What type of algae is this???

[Steve Maxwell]

It is growing all on the back of my DT glass (as well as some on the sides and front):

[URL=http://s395.photobucket.com/user/pedirn/media/algae-cl.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s395.photobucket.com/user/pedirn/media/algae.jpg.html][/URL]

It scrapes off fairly easily, but before long it is settling on the glass again.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

the tank glass algae? yea it happens. New tank or time to clean stuff. or get a refugium.
In my house its a nutrient barometer.:oops::)

 

[Steve Maxwell]

Tank's been up for about 6 months. Have a sump/refugium. Also just cleaned everything and did a water change. I've also lost 4 fish in the last week and none showed any signs of illness or signs of being attacked. Coral is all doing good. The water parameters were good, but I'm going to check them again today.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

dont trip too hard on the algae and params except ammonia and ph. at this point. the algae is a really good sign. A stunted cycle usually will give no algae etc(like bad water prob).
Sorry bout the fish man. any clues there?
Whats your salt mix and RODI I assume?
A FTS would help.

 

[Steve Maxwell]

Trying not to ;) My other tank (29G) never went through this and no mass die-offs either. Not sure what happened to the fish, didn't see any signs of being attacked, no spots, no discoloration, nothing on the ones I found. I lost a Kole tang, wrasse, exquisite firefish, diamond goby & a royal gramma (5 fish!). I never found the tang or the wrasse, so they must have been scavenged pretty quickly. I did find a few hermits that somehow snuck in there and they've been removed. Using reef crystals & RODI in both tanks. Only thing left is 2 photon clowns, 1 tuxedo urchin, bunch of snails, & 1 marble star...plus various corals. Will try to get a FTS in a bit.

 

[Steve Maxwell]

Here's a FTS:


The bubbles in the upper right corner is due to my irritating siphon stopper and the powerhead behind it...gotta get rid of the siphon stopper when I do my next water change :( Back of the tank is painted black.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Dang dude. Sorry. that is not good.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Im going with stunted cycle. Only time i see it is bad water(i haven't seen everything) or folks on bottled water. same goes for the wierdish algae.
your rocks should be kinda gross at 6 months. It does look like corraline on the back wall(yes no?) and the powerheads should be gross too if not coralline.
I had a bad water prob at the beginning of this current 55 I have. similar. fish losses too. And yes all( param) tests were good too.
May I ask for a couple closer pics of the 2 rock structures. pls avoud zoom for better quality pics.
Imo small jar of Fili mud, prime, Dr T(bacteria). And switch water sources.
Lets get some second opinions
@brandon429
[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[brandon429]

thanks for the heads up I like seeing the close-in details compared/ contr with the fts and to me that shows important details here

water nutrient issues wouldn't place the algae solely on those contained areas, it would look like the eutrophic tanks we see where the sandbed has waste and algae tufts, the glass is always having to be scraped, the outflows are wavy green etc, all rock surfaces

this setup above is rather clean such that the fts shows no invasion

and the pic shows no parrotfish, urchins, tangs a plenty, animals that remove algae where it grows naturally in nature, having nothing to do with bad params. even if you had some or none, is that whats required to work every substrate in your tank? if not, some hand work w be required that's all that is missing from the puzzle above.

Fiji waters would take all the fancy test kits we use and render them perfect on the readouts, yet millions of pounds of algae grow there every millennia to feed grazers?

this tank is in balance, hand remove it or add a hawksbill turtle he'll rasp it fast heh

 

[Steve Maxwell]

OK...just checked my levels with my Red Sea kit (not the pro) and got:
pH - 8
kH - 7
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
ammonia - 0
phos - 0
Ca - 380 (gotta look for a good way to dose Ca without buying any more equipment)

Yep...I have coraline. I also have an urchin. I HAD a Kole tang and I'm really thinking that this is about when the algae went crazy (may have to go find one this weekend or a Tomini). Here's a couple close ups:
[URL=http://s395.photobucket.com/user/pedirn/media/Rock%202.jpg.html][/URL]


I did forget to mention that my snail population looked a little low...I just ordered some more this week from Reefcleaners and added them last night.

 

[brandon429]

your tank is behaving ideally, the small low level algae signifies excellent water conditions, not poor ones, look at that nice coloration above. all is well~ just kill the algae off and enjoy not having to do it tankwide. lift out the rock and kill it off/wash off the invader into the sink or spray tech m on the actual algae (water is fine, don't treat water)

your stuff would be bleached if you truly had no nitrates and po4 but per aquarium test kits zero means just enough to thrive but enough to still be choking the majority of algae out of the tank. can't overdo the stripping part to make up for nongrazing, hand grazing is what you need until the perfect animal balance is found. no chgs to water table are my recommend, hold course.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

ok, yea that tank seems a little newer than 6 mo but ok. Dry Rock?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

your tank is behaving ideally, the small low level algae signifies excellent water conditions, not poor ones, look at that nice coloration above. all is well~ just kill the algae off and enjoy not having to do it tankwide. lift out the rock and kill it off/wash off the invader into the sink or spray tech m on the actual algae (water is fine, don't treat water)

your stuff would be bleached if you truly had no nitrates and po4 but per aquarium test kits zero means just enough to thrive but enough to still be choking the majority of algae out of the tank. can't overdo the stripping part to make up for nongrazing, hand grazing is what you need until the perfect animal balance is found. no chgs to water table are my recommend, hold course.

yea he lost 5 fish. It looks like a 4 month old tank maybe rushed the fish additions? but then there'd be some awful awful algae if the biofilter were backed up.

 

[brandon429]

I like that inference as well

a brief spike might have fed what did grow, doesn't seem to be sustained (he removed carcasses in time lol)


when aging sets in, more coralline more coral flesh, algae w simply be blocked out physically from many places it could gain footing now. age of curr tank does impact algae in that regards too imo.

 

[Steve Maxwell]

ok, yea that tank seems a little newer than 6 mo but ok. Dry Rock?

Yep...dry rock and I have some live rock hidden in the back that came from my 29G

 

[Steve Maxwell]

Here's today's algae growth update...by this time Saturday the entire back glass will be covered if it keeps growing so fast. I'm down to just 2 clowns so I'm feeding very little. Am hoping to get a bristletooth tang this Sunday, but that's not going to help if I QT him. Might look to get another urchin...?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Im a patience person. Its a phase. scrape and siphon. Id be so much more concerned with the fish loss than keeping it pretty.

 

[Steve Maxwell]

Yeah...just freaking out since this is the first time I've seen it and it didn't happen with my other tank. Hoping it didn't have anything to do with the fish loss...which I still don't get. Clowns are doing great and so are corals and CUC. Guess it's just one of those things... :(

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

"Nothing good happens fast in this hobby only bad things happen overnight, if you think you go slow, slow down even more" - Diesel
Easier said than done right?

My 55 was a big upgrade and sacrifice. And I got torn up by the problembs till i figured it out. Mostly it was time. water too, but it needed time to heal. and Mature as thats a concept on a microscopic level few really get except the old guys and scientists.

Keep scrolling the forums and watch the folks with help sps dying. $200 coral in a 6 month old(they claim) tank.

 

[DevonMeep]

Kool looking algae at least xD. All I get is green slime on my glass lol.