Calcium Participation/Algae Bloom (?)

[Drew 24 Y]

Good Afternoon Reefers - I was hoping to pick some nano reefers brains on a few questions regarding cloudy water caused by potential (?) calcium participation or algae bloom -  I'm not sure which one I have but I've had multiple fish die off on me multiple times and I could use some community help.  First my tank parameters 10-gal nuvo, setup in September 2019 and cycled, AquaMaxx NF-1 Skimmer, media basket with floss, purigen, chemipure elite, cheato (reverse lighting cycle- 10hr), in first chamber, and Seachem phosguard and matrix carbon in second with skimmer, seachem matrix (biological) in small bottom chamber, ~12 lbs or live rock, 1-2-inch Carbi Sea sand bed, and Kessil A80 (8-9hrs operation).  Water parameters as of last night: Alk: 8.2dkH, Cal:500ppm, Mg: 1500ppm; Salinity 1.025, temp: 77-78; pH:7.0; Nitrate: 0ppm and Phosphate 0.13ppm, and Ammonia 0ppm.  I test Cal, Phos, and Alk with hanna checkers.  PH and salinity with Hanna handheld meters (pH calibrated daily; Salinity calibrated monthly).  Mg tested with Red Sea Pro test kit.  Ammonia and Nitrate are tested with Salifert kits.  Currently using Reef crystals but have used RedSea Coral Pro salt mix in past.  I have always fought with low pH, tried additional aeration to no avail, but I've been told (and read) to not chase pH.  Additionally I've always fought with extremely high (and stable) Cal and Mg and "relative" unstable Alk swings between 8.0 and 10.5ppm, respectively.  I tried dosing with Brightwell's Reef Code B to increase and/or stabilize Alk. No luck.  This past week I tried dosing (2.5ml every other day and testing parameters ) with Seachem Reef Carbonate in hopes to increase Alk and stabilize pH with no success.  I had two cardinals (PJ and Benghi) in the tank, however, as of this post they just died, maybe due to lack of dissolved oxygen and cloudy water (?).  I have one cleaner shrimp, three bumble bee snails, and two narrarius snails.  I have x11 various zoa frags.  I feed (or just recently used to fed) the cardinals a mix of frozen spirulina brine shrimp mixed with Brightwell reef blizzard once daily.  Zoa Frags get fed reef-roids mixed with Brightwell Amino every other day and RedSea Reef energy A & B daily.  Water changes are done every 3-4 days and can vary between 15-30%.  Additionally since this is a somewhat new tank I dose Brightwell Microbacter 7 approx.  x3 times weekly.  With all that being said, I feel like I have overthought a 10-gal tank but knowing nano tanks are quite difficult, I tried to cover most parameters.

 

As for the questions:

• Could high Cal and Mg in conjunction with me dosing Alk buffer (Seachem Reef Carbonate) cause participation and thus the currently (white) cloudy water in my tank?
• Could the (white) cloudy water be caused by algae in the water column and lack of dissolved oxygen (potential cause of recent fish death)?  Currently there are no signs of alage present on the sand bed or rock.
• Would there be additional causes for this cloudiness, I know potentially over-feeding, however, I would assume chemical filtration (purigen, chemipure elite, phosgaurd) would help control this if I do have a heavy hand while feeding.  Light cycle, maybe? But 8-9hrs with a A80 does not seem like a long photo period.
• Additional comments and concerns based on my setup and maintenance as described above.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Clown79]

You are using a lot of media and filtration.

 

Chemipure elite is a carbon and has phos reducing media in. There is no need to use more carbon and phosguard. 

Either the chemipure, or the carbon. Use phos reducers as needed.

 

Then purigen, chaeto and a skimmer.

It's a lot for a nano. 

Your nutrients aren't balanced.

 

You don't need to feed corals that often with fish in the tank. 

 

I also feel all the added things being dosed into the tank from amino's, microbacter7, plus the other items may be an issue.

 

Why waterchanges every 3-4 days? Why the microbacter dosing?

 

Alk fluctuations of 8-10 is a lot.

 

Have you tested a newly mixed batch of SW?

 

Have you tested your tanks alk everyday from the day of waterchange to the next waterchange to monitor where alk starts and ends(testing without dosing)

 

I don't chase ph. It fluctuates. Opening a window can help 

 

.I've had high mag with no issues. Never Ca, so I can't say.

I use esv bionic 2 part liquid and both ca and alk have stayed balanced

 

I know some salts if not mixed properly or stored too long can cause precipitation. 

 

 

I would reduce the amount of media you are using.

 

Keep the chaeto, it's natural nutrient export.

 

Maybe do waterchanges every 7days.

 

 

Keeping things simple leads to less complications.

It's a young tank that needs time to mature and have biodiversity. 

 

[Drew 24 Y]

Thanks Clown79, I appreciate your input and advice.  Moving forward would you suggest for the media basket filter floss, cheato, and either carbon (BRS rox0.8) of chemipure?  Also which chemipure - elite or blue? I've mainly been using CP Elite but after lurking the forums I have read CP Blue may be a tad more beneficial then CP Elite? What do you think?  I know CP Elite has a small amount  GFO and CP Blue does not.  Additionally, I will remove the other media, (i.e. purigen, phosgaurd) and use as needed.   My LFS did recommend Esv bionic 2 as well.  With all 2-parts do you need to add them in equal amounts?  Say for my tank, I have high Cal & Mg and lower and unstable Alk, would I just add the one part of Bionic solution needed for rasing Alk or do I need to add both parts for ionic balance?  Thanks again.

[Clown79]

6 hours ago, Drew 24 Y said:

Thanks Clown79, I appreciate your input and advice.  Moving forward would you suggest for the media basket filter floss, cheato, and either carbon (BRS rox0.8) of chemipure?  Also which chemipure - elite or blue? I've mainly been using CP Elite but after lurking the forums I have read CP Blue may be a tad more beneficial then CP Elite? What do you think?  I know CP Elite has a small amount  GFO and CP Blue does not.  Additionally, I will remove the other media, (i.e. purigen, phosgaurd) and use as needed.   My LFS did recommend Esv bionic 2 as well.  With all 2-parts do you need to add them in equal amounts?  Say for my tank, I have high Cal & Mg and lower and unstable Alk, would I just add the one part of Bionic solution needed for rasing Alk or do I need to add both parts for ionic balance?  Thanks again.

I don't use chemipure.

The difference between the 2, blue has an ion resin like purigen and elite gfo.

 

I prefer a good carbon and floss.

I use only a small bag which I bag myself.

 

I have a tiny bag of purigen in both tanks, I bag it myself. 

 

I prefer using different individual medias tbati bag so I use less, change more often(carbon), and use as needed.

 

 

2 part should be used equally with a focus in alk. Ca won't increase, it stays balanced

 

 

 

It sounds like you need to find out why your alk is low.

What salt are you using, how do you mix it, and how long is it stored.

 

The first thing is testing a new batch of SW.

 

If it mixes low, theres the problem.

 

If not then the next thing is testing alk every day from after a waterchange(target number) and every day till next waterchange.

 

This will determine your alk consumption and how to properly dose

 

 

Dosing should be done for replenishing, if a salt mixes low alk then either the new batches need to be increased with dosing(gets expensive and tiresome) or a switching salts is the next best thing.  

 

 

 

 

[Drew 24 Y]

Thanks Clown, I use Reef Crystals but also have RedSea Coral Pro as well.  My mixing procedure is usually, ro/di water mixed in a 5 gallon orange bucket with the stock return pump from the IM Nuvo 10 (I replaced the stock with a Sicce 1.0 in chamber 3).  I also add a heater and set it to about 77-78 degree F or 25.5 C.  I usually wait ~ 20-24 hrs before adding the new water to the tank.  When testing the new water I usually only test for salinity which is 1.025 SG.  I will start testing my fresh batches of water (w/Reef Crystals) for Alk as well and follow up with you. 

 

In the meantime since my initial post, I completed close to 90% water change to replace the cloudy water, removed all the filter media except for my filter floss, cheato, and a small amount of BRS carbon 0.8 and installed a small UV sterilizer.  I went to the BRS dosing webpage which indicated to only add 0.05 cups or 0.98 tablespoons of carbon for my tank capacity, however, I feel like this is such a small amount.  Any suggestions, add more maybe? Currently, the UV sterilizer has been running for about 8 hours and the water clarity appears to be improving.  Based on my fishes reactions (in addition to) the water parameters, etc mentioned in the previous post, I have potentially diagnosed the problem as as a bacteria bloom which caused a drop in my dissolved oxygen and killed my fish.  The onset of the cloudy water was really quick and when it happen I immediately tested my water and my parameters  appeared to be okay.  So that coupled with the copious amount of various media (carbon, purigen, phosband, chemipure, etc) I jammed into the back chambers, I felt like I didn't need to panic about my fish.   In hindsight I feel horrible about the fish and didn't take into account it might be a serious bacteria bloom since water parameter were somewhat okay and algae was not "visually" present.  This hobby is challenging and humbling!

 

So now I am running a tank with no fish and just a few snails (x3 bumble bee and x2 narrarius) and a bunch of coral frags  I would like to figure out my Alk swings before I add any fish, and then keep those Alk parameters stable for a few weeks.  However, in the mean time would you suggest I feed my coral reef-roids (maybe one weekly) to keep nutrients (nitrite, nitrate, phos) in the water column in order to keep my beneficial bacteria populations from reducing/decreasing?  Maybe ghost feed a small amount of frozen or pellet food? Or maybe turn my skimmer off 2 nights a week until I slowly introduce another fish?      

[Clown79]

I have never had a bacterial bloom, I did have a phyto one.

 

In most cases bacterial blooms go away, then there are other cases.

 

I'm sorry for the loss of fish but don't feel too bad because sometimes, it's out if our control.

 

 

Some salts like RSCP shouldn't be mixed for 24hrs as it causes precipitation.

 

Their instructions are no more than 4hrs mixing and no longer than 1 week storage.

 

Reef crystals, I can't remember their instructions. 

 

I'll be honest, I don't measure my salt.

I add a bit at a time and check salinity until its correct and then 1 time again before adding.

 

Its mixed for 30 mins to 1 hr before use. I used red sea blue bucket 

 

 

Using 2 different salts may be giving you fluctuations in alk. Alk is really important for corals.

 

Rscp is known to have high alk and RC it seems to depend. Some get high alk and others moderate.

 

So by using both may be the issue.

 

When I changed to blue bucket and even when it's a new bucket, I test the sg and alk for the first few new salt water mixes. This gives me an idea if there is any drastic difference between buckets and my tank.

 

After every waterchange, I test my alk to ensure it's where it needs to be. 

 

 

I would feed the corals 1 time a week if there are no fish, they will need it and it will maintain nutrients in the tank