste export catchup your tank requires ran all at once. There is no additive or animal or param change you can do to circumvent it’s required work and still get our quality after pics. Those tanks are fixed in one day. By tomorrow you’d have a new looking tank using all your same parts. Just cleaned correctly.

these two threads above are taking reefs posted here in decline then turning them around in one day. We make the preventative changes in the clean condition, not the invaded condition.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Once hair algae gets to a certain length they don't eat it. This is where you and your commitments come in and get your hands in to clean it

 

[Marquarium]

I used to have a bunch of snails and hermit crabs but seems like they started dying off. So maybe it's dino issue.
I'm feeding frozen brine shrimps, pellets and reef roids for corals.

Whenever I've had algae issues my nitrates always read super low since the algae is taking in a lot of them. Also would notice my cleanup crew start to deplete.

It doesn't sound like you're necessarily doing anything wrong. Keep up the water changes and perhaps try scrubbing the rocks with something like a toothbrush or even use hands to try to pull some off if it's long enough.

Otherwise I read a lot that lights on too high or too long can cause these outbreaks. But if you've been doing pretty good up until now with the same lighting schedule I doubt it's that.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all!

I have an issue with my reef tank. It's a 20-gal mixed reef with anemones.
So in mid-July, all of a sudden, my anemones started splitting and moving around the tank. It's not the first time my anemones split but it was the first time they moved so much. In a few days, 3 of them died. I removed the dead anemones and did a few big water changes in the course of a few weeks. Two anemones survived and are in a quarantine box. They seem better there.

At the same time, my toadstool leather stopped opening and the other corals also started opening less. Only the Holywood stunned chalice coral seems to be going fine.
I started seeing more and more hair algae and also some brick-red slime over the rocks (please see attached photos). I keep doing a 20% weekly water change but things seem to spiral downwards. I tested the water with test kits that I have.

Ammonia: 0
Salinity: 1.025
Phosphate: 0.012 ppm (Hanna test kit, reagents expired 4 months ago)
Nitrates: 0 (NYOS test kit)
pH: 8 (API test kit)

Do you guys have any idea what this slimy thing could be? Any ideas on how to get rid of it and this hair algae and get my corals to open up again?

Seeing this is an established tank, I would pull as much algae as you can by hand and scrub the rest with a firm toothbrush and some 3% hydrogen peroxide outside of the tank, or pull and reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin
8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

What is your phos and nitrate levels?
Is this tank at or near a window?

 

[markon87]

I bumped up my lights when my anemones started to move around and grasp up. I thought I might need more intensity. My light's are on for about 12h with ramp up and down. Green and Blue go up to about 80% and white to 30%.

Phosphate is 0.012 and nitrate is reading 0

Tank is in the middle of the room. Not really near the windows. Tank is about 3 year old at this point.

 

[Marquarium]

I bumped up my lights when my anemones started to move around and grasp up. I thought I might need more intensity. My light's are on for about 12h with ramp up and down. Green and Blue go up to about 80% and white to 30%.

Phosphate is 0.012 and nitrate is reading 0

Tank is in the middle of the room. Not really near the windows. Tank is about 3 year old at this point.

What do you mean when you say grasp up? Did the anemones look thin and reaching or something like that? Again I am by no means someone to take their advice to heart, but when my anemones are like that either my nitrates are out of wack or I haven't fed them enough recently. I think most anemones don't require high lighting anyway (atleast for the BTAs im familiar with)

 

[markon87]

What do you mean when you say grasp up? Did the anemones look thin and reaching or something like that? Again I am by no means someone to take their advice to heart, but when my anemones are like that either my nitrates are out of wack or I haven't fed them enough recently. I think most anemones don't require high lighting anyway (atleast for the BTAs im familiar with)

Yes, they would look thin and like reaching up. Before my lights would go on, they would reach towards the side of the room where the windows are, and when the lights go on, they would turn up. I have rainbow bubble tip anemones.

 

[Lavey29]

I agree with above posts but also see cyano on the sand which is lack of flow. 0 nitrates means your corals are starving to death. They decline from the inside out and can take weeks or months to show outward decline symptoms.

 

[markon87]

I agree with above posts but also see cyano on the sand which is lack of flow. 0 nitrates means your corals are starving to death. They decline from the inside out and can take weeks or months to show outward decline symptoms.

Do you have any suggestion how should I raise my nitrates? Should I dose something? Feed more?

 

[markon87]

Seeing this is an established tank, I would pull as much algae as you can by hand and scrub the rest with a firm toothbrush and some 3% hydrogen peroxide outside of the tank, or pull and reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin
8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

What is your phos and nitrate levels?
Is this tank at or near a window?

I bumped up my lights when my anemones started to move around and grasp up. I thought I might need more intensity. My light's are on for about 12h with ramp up and down. Green and Blue go up to about 80% and white to 30%.

Phosphate is 0.012 and nitrate is reading 0

Tank is in the middle of the room. Not really near the windows. Tank is about 3 year old at this point.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I bumped up my lights when my anemones started to move around and grasp up. I thought I might need more intensity. My light's are on for about 12h with ramp up and down. Green and Blue go up to about 80% and white to 30%.

Phosphate is 0.012 and nitrate is reading 0

Tank is in the middle of the room. Not really near the windows. Tank is about 3 year old at this point.

Moderate light and flow should keep it happy along with feedings

 

[Lavey29]

Do you have any suggestion how should I raise my nitrates? Should I dose something? Feed more?

Both can work. Frozen food raises nitrates or dosing neonitro to works. Need nitrates 10 to 15.