I could use a little help

[superjohnny]

My tank is a mess and I'm not quite sure why. I did some tests on the water quality and came up with the following:

 

Ph 8.4

Ammonia 0

Nitrate 0

Nitrite 0

SG 1.025

 

I don't have a test kit for phosphates, but I'm about to go get one and test for that as well. I can say honestly, but sadly that nothing in my tank is doing well. Most is slowly dying and I'm not sure why.

 

I'll shut up and get to the pics...

 

 

 

 

[superjohnny]

and some more

 

 

 

 

 

 

[superjohnny]

The last few photo's show it best I think. It's an algae that I'm not familiar with. It's like hair algae, but not as carpet like and fine and low on the rocks. It's more brown and grows very quickly. I scraped it off the front glass, which was covered, before I took the pics.

 

Anyone know what eats this stuff?

 

The tank has:

96w powerquad

aquaclear 201 powerhead

CPR bakpak skimmer w/ Maxijet 1200

HOB filter for additional flow

some nas snails to mix the sand

a few bumble-bee snails

and a red-legged hermit

 

There's some pom-pom xenia in the back, but it is dying quickly. I don't get it (scratch)

[izzypop]

how old is your tank? can you give the specs on equipment as well like lighting and skimmer?? Do you use tap water or RO/DI? What size is your tank? what test kits and how old are they? Your keeping corals so those tests are okay but what about calcium and alk? when was your last water change? What do you have for a clean up crew?

[izzypop]

Oh yea are you dosing anything or adding anything????

[Ronjunior]

Phosphates maybe? Someone new here had a major problem and got something from Fantaseas to take care of it very recently. Don't know what her algae was like, but I had something that looked similar until some sort of worms took over and ate it all. (What do you think, Nu2Reefn, you saw my unknown gunk?) It was like a slimy hair/calaerpa type of plant that you could pick out, but would float around if not careful. It started to take over a Monti Cap...wish I could catch the worms, I'd give you some, but haven't seen them since the algae is gone)

Any algae eating fish in your tank? My Lawnmower blenny never stops now that I have another one.

How often do you do water changes? ro/di couldn't hurt, but I don't use it due to lack of funds.

Is this a 10g?

[jptrson]

I have high phospates when i use my tap water. Hair algae grows quick(exspecially in my 10g), but it never seems to affect the corals. If you have 96watts on a 10 or 20 gal, whats the temp?

[Michael7979]

How old are the lights?

[superjohnny]

Ok lots of questions. Lemme see here...

 

Tank is 10g AGA and about 9 months old. I posted the specs already, but it's a 96w power-quad light in a home made hood behind glass, CPR bakpack w/Maxi jet 1200, Aquaclear 201 and a HOB for circulation.

 

Cleanup Crew: Has a couple bumble-bee, nasarus, astrea snails, a red leg hermit and a cleaner shrimp. No fish.

 

I've been using Instant Ocean salt with a 6 stage RO/DI from Aquasafe Systems (ebay), which is as old as the tank. I tested the dissolved solids and my TDS meter reads 0. Tap water is 10-11 TDS.

 

Test kits are Red Sea and about 2 years old. I don't think they're the culprit because they detected things correctly during the nitrification cycle.

 

I change the water about 3-4 gallons 4 times a month and make sure to mix the new water for at 48 hours and heat it to match temp so as not to shock the system.

 

I don't dose anything and use no suppliments. I feed 6-10 brine or mysis shrimp or 4-5 flakes of tropical flake 2-3 times per week. Just so the cleaner shrimp has something to eat. He molts about once per month.

 

Water temp is 78*

 

Ronjunior that sounds like what I got. I've been really careful about adding anything because I know algae is a sure sign of excess nutrients. I was going to get a phosphate test kit from SW Fantaseas but we went out for dinner tonight and I didn't have time. I'll pick one up tomorrow. I thought of that before and Patrick turned me on to Phos Buster Pro *linky*. When I got home I found my test kit out of solution, but proceeded to dose a 1/2 dose of 5 ml anyway :/

 

Edit: Forgot to comment about calcium & alkalinity. I don't have a calcium or alkalinity test kit, but in a tank this size with such a light stock of stuff how could I not be replacing lost ca & alk with water changes? Since I can't test for them that's why I change so much water so frequently... iodine is another and I know the shrimp needs iodine.

 

Correction, test kits are Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, not Red Sea

[superjohnny]

How old are the lights?

 

I bought the ballast and bulb new from Joel @ Waves about 2 months ago.

 

And thanks everyone for asking the questions and helping me out.

[izzypop]

my first thought is stop dosing that stuff. With a 10 gal you can do a water change and rid phosphate that way. Also test your RODI water for phosphate and silicate. second is are you getting any skimmate? if so how much?

If you only have a cleaner shrimp I would stop feeding right away. That algae doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary. You might just stop feeding let it run its coarse. Might take a couple weeks. Turbo Snails will munch that down is my guess.

do you test alk and calcium since you have corals?

[superjohnny]

Oh, I should also mention. I took a sample into Seahorse NW and asked Woody. We tossed it into one of his tanks that had a nudibranch and it was eating this stuff, but without researching to figure out what it's natural habitat is like I passed on buying it. I've never been much for treating symptoms instead of addressing the problem anyway. I've found from my years with freshwater tanks that treating symptoms leads to other symptoms so you get into an ongoing battle that only the LFS wins.

[superjohnny]

my first thought is stop dosing that stuff. With a 10 gal you can do a water change and rid phosphate that way. Also test your RODI water for phosphate and silicate. second is are you getting any skimmate? if so how much?

If you only have a cleaner shrimp I would stop feeding right away. That algae doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary. You might just stop feeding let it run its coarse. Might take a couple weeks. Turbo Snails will munch that down is my guess.

do you test alk and calcium since you have corals?

 

I only dosed 5 ml one time. I've been running the skimmer really wet to try & get as much gunk as possible. It does a decent job, but it takes daily adjustments. I get a light green gunk that smells nasty, but not like *real* skimmate. If I stop feeding will the shrimp die?

 

Ok, I'll pick up a phosphate, calcium and alkalinity test kit tomorrow. Cheapest place around Portland to get them? Salifert right? And 5 turbo snails...

 

I've kinda been waiting for this to run it's course, but it's been like this for a few months now. Still getting a little bit of diatoms as well, but not like the initial bloom. I understand that algae is part of the deal for a new tank, but dying corals are not. They're too damned expensive to replace anyway. :p

[izzypop]

10 gallon is out of what i would consider my comfort zone. Maybe a nano guy/gal can help. I think sometimes you have to step back, stop feeding get a good skimmer and let it run its coarse. good luck.

[izzypop]

sorry you beat me too it

I don't think your shrimp will die. Maybe feed 1/2 as much.

dude 9 months your tank should just now be rockin!!!

I would get 1 or 2 turbos at most. they will clean that size tank quick.

a few months... hmmm something isn't right. Test your rodi for phosphates and silicates. I found that a cheap membrane will still have phosphates and silicates in the output. Test that. This is my guess.....

[superjohnny]

Went to Saltwater fantaseas and had my phosphates tested and they were 0. Spoke with Patrick and he suggested a couple blue-leg hermits, a couple turbo and an abalone. My cleaner shrimp is going house on the abalone, trying to flip it upside down and pick at it. Don't know how long that relationship will last.

[Ronjunior]

I saw one of those worms out on the rocks last night, but they're so small, may be impossible to catch without squishing. Then again, I'm not lightening fast as there are so many holes in the rock to hide... Hopefully your new guys will touch it. My hermits had no interest and the snails I have are usually in hiding.

Shawn was suggesting cutting back the food, it may help force the other guys to hopefully graze more too. I only noticed that algae growing, and like mad around the time I took all my fish out of the tank (and using some stinky Ich Attack in there for 1 week). It was like fertilizer to a rock frag I brought into the tank a month before. It quickly spread to other places as well when not touched by me. I didn't notice the loose pieces growing anywhere when I attempted removal, which is not easy with that stuff. You just need an underwater lawnmower with built in suction and filter.

Update your results and hopefully they're good.

[superjohnny]

Thanks Ron. If this doesn't work my next attempt will be a lawnmower blenny. I saw Patrick got some real neat fish in, he's probably got one. I'd really like a goby to pair up with my CS.

 

That abalone is pretty cool. When he gets bigger I think I'll eat 'em.

 

edit:

Can someone help identify that type of algae?

[superjohnny]

Took a sample to Saltwater Fantaseas and had them test the water. They confirmed nitrates, nitrites and ammonia @ 0. Calcium was @ 490 and ALK was higher, I forget what they said it was. They then tested the salinity and it was @ 1.032... well higher than it was when I tested it. So my refractometer is not calibrated correctly. This should be part of why my corals are doing so poorly.

 

Thanks to them for the help on what was a very busy day.

[CCR]

Yup that could do it. Adjust slooooly. Glad that a problem was found that can be easly fixed.

[Ronjunior]

Been there with a bum hydrometer. If I remember correctly, I replaced about 1 gal. water/day with no ill effects in my 125g to bring down S.G. Take in consideration you're much smaller, so do the math accordingly. Plus all I read about is smaller tanks are less forgiving with changes.

Just remember your pH and everything else can change as well by replacing the saltwater with fresh and bring that back up slowly as well, if not slower..some softies don't like a quick pickeruper. I followed what a LFS told me and not instincts or research and melted one by too fast of an increase.

[WAVES]

One thing to consider when you have an algae problem. Phophates will almost always test very low, as well as nitrates. That doesnt mean you dont have a phosphate and nitrate problem however, the nutrients are simply bound up in the algae that you are battling.

 

I always get the "I have hair algae but my phosphates test out at zero" question, the answer is simple, as soon as the phosphates are present, (from Tap water, food etc) the algae uses them and grows. Thus they usually test out low.

 

You might check out prodibio as well, it really helps "Starve" the algaes.

[Holly]

Patrick gave me PhosBuster, and after endless weeks of struggling with super-high phosphates that no Phosban or ROWA could touch, it brought it down in a day. You could just dose with that as a preventative, in case it's just not being detected by your phosphate kit. Also, you can toss some NitraBan and Reef Carbon in the sump as well, as a preventative.

 

I have two hydrometers, and one always tests higher than the other. My swinging arm type is usually at least 0.03 higher than my glass thermometer/hydrometer combined. Not sure why .

[grover2]

Patrick gave me PhosBuster, and after endless weeks of struggling with super-high phosphates that no Phosban or ROWA could touch, it brought it down in a day. You could just dose with that as a preventative, in case it's just not being detected by your phosphate kit. Also, you can toss some NitraBan and Reef Carbon in the sump as well, as a preventative.

 

I have two hydrometers, and one always tests higher than the other. My swinging arm type is usually at least 0.03 higher than my glass thermometer/hydrometer combined. Not sure why .

 

Holly do you have corals in your tank? Do you dose your tank with corals?