20 gallon long brown algae

[ToxicQueen7]

Hello, about 5 months ago me and my fiancé started a saltwater nano 10 gallon, then upgraded to a 20 gallon after we got the hang of it (we have a few freshwater tanks and decided to take a leap to saltwater). Well recently we have gotten stormed with stringy brown algae. No matter how many water changes, less light, or Less feeding It seems to just come back and take over. We have also just lost our filter and are currently waiting for tomorrow when the new one comes in. Anyways, does anyone know how to rid this stuff in our tank? We have 3 little fish and 2 snails (two died off and currently waiting to order more clean up crews from our saltwater store that is currently shut down due to this pandemic). 

[WV Reefer]

4 minutes ago, ToxicQueen7 said:

Hello, about 5 months ago me and my fiancé started a saltwater nano 10 gallon, then upgraded to a 20 gallon after we got the hang of it (we have a few freshwater tanks and decided to take a leap to saltwater). Well recently we have gotten stormed with stringy brown algae. No matter how many water changes, less light, or Less feeding It seems to just come back and take over. We have also just lost our filter and are currently waiting for tomorrow when the new one comes in. Anyways, does anyone know how to rid this stuff in our tank? We have 3 little fish and 2 snails (two died off and currently waiting to order more clean up crews from our saltwater store that is currently shut down due to this pandemic). 

 

sorry to hear you are having issues. can you post some pics and post your water parameters and system details?

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, ToxicQueen7 said:

Hello, about 5 months ago me and my fiancé started a saltwater nano 10 gallon, then upgraded to a 20 gallon after we got the hang of it (we have a few freshwater tanks and decided to take a leap to saltwater). Well recently we have gotten stormed with stringy brown algae. No matter how many water changes, less light, or Less feeding It seems to just come back and take over. We have also just lost our filter and are currently waiting for tomorrow when the new one comes in. Anyways, does anyone know how to rid this stuff in our tank? We have 3 little fish and 2 snails (two died off and currently waiting to order more clean up crews from our saltwater store that is currently shut down due to this pandemic). 

What are your nitrates and phosphates at? 

 

Can you post a pic please.

 

It sounds like dino with the stringy brown description that just gets worse but pics would be helpful.

 

A good and easy test for dino's is the jar test. This won't tell you the strain as you need a microscope(I highly recommend having one on hand)

 

Get a clean jar and paper towel. Run tank water through the paper towel(only water from the tank with nothing in it)

Place lid on jar, shake, and place in ambient light for 4- 24hrs.

If the clear water has clumpy/stringy algae develop, its dino's. 

 

Dino's are the only algae that will do this.

It's a good way to rule them out or confirm them because getting rid of dino's is the opposite to other algaes.

 

If its dino's, waterchanges and less feeding won't help.

 

You need nutrients to go up, get that tank less clean and sterile. More biodiversity.

 

Dino's love clean, low to no nutrient tanks. 

 

We can help once we get more info on the tank.

[ToxicQueen7]

I don’t even wanna show the tank that’s how bad it looks to me 😭 I did do a little clean up of most of it before I saw anyone had replied to my post so that is why you can hardly see any. It was all over the sand bed and live rock. It also killed two little tree coral things(not a big problem as they were hitch buckets from LR) I wish I knew more of what to do but I guess trial and error? Anyways, my water perimeters before the filter had died on us were ph - 8.0 ammonia- 0 ppm  nitrite- 0 Ppm  nitrate- 5.0 ppm. They are now ph- 8.0  ammonia- 0.25 ppm nitrite- 0 ppm nitrate- 10 ppm 

the set up is 20 gallon long with marine land maxi jet 400 power head, had a fluval 50 gal power filter (filter died), filter coming in today is a penn-plax 30 gal canister, and have a white and blue Aqueon 30” light(new light coming in is a  aquatic life Reno wifi RGBW LED 30” also would like to add that in the last photo (with the lava rock And little white media things also) that is the media I was using in the filter that died. I plan I’m putting it into the canister when it comes in but should I stick with carbon? I used lava rock for all my freshwater tanks and read it is fine to use in a saltwater tank as well. Correct me if I’m wrong, PLEASE. Haha I’m just glad I haven’t killed my fish yet 🙏🏼

[Clown79]

Lava rock from what I have read, isn't safe for sw. It leaches various things into the tank. 

If you mean lava rock you buy to decorate freshwater tanks with- those aren't safe for reef tanks. 

They also don't provide the biological filtration that liverock/dry reef rock does.

 

What are the white cubes in the tank? Bio media?

 

Canister filters need cleaning quite regularly or they become a problem.

 

Ammonia being at 0.25 could be false reading or something is causing die off in the tank.

 

Your filter dying isn't the cause of all the issues. people run tanks with no filters. It would be a problem if you are using the filter media for biological filtration(using stock filter sponges)

 

Most hobbyists don't use the sponges as it's designed for freshwater for biological filtration. In saltwater, liverock is the biofilter.

 

The light you are using is designed for freshwater or fish only, so it will aid in algae growth because it's in the perfect spectrum for plant growth.

 

I would definitely do the jar test for dino's.

 

If its dino's, the approach to get rid of it is completely different than any other algae.

 

You need a good phosphate test kit(not api).

 

Do you have any surface water movement?

 

 

What exactly is your filteration normally set up with and maintenance of the media and filter?

 

What is your regular maintenance in your tank? What processes do you use to clean it?