Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 So my 15 Gallon has been running flawlessly for 2 1/2 years. When I say flawlessly, I mean NO algae what so ever except some coraline. No pests. Nitrates never above 5ppm. All of my rocks are beautiful and fish are doing great. About a month ago I added an AI Prime HD. About three weeks after I started having green algae on the glass, that I would scrape off only to cover the glass again maybe two hours later! Placed in a bag of PhosGuard and this helped slightly. Ran for a couple days and adjusted my light cycle and spectrums to eliminate red and green. Algae growth on the glass slowed. Sunday, to build my aquascape higher, I added a two new rocks from a guy that deals live rock locally. I simply placed these on top of my existing structure. He had these in a 400 Gallon set up with a few clowns, some dragonets, blennies and star fish, and swore up and down all I had to do is drop these in the tank no problem. Today I notice green hair algae growing in the corner of the aquarium and some on the base of my octospawn. Get a closer look and.. One of my DAY ONE live rocks is covered in a clear bubbly film. WTF!! This rock is one layer up from the bottom and three layers down from the top of the structure. It is only on 1 rock and spreading to the rock it touches. I suspect maybe my LFS RO/DI system needs a look at. What would cause this? Am I missing something here? Link to comment
mystersyster Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 It would be beneficial to know your nutrient levels. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Salinity 1.025 PH 8.2 dKH 10Ammonia 0Nitrates 5Calcium 440 I test Phosphate every friday, stand by I'll test now. Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 About three weeks after I started having green algae on the glass, that I would scrape off only to cover the glass again maybe two hours later! I suspect phosphate was higher than 0.03ppm. What phosphate kit do you use? Sunday, to build my aquascape higher, I added a two new rocks from a guy that deals live rock locally. I simply placed these on top of my existing structure. He had these in a 400 Gallon set up with a few clowns, some dragonets, blennies and star fish, and swore up and down all I had to do is drop these in the tank no problem. No matter what they say, I never fully trust them. But I guess at this point, what's done is done. Link to comment
ekimov Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Maybe it's normal. You had too much changes for a short period of time. The tank is gojng to recycling again. My advice to you is to keep patience, don't do nothing ,except water changes. Link to comment
ricoh Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 wondering if the bubbly film is diatoms.sounds like its going through a mini cycle due to nutrients. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 .20ppm phosphate Hanna HI713 low range Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 In order to curtail excess algae growth, phosphate should be detectable, but no higher than 0.03ppm. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 wondering if the bubbly film is diatoms.sounds like its going through a mini cycle due to nutrients. Arent diatoms brown? This is a clear bubble film coating the rock. Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 It's almost like a carbon source was added. You haven't started dosing vinegar or something, have you? Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I suspect die-off on the new rock. Plus, even cured live rock goes through an adjustment phase for a couple of months as everything microscopic finds it's balance. Right now conditions favor the bubble slime. Get your phosphates down to reduce available nutrients, maybe consider cleaning your sand, too. If it makes you feel any better the new rock in my tank has a film of green cyano. No big deal as long as nutrients are kept in check, it will work itself out. Link to comment
ricoh Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 It's almost like a carbon source was added. You haven't started dosing vinegar or something, have you? i went through this recently added vinegar as i was trying to kill aiptasia.thought it could be dodgy but i read it works so i tried it on a few then waited few days.saw more aiptasia so killed with vinegar again.went t work got in at 3am to find my tank really cloudy lost my fish ,shrimps,urchin gutted as u can imagine tank is back to normal but straight after algae growing all over still a bit to go but got less algae now ,never again Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 I suspect die-off on the new rock. Plus, even cured live rock goes through an adjustment phase for a couple of months as everything microscopic finds it's balance. Right now conditions favor the bubble slime. Get your phosphates down to reduce available nutrients, maybe consider cleaning your sand, too. If it makes you feel any better the new rock in my tank has a film of green cyano. No big deal as long as nutrients are kept in check, it will work itself out. The rock with the white film is a DAY ONE rock. Two years old. Link to comment
ricoh Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Arent diatoms brown? This is a clear bubble film coating the rock. true. rusty brown colour had it before but in time mine went.not sure then bout yours Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 The rock with the white film is a DAY ONE rock. Two years old. Yeah, the microbe growing out of check was probably already in your system, I suspect nutrients/microbes from the new rock threw it out of balance. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 It's almost like a carbon source was added. You haven't started dosing vinegar or something, have you? The only things I dose are: Saturday - Water Change Sunday - DTs Phytoplankton 0.5ml (directions recommend 5ml for 10g (bottle expires Jan 2017)) Tuesday - Iodide 3 drops I obtained 4 rocks at the time from this guy, put two in the 15g and twin the 6g. No changes in the 6g. Yeah, the microbe growing out of check was probably already in your system, I suspect nutrients/microbes from the new rock threw it out of balance. Sorry just checking to make sure you saw the new rocks aren't the ones with the film. Can you elaborate on microbe growing out of check? Haven't come across this theory yet... Thanks It's almost like a carbon source was added. You haven't started dosing vinegar or something, have you? Are there carbon based rocks? Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 DT's will increase phosphate, and iodine will help encourage algae growth. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 DT's will increase phosphate, and iodine will help encourage algae growth. Super helpful. Somewhat disappointing. My pod population covered the glass once I started DTs about 3 months ago. But we're talking .5ml of DTs and 3 drops of iodine which is probably .1ml. My coral banded molts once a month. Any advice on what I should do with this rock? Tear the whole tank apart to get that rock out? Every other day water changes? Stop iodine AND DTs? Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I would reduce both DT's and iodine. I'd also run some phosphate reducing media (like Phosguard), along with larger and/or more frequent water changes. You might also think about adding to your cleanup crew. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Doing a water change now, just noticed one of my two powerheads is not functioning. I have a bag of Phosguard I put back in yesterday. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Not to second guess myself. To clarify this is a clearish film. I had this before in another tank while cycling and it covered everything. Eventually went away. Does anybody know what this is or am I correct that is some sort or bacterial bloom? I can't understand why my tank would be cycling at 2 1/2 yrs old. Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Sunday, to build my aquascape higher, I added a two new rocks from a guy that deals live rock locally. Link to comment
Reef Queso Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Just after doing a little research, this aquarium has been stable for 2 1/2 years. I just read on advancedaquarist that calcium carbonate sand (likely aragonite) can release soluble silica. I'm wondering if my 2 1/2 yr old sand is releasing silica and causing the green film on the glass, and if this could be a correlation here with the film on the rocks. I have diatoms that started building up on my glass about a month ago, and some how there's silicates or something causing this. I'm starting to lean towards something with the RO/DI water source. Link to comment
seabass Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 The green microalgae is due to dosing phytoplankton, and also the high phosphate level. Link to comment
Andy73 Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I get an algae bloom of sorts when I increase my Green/Red light intensity! Maybe check your lighting levels? Link to comment
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