What caused my sudden algae bloom?? Plz Help!

[Rel]

S.G: 1.026

Po4: .25

Ammonia: 0

No2: 0

No3: 10

PH: 8

Ca: 475

Mg: 1400

DkH: 9

 

Not sure if you can tell from the pic but my sand bed is yuck 🤢! It’s a 24 gal cube with built in sump, housing a skimmer, refugium with chaeto, chemi pure, filter floss, bio media, and a black filter sponge. Tank is 5 months old and I thought I’d got through the worst of algae blooms. In basically 2 days I went from clear sand to brown.  My phosphate reading has always been 0 so I was surprised today to see it at .25.  Any ideas as to how I can get my parameters in check and get rid of the algae?

[mitten_reef]

Any time you need to bring something back to normal, one simple course of action would be to do an extra water change or two in addition to your routine one.  maybe start with a couple of water changes this week.  

What is your routine maintenance?  any changes to your routine lately? 

[mcarroll]

An algae bloom is usually an important and critical part of a new tank's cycle....but usually the last one!  Woot!

 

Also it usually follows a spike in nutrients -- anything happen in the last few weeks that would cause that?   Add new fish?  Change something?

 

So now that you have algae, use your fingers and pull out any algae you don't like.

 

You should be able to do that once and not have to do it again IF (IF!!!) you have enough cleanup crew.

 

If you do it and have to repeat yourself in a few days or a week, then you don't have enough cleanup crew.

 

Try placing a snail right on the algae you want it to eat too....sometimes they literally have trouble find it.

 

Do you have any herbivores yet?

 

BTW, if you can shut off the blue lights and get us a better/closer shot we can prolly tell when kind of algae it is.   Doesn't show up much in the photos.

 

Looks like you even have some decent coralline algae growth, so whatever you do DON'T DO ANYTHING DRASTIC.

[Clown79]

Can you get a shot with no blue lights. It will be easier to determine the algae you have.

 

I've had high phos with no algae but as soon as nitrates hit higher than 5, I get algae.

 

Your phos in the past may have been 0 due to the chemipure and chaeto use. 0 phos isn't ideal. 

Using chaeto and media that reduces phos may have led to no nutrients.

 

The filter sponge may be a culprit. They can't be properly clean and eventually trap detritus leading to nutrient issues. The floss is all you really need, changing it twice a week is best.

 

Do you have a cuc?

Did you do anything recently before the outbreak like a major sand vacuuming that isn't normally done?

[Rel]

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Can you get a shot with no blue lights. It will be easier to determine the algae you have.

 

I've had high phos with no algae but as soon as nitrates hit higher than 5, I get algae.

 

Your phos in the past may have been 0 due to the chemipure and chaeto use. 0 phos isn't ideal. 

Using chaeto and media that reduces phos may have led to no nutrients.

 

The filter sponge may be a culprit. They can't be properly clean and eventually trap detritus leading to nutrient issues. The floss is all you really need, changing it twice a week is best.

 

Do you have a cuc?

Did you do anything recently before the outbreak like a major sand vacuuming that isn't normally done?

I’ve been thinking of removing the black sponge. I’m just cheap and it came with the tank so I wanted to use it.
 

My CUC consists of 2 trochus snails, a cleaner shrimp, and my recently added conch snail. It was a free gift from my LFS. 

 

FML yes... I did clean my sand bed recently and I normally do not. I don’t know what possessed me to do it really. I guess I felt like I was being lazy by not cleaning it. SMH 

[Clown79]

29 minutes ago, Rel said:

I’ve been thinking of removing the black sponge. I’m just cheap and it came with the tank so I wanted to use it.
 

My CUC consists of 2 trochus snails, a cleaner shrimp, and my recently added conch snail. It was a free gift from my LFS. 

 

FML yes... I did clean my sand bed recently and I normally do not. I don’t know what possessed me to do it really. I guess I felt like I was being lazy by not cleaning it. SMH 

Cleaning the sand bed is recommended but if it's not done regularly, when the sand is disturbed, alot is released.

[mcarroll]

I can't tell if I'm blind or if there's almost no algae in that picture?

 

I see spots of coralline on the back wall.  And <squinting> maybe </squinting> some film algae on the glass just over the surface of the sand bed?

 

Unless I'm really missing something that's not much algae...almost none, and most of what's there is actually the good kind (coralline). 

 

It may just be time to add a little more cleanup crew....I'd go with Cerith shails.

 

(I don't think you'll want a Conch in such a small tank, but maybe someone else will chime in on this part.)

[Rel]

11 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

I can't tell if I'm blind or if there's almost no algae in that picture?

 

I see spots of coralline on the back wall.  And <squinting> maybe </squinting> some film algae on the glass just over the surface of the sand bed?

 

Unless I'm really missing something that's not much algae...almost none, and most of what's there is actually the good kind (coralline). 

 

It may just be time to add a little more cleanup crew....I'd go with Cerith shails.

 

(I don't think you'll want a Conch in such a small tank, but maybe someone else will chime in on this part.)

Thank you. I’m probably overthinking and overreacting. I’m actually a pro at that, but someone plz chime in on the conch! 😬

[A.m.P]

If I recall correctly conches can be an issue when you're trying to keep tridacnids, otherwise a bit of algae on the sand probably came from you disturbing it.

 

[mcarroll]

I would certainly defer to someone with experience, but I double down on the Conch after a little googling....too small of a tank....and not an algae eater or really even cleanup crew for a such a small tank...he'd be done with his job in 5 minutes and starve from minute #6 onward. 

 

Or to put it another way:
 

From liveaquaria (emphasis mine):

Quote

Fighting Conches can grow to about 3" and do well in all sizes of reef aquaria with supplemental feeding.[...]

 

The Fighting Conch is an omnivore and will also consume detritus. Supply pieces of fresh fish and dried seaweed, as well as high quality frozen foods, to supplement what they will feed on from the bottom of the tank.

As an omnivore, it sounds to me like it's a matter of what they'll be able to "catch" when they're hungry.  Corals are slower than snails....but then fish are faster than omnivorous crabs too but fish still get nabbed by crabs (!!) when sleeping.

 

Your Conch a pet-level critter like a fish so don't think of him like you think of other snails...you'll need to keep him fed like a fish.  A 3" snail can probably eat A LOT to get that big.

 

He's claimed to be reef safe.  Hermit crabs are this kind of "reef safe" as well.  (That is, omnivorous.)  Not a fan personally.  But that's my opinion.  If you like him, you'll just have to keep him fed "or else" whatever that means.  (He starve to death?  He eats a coral?  Or something else?  I don't honestly know.)

 

In any event he's not cleanup crew, so keep that in mind going forward when you're stocking herbivores down the road.  👍

[mcarroll]

(That was kinda my reaction after reading their description too!)

[Clown79]

I've kept conches in my tanks.

 

They never stop cleaning the sandbed and are really cool. My sand was kept nice and clean by it.

 

Never lost a single thing to them, they don't go on rocks, corals, just constant sand dwelling.

 

The unfortunate thing is that in nano's, we simply don't have enough food to provide for them so they just don't live long.

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I've kept conches in my tanks.

 

They never stop cleaning the sandbed and are really cool. My sand was kept nice and clean by it.

 

Never lost a single thing to them, they don't go on rocks, corals, just constant sand dwelling.

 

The unfortunate thing is that in nano's, we simply don't have enough food to provide for them so they just don't live long.

From that live aquaria description, my guess is that most of them either starve to death (who feeds their snails chunks of fresh fish???) or they have a naturally short lifespan.

 

But based on their size (relative to other snails) and some googling, I think it's the starvation thing.  Sounds like they should live up to a decade.

[Clown79]

19 hours ago, mcarroll said:

From that live aquaria description, my guess is that most of them either starve to death (who feeds their snails chunks of fresh fish???) or they have a naturally short lifespan.

 

But based on their size (relative to other snails) and some googling, I think it's the starvation thing.  Sounds like they should live up to a decade.

Ya, I think even if you didn't vacuum the sand, a small tank still can't provide what they need, another animal like starfish.

It's a shame, I really liked mine.