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Green algae outbreak in my one month old cycled 14 gallon biocube


ReeferBrian

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ReeferBrian

Hi,I recently about 4 weeks ago put up a coralife 14 gallon biocube that finished a light cycle after 2 weeks,I cycled it using raw shrimp,I watched all my levels of ammonia,nitrate rise and fall to zero detectable nitrates.the odd thing is I got a very light diatom bloom compared to another tank I have.during this light cycle I added 4 snails and two large scarlet hermits.everything was fine.I'm using the stock filter and bioballs for now.my tank was doing well for about a week.I did my water parameters check and no ammonia,no nitrates and almost no detectable phosphates.I use an api test kit which I found out doesn't show up as a measurable problem until it's already out of whack.I bought some chemipure elite and added it to the system.a cpl days later I have the worse case of green algae in the sand,rock,and glass,I wipe it off and in a cpl of hours the walls a covered in green algae again.the tank k was setup using two pieces of live rock,with some dry rock,and live Fiji pink sand.I know it's hard to tell exactly what's happening but thought maybe someone could give me some ideas on how to proceed,thanks

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I don't like ghost feeding with raw shrimp. It can pollute your water with organics and nutrients. Which most likely is contributing to your problem. However, it might even be something like phosphate leaching from your rock, or your water source.

 

Sancho could be right (about the cyano and pics helping to ID). Identification could be important in determining how best to proceed. That said, good husbandry is often a big part of the solution.

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CronicReefer

Diatoms, they go away on their own in most cases. Something that removes silicates helps a lot but just give it time and get a CUC of some good snails if you dont have any

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ReeferBrian

Ok thanks everyone,I'm not thinking cyno it just looks like green algae you get from bad husbandry,I just finished with a water change of 15% and clean-up crew are really going at it.I appreciate everyone's input,it's a new tank and I've done about 3 water changes since its been up/ and running,I'm actually leaning towards my rock leaching,but fingers crossed it's actually slowing a bit will give updates soon

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ReeferBrian

Ok update......over the last 48 hours ,the green algae dissipates in just a few hours of turning off the lights.ill give it 24 hours before I turn them on again.last time I turned them back on it showed back up after a few hours under the lights.

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ReeferBrian

I don't like ghost feeding with raw shrimp. It can pollute your water with organics and nutrients. Which most likely is contributing to your problem. However, it might even be something like phosphate leaching from your rock, or your water source.

Sancho could be right (about the cyano and pics helping to ID). Identification could be important in determining how best to proceed. That said, good husbandry is often a big part of the solution.

I totally agree with the husbandry,I have three tanks,one fresh two saltwater,and I actually love cleaning the tanks up everyday,nothing makes me happier than water that's so clear you can't see it,lol.the part about this tank is it's about 3weeks old and since the cycle I've done 3water changes and have added 4 snails and two larger hermits,which I'm thinking I may have added them to quick after the cycle,I added them all at the same time,so I definitely THINK that has something to do with it,even though I'm newer to this hobby I should have known better.I do appreciate all you guys chiming in,and there are lots of ideas as to what's going on.or it could be multiple.
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Don't worry, it wasn't due to adding your cleanup crew too quickly. Normal green algae won't disappear that quickly with the lights out. I honestly can't remember if diatom blooms can react so strongly to light cycles. I'm hoping it's cyano (versus dinos), because cyano is relatively easy to get rid of. Plus, I don't think I've ever heard of such a young tank having a dino bloom. Again, pics might help. Is the algae slimy or more crusty?

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ReeferBrian

Yeah on the pics,my wife and I are trying to figure out how to put pics on here but hopefully soon,the algae is green and slimy,the magnafloat wipes it off the glass easily,I turned the lights off again and within a few hours everything is crystal clear,so I turn on the lights and within 3 hours it looks horrible bright green everywhere,glass,rock,sand,since I have nothing but cuc in there I'm going to go lights out all weekend and if it comes back I'm going to treat with meds,if that doesn't work I'm getting rid of my dry rock and going to buy more live rock because I think that the dry rock might be leaching phosphate.if I do that will it cycle again?

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ReeferBrian

Yeah on the pics,my wife and I are trying to figure out how to put pics on here but hopefully soon,the algae is green and slimy,the magnafloat wipes it off the glass easily,I turned the lights off again and within a few hours everything is crystal clear,so I turn on the lights and within 3 hours it looks horrible bright green everywhere,glass,rock,sand,since I have nothing but cuc in there I'm going to go lights out all weekend and if it comes back I'm going to treat with meds,if that doesn't work I'm getting rid of my dry rock and going to buy more live rock because I think that the dry rock might be leaching phosphate.if I do that will it cycle again?

Yeah on the pics,my wife and I are trying to figure out how to put pics on here but hopefully soon,the algae is green and slimy,the magnafloat wipes it off the glass easily,I turned the lights off again and within a few hours everything is crystal clear,so I turn on the lights and within 3 hours it looks horrible bright green everywhere,glass,rock,sand,since I have nothing but cuc in there I'm going to go lights out all weekend and if it comes back I'm going to treat with meds,if that doesn't work I'm getting rid of my dry rock and going to buy more live rock because I think that the dry rock might be leaching phosphate.if I do that will it cycle again?

Sorry about the horrible pic but it's the best I can do with my kindle fire.this is after the lights were out for awhile so it's kinda h a rd to see if I need to I can leave the lights on for a bit and send another pic,but hey I got a pic on here so it's a small but glorious victory for this old guy,lmbo

post-91324-0-58434400-1464379302_thumb.jpg

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... if that doesn't work I'm getting rid of my dry rock and going to buy more live rock because I think that the dry rock might be leaching phosphate.if I do that will it cycle again?

Before you add it to your display, you need to cure any new live rock in a separate container until ammonia is undetectable.

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ReeferBrian

Ok ,is there a way to buy it cured or is the issue die off from traveling from the store to the house? Could you see anything from the pics? Ill pout another one up in a few hours

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The pic looks fine, nothing to worry about in it. However, post another pic when it's at its worse.

 

Stores often sell cured live rock. However, I don't take their word for it. Put it in a 5 gallon bucket with a spare powerhead in it. After something like three days, check the ammonia level. If you can't detect any ammonia, then it was probably cured. If you can detect ammonia, leave it in the bucket until the ammonia level becomes undetectable.

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ReeferBrian

Ok if I end up getting live rock ill take your advise.ill let it run with the lights on and if it indeed gets worse ill post more pics,I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to help this noob out!

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ReeferBrian

Update.......have had the lights on since last post and things are look i ng better,not perfect yet,but much,much better! My cuc is really plowing through it.ill just keep an eye on things but hopefully in about a week we will add our first fish .did a water check and zero ammonia,zero nitrates,zero phosphates calcium 420,all others looked good but can't recall the exact numbers.new tank syndrome?I think I was just worried too much but have been reading about all the bad stuff that can go wrong and of course being myself I suspected the worst,I tend to do that.it's the main reason my wife banned me from web md cuz I kept diagnosing myself,limbo!

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Hammerstone

Don't worry, it wasn't due to adding your cleanup crew too quickly. Normal green algae won't disappear that quickly with the lights out. I honestly can't remember if diatom blooms can react so strongly to light cycles. I'm hoping it's cyano (versus dinos), because cyano is relatively easy to get rid of. Plus, I don't think I've ever heard of such a young tank having a dino bloom. Again, pics might help. Is the algae slimy or more crusty?

can you shed light on the easy cyano fix?

Update.......have had the lights on since last post and things are look i ng better,not perfect yet,but much,much better! My cuc is really plowing through it.ill just keep an eye on things but hopefully in about a week we will add our first fish .did a water check and zero ammonia,zero nitrates,zero phosphates calcium 420,all others looked good but can't recall the exact numbers.new tank syndrome?I think I was just worried too much but have been reading about all the bad stuff that can go wrong and of course being myself I suspected the worst,I tend to do that.it's the main reason my wife banned me from web md cuz I kept diagnosing myself,limbo!

im banned from web md too by my husband lol!!? Happy Reefing!!!
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can you shed light on the easy cyano fix?

Sure. First you deal with the organics and nutrients in the water, rocks, and sand bed. Good husbandry to start with (like blowing detritus off the rocks, water changes, siphoning detritus off the sand). And export the organics by protein skimming, and/or using activated carbon, and water changes.

 

Increase nutrient export through water changes. Phosphate can be further reduced with GFO or Phosguard. Also, reduce input by feeding less.

 

Brush off as much cyano from the bare rock as you can (but don't brush any coral flesh). Then siphon out all of the cyano you can.

 

Once you have dealt with the cause and have manually removed as much cyano as possible, you can deal with the symptom. ChemiClean is very effective at removing stubborn cyano that is left over. Follow the instructions carefully.

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Hammerstone

Sure. First you deal with the organics and nutrients in the water, rocks, and sand bed. Good husbandry to start with (like blowing detritus off the rocks, water changes, siphoning detritus off the sand). And export the organics by protein skimming, and/or using activated carbon, and water changes.

 

Increase nutrient export through water changes. Phosphate can be further reduced with GFO or Phosguard. Also, reduce input by feeding less.

 

Brush off as much cyano from the bare rock as you can (but don't brush any coral flesh). Then siphon out all of the cyano you can.

 

Once you have dealt with the cause and have manually removed as much cyano as possible, you can deal with the symptom. ChemiClean is very effective at removing stubborn cyano that is left over. Follow the instructions carefully.

Your awesome!!! Thank you!!!???

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ReeferBrian

Well......today more green algae on the glass after lights on for 8 hours tested the water using my api saltwater test kit and phosphate zero,barely got any reaction to the test as far as having detectable phosphates but that's using api kit.nitrates same thing.does anyone have demolition skills to wire my tank and blow it up?lol I want to totally destroy it,lol I know,I know patients,but hey right about now it would feel great to watch it blow up! J/k

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The API Phosphate kit doesn't even detect levels which are less than 10 times higher than recommended. Generally, you start having problems before it becomes detectable on an API phosphate kit. Once levels are high enough, you often get a bloom of one kind or another. Then the bloom tends to consume the nutrients to fuel its growth (making levels test low, even with a good low range kit). You can go through the motions if you want, but you aren't really testing phosphate levels.

 

That said, it's hard to say if phosphate is a problem. Post another pic of your tank when the problem is at its worse; then maybe we might be able to help a little more.

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ReeferBrian

Ok,thanks sea bass ill try to post one tomorrow night as I turned the lights off for the night.I'm just frustrated,I want to stock the tank,but I refuse to until it's right.most of the time the cuc gets to the sand and keeps it cleaned up,I'm going g this week to get a new powerhead because I don't think the stock pump is enough circulation.

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ReeferBrian

Well,the tank is not improving,at this point I'm thinking that something is leaching phosphate into my tank,and I think it might be the dry rock I started with,I have no way of being sure but all I have in the tank are a small cuc one lb of live rock about 20 lbs dry,live sand and that's it.I never got the big diatom bloom one usually experienc at the end of the cycle,which I now know not everyone gets this diatom bloom.and to make the situation worse I discovered I have two different algae going on.green powdery on glass,and brown in the sand,rock has both.I guess I'm trying to decide if I should rip out all the dryrock or treat for cyno,or ride it out awhile?it sucks playing the guessing game and I thank you all for your advise and patience,open to any and all suggestions at this point.as of now the two moves I'm making tomorrow is a 50%water change and adding a showerhead for additional flow,and will probably pick up some cyno treatment just in case to save me an extra trip to the lfs,but I must find the cause which is most frustrating,I promise a new pic tomorrow sometime if I get time,God bless all who are helping me,I bought this for my wife and I want her to start being able to enjoy it,again thank you all!

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Hammerstone

I am no expert but I believe your brown is diatoms? Is it slimy or dusty? Is it like grass?

 

Tooth brushes designated for only fish tank use might help you!

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I'm looking at you first pic, which shows an almost sterile tank; and I'm wondering if you aren't just overreacting to the normal phases of your tank. We really need pics so we can look at it with a fresh set of eyes (and talk you off the ledge).

 

A little algae is normal, and healthy. We keep cleanup crews to help out with the maintenance. Some work scraping, siphoning, and other related activities are par for the course.

 

I recommend that you get a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker, so you can determine if you have a phosphate problem. Then, you can even test your rock to see if it is leaching phosphate. Just put the rock in question into a five gallon bucket with a spare powerhead, then test it over the next few days and see if it increases.

 

Are you using your own RO/DI water, RO/DI from your LFS, jugs of distilled water, RO water, or treated tap water?

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