SPS dying, algae flourishing. Frustrated

[saltyfilmfolks]

Cowrie eat turf algae

the chestnut cowrie? some arent reef safe.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Say no to tiger cowrie in a reef tank. I have three and they like to munch on SPS as a snack.

 

[Dondalion]

Try a lawnmower Benny

 

[Haim]

W/C 25% every week. 4 days light off.

Above all you need to know or anderstend the reason you have algea.

 

[Ocelaris]

What's your skimmer and nutrient export mechanism? Have you tried to chaeto in the skimmer to out compete the algae in the tank? Have you tried dosing nitrates? The nitrates helps add nutrients in a more Redfield ratio than just food. I'd cut back on all the food for the corals, not required imo if you have time to good ratio of Nitrate to phosphates.

 

[ashr]

W/C 25% every week. 4 days light off.

Above all you need to know or anderstend the reason you have algea.

If your SPS are already doing bad, won't 4 days of light be enough to push it over the edge?
I am having some of the same issues but bubble algae with mine and some of my SPS are not happy. LPS/Softies/Clams are super healthy.. Just SPS not doing well.

 

[blizzardscout2]

I would run the skimmer. Pull as much algae as you can and keep at it. Eventually there won't be enough algae to eat up all the phosphates and nitrates. Decreasing your light schedule can help too. Plus WC. Wish you luck.

 

[Hans-Werner]

In my eyes green algae and no success with SPS is a hint to bad N/P balance, too much N and P too low. There are some foodstuffs that are said to raise P more than N, especially some coral food like cyclop eeze or yeast. Maybe try this. Some commercial additives also balance N/P ratio.
A coral rubble reactor filled with coral rubble adds P without adding N but it is not worth buying it only for your problem. Coral sand may also add some phosphate.

 

[ijv]

correct me if i am wrong.....

algae have the capability of "harvesting" nutrients fast.
some an take up amm/no2 and "make" no3 themselves.
most no3 is consumed before you measure it,
so you're actually measuring the still free available no3

all consumed/available no3 was at some time nh /no2
considering you're algae scrub.you must have had huge amounts and took away balance somewere
i would start measuring/concentrating on amm., nitrite (phosphorus)cycle

 

[sundog101]

In my tank, algae seems to grow no matter what the N and P levels are. I tried to raise them and cut back on skimming and carbon dosing, and my tank went from nothing to algae outbreak all while testing 0 nutrients. It's like the algae uses them as soon as they are available, no matter how low and won't allow nutrients to become detectable.

 

[ijv]

measuring "free" no3 when having problems is in a sense useless will only tell you algae has enough to go on
and algea is all about competition ..the abillity to be the first to consume is logical

.can a algea scrubber "leak"algae in a tank?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

In my tank, algae seems to grow no matter what the N and P levels are. I tried to raise them and cut back on skimming and carbon dosing, and my tank went from nothing to algae outbreak all while testing 0 nutrients. It's like the algae uses them as soon as they are available, no matter how low and won't allow nutrients to become detectable.

+1 lowering nutrients is the first phase, removing algae is the next. "pulling weeds"

 

[Macdaddynick1]

I'm having the worst time keeping my acros happy. I'll get several months of great color/growth, then several more of stn and algae issues. Then the cycle starts again.

Right now, my acros are in the stn phase and I have green turf algae taking over, literally. Maybe the turf algae is taking up all the nutrients and starving the acros? I have several fish and feed them heavily every day that I'm home. Also feed the tank reef chili or reef roids daily when home.
I'm getting ready to dose Vibrant to help get rid of the turf algae but fear that may only worsen the stn issue.

Here's some numbers:
90g tank
2x250w MH
4x54 t5
2 mp 40's

Sg 1.025
Alk 7.3-7.7
Ca 480
No3 trace
Po4 0
Mg 1470
Ph 7.9-8.4

I have my 2 part on a doser that drips every hour 24/7 to help control swings, but I still got 'em. My ph starts at 7.9 or 8.0 in the morning before the lights and ends at 8.4 at the end of the day. 6 hours on halides and 8 hours with t5's.
I cannot get my N/P to raise, regardless of how I feed. I don't know how to explain the alk swings from week to week. One week closer to 7 and 8 the next.
I have had my skimmer turned off for several months and have not done a water change in 3 months or so. UV sterilizer is still running.

I am open to hear what everybody has to say. I really need some help.
I use to have an amazing sps tank but can't figure this out.

Thanks,
Charlie

If you're doing everything you can but despite things being the same, your acros do great for a few months and then start dying off, then back to being good for a few months. Also, presumably your parameters are in check but you get excess algae growth, stunned sps growth, or burnt tips, rtn stn low alk consumption I.e. Alk is raising etc. it kind of feels like chasing ghosts. I would look into your RO/DI source water check the TDS first. I personally have had this problem a while back, my TDS would show O everything was on point and my tank was still suffering. Some people said it was the chloramines issue since they don't register on the TDS meter, an easy way to test for the RO issue is to get yourself a small container of prime and add a very tiny bit of prime to all of your topoff and to your W/C water. If your acros start looking a little better (not great but slightly better) , I would suggest changing all of your filters or changing the LFS that you get the water from.

 

[Frop]

Seems like feeding more would just feed more algae? At least your alk is right under 8 so low nuetrients wouldn't be as harsh.

 

[ashr]

If you're doing everything you can but despite things being the same, your acros do great for a few months and then start dying off, then back to being good for a few months. Also, presumably your parameters are in check but you get excess algae growth, stunned sps growth, or burnt tips, rtn stn low alk consumption I.e. Alk is raising etc. it kind of feels like chasing ghosts. I would look into your RO/DI source water check the TDS first. I personally have had this problem a while back, my TDS would show O everything was on point and my tank was still suffering. Some people said it was the chloramines issue since they don't register on the TDS meter, an easy way to test for the RO issue is to get yourself a small container of prime and add a very tiny bit of prime to all of your topoff and to your W/C water. If your acros start looking a little better (not great but slightly better) , I would suggest changing all of your filters or changing the LFS that you get the water from.

This is a great idea. I have noticed since I moved cities my tank isnt going as well and I wonder if it is the water. I will have to make sure I change all my RO/DI filters and see what happens. Also adding prime wouldnt hurt either! Great tip!

 

[blufin]

So I pulled out as much of the algae as I could, then took a toothbrush to what was left behind. A 15% water change was done and I added a few more fish to make some poop. I slightly increased the amount of reef roids I was feeding in order to ensure the sps are getting what they need. I'm gonna keep scrubbing the rocks and try my best to keep that under control. Hopefully the sps will recover.
Oddly, I have a fist sized colony of BC Hyperberry that never showed any signs of stress whatsoever, while virtually every other piece did. That's a strong coral! Bulletproof.
As for my N/P balance, they are both at O, so I don't think there's a balance issue. They both need to come up.
My water is not an issue as I'm on a well, so nothing "funky" from municipal water. I run a spectrapure ro/di unit that is reading tds of 2. I chose to keep using the filters in an effort to get some po4 from the tds, but that isn't working, so I'm gonna go ahead and change them and eliminate that algae food source.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I chose to keep using the filters in an effort to get some po4 from the tds,

I dont belive theres any Po4 in the water. Po4 is an organic carbon. The first membrane would pull that.

 

[blufin]

I dont belive theres any Po4 in the water. Po4 is an organic carbon. The first membrane would pull that.

So when people say that water that has a high tds will introduce phosphates into your tank, causing algae, are these 2 different things?

 

[blizzardscout2]

The more likely culprit contributing is silica from your well water. I would change the filters. Keep up the good work

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

So when people say that water that has a high tds will introduce phosphates into your tank, causing algae, are these 2 different things?

Here's a good post from spectrapure.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2318622

And fwiw algae is not caused by Po4 or light. It is introduced into the system on rocks and frags etc. its fed unfortunately by the same stuff our corals like. removal and grazers for control are the key.