Thinking about tearing down one of my tanks

[Bcb577]

As some of you know,I have two saltwater nano tanks.the tank I've had problems with is my coralife biocube 14 gallon.when I started up the tank I got the usual diatoms at the end of the cycle,and the problem is is that the algae has never gone away for more than a few days at a time.I've done the aggressive water changes,and it came back,no lights for a week and peroxide and it came back,I tore down the tank cleaned it well,replaced the sand bed and cut back the light cycle and it came back! I run the stock carbon filter,and chemipure elite,and have been removing some of the bioballs at each water change until they are gone,at this point I'm so frustrated I just want it gone,but I have two fish,a trumpet coral,and a peppermint shrimp in the tank so I just can't tear it down.I would rather keep it running but I feel like I'm chasing my tail.it looks like diatoms and I've been told it will stop growing when it runs out of the source it feeds off of.Well it's been six months and after all this the sand still turns brown,and now that I started removing a few bioballs at a time I have to scrape the glass 2to3 times a day of green film algae,to be honest I want to take my shotgun and blow it away,lol

[FlowerMama]

When you get to that point, it's best to take it out to pasture and put it out of its misery & rehome your corals/fish to a larger tank. I think biocubes tend to have more issues because of the lid, and heat and less gas exchange.

[Clown79]

What kind of water are you using? Have you tested it for phosphates and nitrates?

 

Are you changing floss often, cleaning filter regularly, rinsing media bags with every water change/changing media monthly, are you vacuuming the sand?

 

 

The bioballs could be an issue.

 

Are you adding anything to the tank?

[Bcb577]

When you get to that point, it's best to take it out to pasture and put it out of its misery & rehome your corals/fish to a larger tank. I think biocubes tend to have more issues because of the lid, and heat and less gas exchange.I agree but I don't have a bigger tank to put the fish in,ill probably ask my lfs if I can trade them for something for my ten gallon which has been up for a year with no major problems,it's disappointing but I have to throw in the towel in this time,

 

[Clown79]

As flowermama said, maybe removing opening the lid and having better gas exchange will help.

 

Adding a clean up crew of snails and hermits can help.

 

Or the resort is shutting it down.

The decision is trying to get past this or shut down. The first 7 mnths comes with issues.

[Bcb577]

What kind of water are you using? Have you tested it for phosphates and nitrates?

Are you changing floss often, cleaning filter regularly, rinsing media bags with every water change/changing media monthly, are you vacuuming the sand?

The bioballs could be an issue.

Are you adding anything to the tank?

haven't added anything else to the tank since July 4th I do change the floss twice a week,rinse all media and blow off rocks,,religiously do a 20% water change weekly and siphoned the sand bed every time,I've been slowly removing the bioballs with every water change over the last cpl of weeks,I'm not really sure on the phosphate as I have an api test kit but nitrates read zero.I'm going to stick this out for awhile longer as I'm hoping the bioballs are the issue,but I don't want to order a media basket only to have this stuff come back again,kinda weighing the risk,reward issue,but I'm not a quitter but really loosening hope.

[Clown79]

Are you sure its diatoms? There are golden brown forms of cyano, there is also dino's

 

When i set up my 15g I struggled for 4 mnths on and off with a golden algae on my sand bed. I would do wc's and it appeared better at first but then worse the next day. It also got worse as the lighting period increased throughout the day.

 

I increased my flow in the tank, reduced lighting to 7 hrs, blocked all outside lighting, and it all the sudden went away.

[IronChefItaly]

See the link below for an all encompassing take on algae control.

 

[Bcb577]

Ok,not sure what this is indication of,but I did my last water change two days ago and I looked at my filter pad and floss and both are dark green and in need of replacing already,the only thing that I can think of that I've done differently is I've been adding microbacter 7

[ajmckay]

I'm with Clown - what's your water source? Are you using tap water, LFS water, or water that's inadequately filtered/treated?

 

IME that's the major source of algae in reef tanks. If you're using your own RO water and you know it's good, then I would be suspecting the sand bed has turned into a nutrient sink, or the rocks are leaching something.

 

So I guess to really "solve" the issue we might need more info. What type of algae are you having issues with? Got a pic of the tank?

 

Good luck.

[Bcb577]

I'm with Clown - what's your water source? Are you using tap water, LFS water, or water that's inadequately filtered/treated?

 

IME that's the major source of algae in reef tanks. If you're using your own RO water and you know it's good, then I would be suspecting the sand bed has turned into a nutrient sink, or the rocks are leaching something.Yeah it caught it from your mom weasel.lol

 

So I guess to really "solve" the issue we might need more info. What type of algae are you having issues with? Got a pic of the tank?

 

Good luck.

[Clown79]

Pics will help. Water source info.

 

We can help but without all the info its hard to give the correct course of action

[Bcb577]

I'm with Clown - what's your water source? Are you using tap water, LFS water, or water that's inadequately filtered/treated?

 

IME that's the major source of algae in reef tanks. If you're using your own RO water and you know it's good, then I would be suspecting the sand bed has turned into a nutrient sink, or the rocks are leaching something.

 

So I guess to really "solve" the issue we might need more info. What type of algae are you having issues with? Got a pic of the tank?

 

Good luck.

Pics will help. Water source info.

We can help but without all the info its hard to give the correct course of action

Pics will help. Water source info.

We can help but without all the info its hard to give the correct course of action

well I use distilled water and I use the same source for all three of my tanks but this is the only one having this issue,unfortunately I'm currently unable to send pics but honestly it looks like diatoms,I recently replaced my sand bed and rinsed the new live sand until it was clear when disturbing it while running water through it.

I'm with Clown - what's your water source? Are you using tap water, LFS water, or water that's inadequately filtered/treated?

 

IME that's the major source of algae in reef tanks. If you're using your own RO water and you know it's good, then I would be suspecting the sand bed has turned into a nutrient sink, or the rocks are leaching something.

 

So I guess to really "solve" the issue we might need more info. What type of algae are you having issues with? Got a pic of the tank?

 

Good luck.

yeah weasel it caught it from your mom which caught it from your grandfather,lol

[ajmckay]

yeah weasel it caught it from your mom which caught it from your grandfather,lol

Lol what?

[Bcb577]

Sorry was trying to respond to weasel baron who said my corals have the hero,lol it was a joke,lol

[ajmckay]

Sorry was trying to respond to weasel baron who said my corals have the hero,lol it was a joke,lol

Lol - look at my sig

[Newstead]

Are you siphoning out the back chambers before water changes? You would be amazed at what is at the very bottom of those 3 chambers if they aren't siphoned out,well regularly.