Help me figure this out! Algae+slowcoralgrowth

[anizato]

I hae had this 50 gallon tank running for over a year now.

It seems like the Algae Bloom never went away and only got stronger. Did I make a mistake by curing my rock in a dark bin for 3 months before the tank was even setup?

 

Up until I ran a GFO reactor the algae was just everywhere and impossible to get rid of, it was gunky and slimy ..very nasty stuff.

My water chemistry has been stable, at least for what I can test for (CA,MG,ALK,SG,pH).

CA 420

MG 1440

ALK 8.2

SG 1.024

pH 8.3

 

 

Once I added the GFO reactor a couple of weeks ago, I have noticed how the brown gunky slime has been disappearing from the rock surfaces slowly, in patches in certain areas, but the stuff doesn't go away!!!. However the fact remains that my coral still struggle to overgrow this stuff. My Lawnmower Blenny and my handful of snails + 3 hermits are just not a competition against this stuff. Also, I have noticed that the tank is growing coralline algae like crazy. (I have tried scraping this stuff to get it to grow on the rock, but so far I haven't seen any noticeable growth.

 

 

The GFO reactor has been up for a month now and these are my water parameters at the moment:

 

CA 395-410

MG 1400

ALK 7.9

SG 1.024

pH 8.1

 

I perform bi-weekly 15Gallon water changes. I was about to change the GFO reactor with new GFO and I wanted to add some carbon. Any ideas on how to battle this stuff?

 

as you can tell my GSP has struggled to grow, this stuff doesn't allow it to, this GSP frag has been in the tank for about 8 months... NO GROWTH!! why???

 

[JavaJacketOC]

Not sure what your CUC is like but I think you'd see nice improvement with the algae if you got a decent cuc from reefcleaners. You can only starve the algae out so much before you need something to manually remove it.

 

As far as slow coral growth, I'm sure someone will have pretty specific feedback but if you're removing all of the nutrients from the water the coral is going to grow slow...starving the aglae = starving the corals (to a certain extent). Aditionally, you've still got algae competing for the nutrients that are left.

[anizato]

My CUC consisted of lots of 20+Nassarius, 50+Cerriths, 4 Nerites, 8 Astreas, 4 Peppermint Shrimp, Cleaner Skunk Shrimp, Mithrax Crab & 8+Hermit Crabs.

 

Now there are only 2 Hermits who have killed all the Nassarius. The Nerites were devoured by unknown forces as well as my 4 Peppermint Shrimp, Cleaner Skunk. So now I only have about a handful of Cerriths, 1 Astrea, Mithrax Crab and 2 Hermit Crabs.

 

I emailed John from reefcleaners.org hoping he gets back to me soon with a great plan.

 

As far as the nutrients. How do I get ahead of the curb?

 

I also forgot to mention that I have 3 SPS pieces. Blue stick had been thriving, the Green Stick has just hanging out, and the Pink was thriving.

All of this changed once I added the GFO. Blue stick stopped thriving and just hangs out, Green Stick is now thriving and growing fast, and Pink has lost its color and stopped growing.

[JavaJacketOC]

My CUC consisted of lots of 20+Nassarius, 50+Cerriths, 4 Nerites, 8 Astreas, 4 Peppermint Shrimp, Cleaner Skunk Shrimp, Mithrax Crab & 8+Hermit Crabs.

 

Now there are only 2 Hermits who have killed all the Nassarius. The Nerites were devoured by unknown forces as well as my 4 Peppermint Shrimp, Cleaner Skunk. So now I only have about a handful of Cerriths, 1 Astrea, Mithrax Crab and 2 Hermit Crabs.

 

I emailed John from reefcleaners.org hoping he gets back to me soon with a great plan.

 

As far as the nutrients. How do I get ahead of the curb?

 

I also forgot to mention that I have 3 SPS pieces. Blue stick had been thriving, the Green Stick has just hanging out, and the Pink was thriving.

All of this changed once I added the GFO. Blue stick stopped thriving and just hangs out, Green Stick is now thriving and growing fast, and Pink has lost its color and stopped growing.

 

Looks like that might be hair algae, Probably need some turbos

[G L Shane]

Well if you put your rock in a bin for 3 months there was a lot of die off. As you know, that turns into plant food (algae food). You probably already figured out the solution since you just added the GFO reactor. If your phosphates were VERY high (which we assume they were) your GFO media might have become saturated already and already needs to be changed. Your corals are going to suffer when their nutrients are removed, just like the algae will suffer. Hopefully the corals will adjust (we know they usually do, as low nutrient environments are how most people keep them in the first place). Once the algae dies it will still be sitting on the rocks looking ugly for a long time. You will need to wait for your CUC to clean it, or for nature to decompose it and your skimmer to remove it, or pull the rocks and brush it off.
Some people use hydrogen peroxide. I have never done this except to dip frags.

Once you have killed the algae you can start thinking about dosing phosphates for your corals (oh yea, thats a real thing)

[anizato]

Hell yeah Shane

 

 

Thanks for dropping knowledge!!

 

As you said, the GFO reactor has been replenished and am hopeful for a better looking tank. I will have to get a bigger CUC and probably actually count what I put in so I can keep track of them little critters. Is there any particular creature that you know of that thrives on this stuff? Someone suggested Turbo Snails. Will hermit crabs do the trick?

[G L Shane]

A lot of CUC will not pick at the longer/thicker bits. I have heard that Tuxedo Urchins will. I have also read a lot of good reviews for the product AlgaeFix, though I have never used it.

[anizato]

I will try out an urchin, but for now the sump is disassembled and being re-glued. I am just waiting for the silicone to dry out before I can water test it.

[G L Shane]

Try pulling some of the algae off with your fingers (or tongs). If it is still hard to remove, it is still alive and eating nutrients. If it comes up easy, or if you can pull clumps/carpets off at one time, then you have starved it to death and it just needs to be removed.

[anizato]

Try pulling some of the algae off with your fingers (or tongs). If it is still hard to remove, it is still alive and eating nutrients. If it comes up easy, or if you can pull clumps/carpets off at one time, then you have starved it to death and it just needs to be removed.

 

 

Thanks G L Shane, I will give this a shot this weekend and let you know what happens.

[Tamberav]

 

 

Thanks G L Shane, I will give this a shot this weekend and let you know what happens.

 

Hmmm... someone in our local club is having problems with a white slime on their rocks.

 

Do you use any sort of air fresheners or deodorizers?

 

She found this article: http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/mystery-white-reef-slime-part-iii

 

Probably worth a read just in case.

[anizato]

i read about Dr. Tim's Re-Fresh Natural Sparkling Water. Which is supposed to be dosed weekly with skimmer off for 12 hours, and this bacteria is meant to clean your surfaces, like white slimes and dead diatoms and dead cyanobacteria etc. I will start dosing Re-Fresh in a month. Since I just got a very nice BTA yesterday I don't want to mess with the environment just yet.

 

Here is a picture of the nem:

 

[anizato]

Dr. Tim's Waste Away, as well as Re-Fresh is what I have been dosing. Waste Away is dosed on Tuesdays, after the skimmer is turned off. Wednesdays are water changes, so after the water change is done, I add Re-Fresh on Wednesday evening. I have been doing this for two weeks, including turkey basting and sand-stirring every other day, and it looks like the war is beginning to favor my efforts. It looks like the GSP is beginning to grow, first signs of anything other than SPS growing in my tank. For the longest time, no zoas or shrooms or even the euphyllia had stopped growth, it appears that I am doing something right.

I took a water test yesterday.

 

After weeks of battling with the salinity, I managed to keep it at 1.025 for two weeks straight now. This means I have to be incredibly hands on! This tank needs to go!

pH is at 8.5, when it had always been 8.3.

Calcium read 400ppm

Magnesium is 1400

Alkalinity is where I have never had a proper reading. According to the Red Sea Test Kit my ALK is at a very questionable 7.6dKh. I have never had a consistent reading on the ALK. So I never trust it. What do you use for testing and relying on your ALK readings?

[Tamberav]

Dr. Tim's Waste Away, as well as Re-Fresh is what I have been dosing. Waste Away is dosed on Tuesdays, after the skimmer is turned off. Wednesdays are water changes, so after the water change is done, I add Re-Fresh on Wednesday evening. I have been doing this for two weeks, including turkey basting and sand-stirring every other day, and it looks like the war is beginning to favor my efforts. It looks like the GSP is beginning to grow, first signs of anything other than SPS growing in my tank. For the longest time, no zoas or shrooms or even the euphyllia had stopped growth, it appears that I am doing something right.

I took a water test yesterday.

 

After weeks of battling with the salinity, I managed to keep it at 1.025 for two weeks straight now. This means I have to be incredibly hands on! This tank needs to go!

pH is at 8.5, when it had always been 8.3.

Calcium read 400ppm

Magnesium is 1400

Alkalinity is where I have never had a proper reading. According to the Red Sea Test Kit my ALK is at a very questionable 7.6dKh. I have never had a consistent reading on the ALK. So I never trust it. What do you use for testing and relying on your ALK readings?

 

hanna checker for alk

 

did you figure out what type of algae it is?

[anizato]

Never could pinpoint what algae it is.

Closest I could guess was Reef Slime. Most educated guess is someone said it is derivative of dinoflagellates (physiology major pointed it out).

Regardless, Dr. Tim's Waste Away and Re-Fresh appear to be doing the job. As well as not allowing any gunk to gather or accumulate in the sump. Cleaning the glass constantly and making sure to blow off any new growth before it gets a foothold. Slowly, but surely, it seems like we are winning the bacterial war.