Troubled Corals + Hair Algae

[coomasieblu]

Hello,

I've been experiencing trouble dealing with algae, specifically hair algae. My tank is on the smaller end (30 gals) so I've tried adding invertebrates such as a camel shrimp, snail and sea urchin. It seems they struggle to keep up with it. To help, I've been manually removing it via siphoning and I added poly-filter to my canister filter to reduce nitrates and phosphates. Now my corals appear to be suffering (see attached photos). One of my torches hasn't opened up much lately. I noticed the root/stem of the torch has also started growing a green film on it, which I'm assuming is some sort of encrusting type of algae? I'm thinking that could be the culprit. My hammer coral is also not as plump. Not sure what to do (dip, or try a less aggressive approach). To give some better context, here are my water parameters right now:

- Salinity = 1.025 s.g.
- Ammonia = 0 ppm
- Nitrate = 10 ppm
- Nitrite = 0 ppm
- Phosphate = Somewhere between 0-0.25 ppm (I have the API reef master test kit)
- KH = 9
- Calcium = 360 ppm
- pH = 8.1

Mind you, these have been my parameters for months and my corals have been doing just fine until now. I also have a pulsing xenia, another torch, and a zoanthid which all seem to be doing ok. Any tips on how to proceed with this? I have a reef dip for corals by seachem which contains iodine but I don't want to jump the gun if other, less aggressive solutions are available.

 

[ryanjohn1]

How old is the tank?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What kind if lights and flow? Can we see a full tank shot?

Not urgent but you will eventually need a better test kit for phosphate, the api one is not really usable for our purpose.

 

[coomasieblu]

How old is the tank?

The tank has had fish for over a year now, I added the corals about 4 months ago.

 

[coomasieblu]

What kind if lights and flow? Can we see a full tank shot?

Not urgent but you will eventually need a better test kit for phosphate, the api one is not really usable for our purpose.

Here's the full shot, the water level is lower than normal because I was in the middle of a water change. Admittedly I have not measured the PAR of my tank, so I am not sure if the placement of my corals is optimal. The troubled torch was removed in this shot because I wanted to examine it more up close. Normally it is on the sand in the bottom left of the tank, in front of the xenia.

In terms of flow I have a circulation pump which you can see in the top left corner. It's a biocube one. Not too strong because I've purchased some pumps which ended up being too strong, making it difficult for my clowns to swim.

And yea, I was surprised to see the intervals on the API phosphate kit are so broad and high ranged. I'll look into a better kit for that.

 

[coomasieblu]

I also found these guys on the sick looking torch I temporarily removed. Any idea what these are?

 

[coomasieblu]

Here's the full shot, the water level is lower than normal because I was in the middle of a water change. Admittedly I have not measured the PAR of my tank, so I am not sure if the placement of my corals is optimal. The troubled torch was removed in this shot because I wanted to examine it more up close. Normally it is on the sand in the bottom left of the tank, in front of the xenia.

The lighting is a fluval sea marine 3.0, the one for coral growth. Normally the lights are like in the photo, more on the whiter end. But my blue channel is maxed out.

In terms of flow I have a circulation pump which you can see in the top left corner. It's a biocube one. Not too strong because I've purchased some pumps which ended up being too strong, making it difficult for my clowns to swim.

And yea, I was surprised to see the intervals on the API phosphate kit are so broad and high ranged. I'll look into a better kit for that.

 

[dank.reefer]

I also found these guys on the sick looking torch I temporarily removed. Any idea what these are?

Those look to be flat worms they will eat coral flesh. There are treatments for it like flatworm exit. I have not personally had to deal with those little terrors but I have heard they can be a menace. Get some coral RX and dip all of the corals. Use a turkey baster to blow they crud and critters out while in the dip. After dipping the corals keep an eye on those clowns without a nem to hang out in they may start lovin on your euphylia and that can also beat them up some.

I personally have been battling some hair algea in my frag growout tank and from what I can see in your full tank shot it doesn't look to severe. Get an emerald crab and a lawnmower blenny continue keeping your nutrients low, and get better test kits. The blenny is not an absolute must but I just really love those little guys they have a great personality and wreck hair algea.

 

[coomasieblu]

Those look to be flat worms they will eat coral flesh. There are treatments for it like flatworm exit. I have not personally had to deal with those little terrors but I have heard they can be a menace. Get some coral RX and dip all of the corals. Use a turkey baster to blow they crud and critters out while in the dip. After dipping the corals keep an eye on those clowns without a nem to hang out in they may start lovin on your euphylia and that can also beat them up some.

I personally have been battling some hair algea in my frag growout tank and from what I can see in your full tank shot it doesn't look to severe. Get an emerald crab and a lawnmower blenny continue keeping your nutrients low, and get better test kits. The blenny is not an absolute must but I just really love those little guys they have a great personality and wreck hair algea.

CoralRx just came in! Will dip and let you guys know if anything goes wrong. Thanks for all the help!