What is wrong with my tank??

Aqua Man

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Just tested my water and got 0 for PO4 after dosing 3 ML about a hour ago.....
Your test kit is may not be sensitive enough to pick up a 3ml dose. For your tank volume, what SHOULD you be getting after adding 3ml?

I was not getting a reading on a Hanna ULR until I dosed 10 ml in 20 gallons. I’m using Neophos. What phosphate product are you using? I don’t remember if you said which you are using.
Is cyano from nutrient deficiencies also???
Truth is no one really knows exactly what causes cyano. Getting nutrients and other parameters stable is always a good thing though.
 

Lavey29

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Okay I see, were you having issues trying to get traces of PO4 after dosing? Also are you not running any carbon at all?
Yes it took a week of dosing double the amount before I started seeing some N04 numbers. Same with nitrates. I only have 2 fish and feed small amount 3x daily. Once some numbers rose my tank looked better. I am currently running carbon in my sump because I used chemiclean to try and help with brown jelly disease. Tank looks really good but brown jelly still lingering. Carbon in there to try and remove remnants of chemiclean so my skimmer will stop overflowing.
 

Lavey29

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04517A62-806A-4F1D-B1D6-8218653B02A5.jpeg

The state of my tank currently….
Hit that with some chemiclean. They have it for red slime algae to.
 

Aqua Man

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Hit that with some chemiclean. They have it for red slime algae to.
Sometimes, bad things happen when chemi clean is used on new tanks. Dinos most likely. I’ll take cyano over Dino any day!!
Tank does not look that bad to me. Good water change with aggressive sand bed cleaning. Look great in no time.
 

Bccarty151

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Or if you don't wanna spend 70 bucks on a microscope I could guess a 400 dollar maybe solution for you?
Microscope to test for dinos or cyano? and which microscope should I get?
I spent around 70 bucks for an amscope off ebay goes up to 1000x
Microscope to test for dinos or cyano? and which microscope should I get?
It's really the only for sure way to know what you're dealing with.....look at it under the microscope figure out what exactly you're dealing with then tackle it accordingly. Otherwise everyone is just guessing and you get to chase your tail based on the r2r "experts"
 

Lavey29

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My tank is not even a month old which is my concern

Oh ok didn't know it was that new. Just let it run its course then. Try to get parameters in check as best as possible and it will go away. Mine is 6 months old and I have lingering diatoms, cyano, hair algae etc... very small amounts here and there and since I'm not running a refugium I don't mind small bits of algae. I think it gives balance to the tank. I would only run a skimmer and a bag of carbon in your sump.
 

Lavey29

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Sometimes, bad things happen when chemi clean is used on new tanks. Dinos most likely. I’ll take cyano over Dino any day!!
Tank does not look that bad to me. Good water change with aggressive sand bed cleaning. Look great in no time.
I agree and was unaware his tank was so new. I went lights out for the first 2.5 months so my ugly phases started much later
 
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Chris_Noles

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Or if you don't wanna spend 70 bucks on a microscope I could guess a 400 dollar maybe solution for you?

I spent around 70 bucks for an amscope off ebay goes up to 1000x

It's really the only for sure way to know what you're dealing with.....look at it under the microscope figure out what exactly you're dealing with then tackle it accordingly. Otherwise everyone is just guessing and you get to chase your tail based on the r2r "experts"
Any recommendation on a microscope to get off ebay or amazon? And could I identity the type cyano with a microscope or is it only for dinos????
 

Double monti 61

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Some pics of my 15 gallon tank I do not go by numbers only temps and the small life that helps the large life it is a symphony of life you have to come accustomed to and know in your head when things are right and reading as much as possible helps and I mean books, magazines and any other types of information you can acquire not just the gloom and doom that I read about and the use of technology to correct problems!
 

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Lavey29

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I’ll try that also thank you!
I went 2.5 months before turning on any lights and then another month before corals. My ugly stage was minimal but I noticed it was taking much longer to go away (still lingers today). All my numbers were good except 0 nitrate and phosphate which I thought was strange because I have fish and feed 3x per day and the red sea AB also adds phosphate. My tank was ok but certainly not perfectly clear or algae free. So I removed my chemipure blue and purigen and just ran a simple bag of carbon. I dosed phosphate and nitrate (still do) and once those numbers increased the tank seemed so much more healthy and clear. So, knowing your tank is still very new just run some carbon but nothing else and get your water numbers in line. Dose what you need to and cut back lights somewhat. I know you have some corals in there so they need some light.
 
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Chris_Noles

Chris_Noles

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I went 2.5 months before turning on any lights and then another month before corals. My ugly stage was minimal but I noticed it was taking much longer to go away (still lingers today). All my numbers were good except 0 nitrate and phosphate which I thought was strange because I have fish and feed 3x per day and the red sea AB also adds phosphate. My tank was ok but certainly not perfectly clear or algae free. So I removed my chemipure blue and purigen and just ran a simple bag of carbon. I dosed phosphate and nitrate (still do) and once those numbers increased the tank seemed so much more healthy and clear. So, knowing your tank is still very new just run some carbon but nothing else and get your water numbers in line. Dose what you need to and cut back lights somewhat. I know you have some corals in there so they need some light.
Yeah I'm going to cut back my light and dose some more, I already removed my chemipure (which in hindsight I never needed) and now I'm just running carbon. Corals look horrible though so I might think something else is bothering them other than the cyano and dinos
 

Just John

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Some pics of my 15 gallon tank I do not go by numbers only temps and the small life that helps the large life it is a symphony of life you have to come accustomed to and know in your head when things are right and reading as much as possible helps and I mean books, magazines and any other types of information you can acquire not just the gloom and doom that I read about and the use of technology to correct problems!
How did you get that picture of my boss in there?
 

Lavey29

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Yeah I'm going to cut back my light and dose some more, I already removed my chemipure (which in hindsight I never needed) and now I'm just running carbon. Corals look horrible though so I might think something else is bothering them other than the cyano and dinos
You started corals pretty early. I did to at 3 months but just a few beginner corals. Really dose the nitrate and phosphate. I use brightwell for both and had to double dose for more then a week to get numbers. Currently at 9.1 ppm on nitrate and .12 on phosphate so I'm not dosing for a few days now to see how much these might drop. I'm trying to get a set pattern of dosing in place. Once you get your numbers in check and keep your water change schedule good things will improve. I have been so frustrated with setbacks to but this past week things have improved. Lights can be tricky to. I am only running like 35% intensity on XR15 pro lights. They are powerful so depending on what you have watch the intensity level and limit the white and red. Use mainly blue levels. I just use the AB preset mode for 10 hours. Flow to plays a big part on corals. Since I have no SPS I keep the MP40 at 40% on lagoon mode which seems right for LPS. I think you are right to only use carbon now that's what I'm doing
 

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