Please help me get rid of this algae nothing works…

[tautog83]

So.. ill be that guy. Your corals arent thriving like at all . Are you using rodi water ? Id go to walmart buy a denture brush and scrub all the rocks the best you can and then do a 6 to 8 gallon waterchange . What light is that and what wattage are you running it at? Birdsnest dont come in white lol. Dont worry about not having a lfs. Make a game plan then follow through. After your waterchange order yourself a cleanup crew online , 5 astrea, 5 trochus 5 cerith, 4 nassarius. Its not going to fix overnight . Keep changing your mechanical filtration , you need biodiversity. Whether its snake oil or not , try some microbacter 7 for a week after your waterchange and see if that might help.

 

[Rammess]

So.. ill be that guy. Your corals arent thriving like at all . Are you using rodi water ? Id go to walmart buy a denture brush and scrub all the rocks the best you can and then do a 6 to 8 gallon waterchange . What light is that and what wattage are you running it at? Birdsnest dont come in white lol. Dont worry about not having a lfs. Make a game plan then follow through. After your waterchange order yourself a cleanup crew online , 5 astrea, 5 trochus 5 cerith, 4 nassarius. Its not going to fix overnight . Keep changing your mechanical filtration , you need biodiversity. Whether its snake oil or not , try some microbacter 7 for a week after your waterchange and see if that might help.

I mean that large policopora in the middle I bought and it was smaller than my pinky 1 stick. Same with the gorgonian. The other soft coral near the top just split and turned into like 4 heads, so theyre not necessarily dying either.

 

[Rammess]

So.. ill be that guy. Your corals arent thriving like at all . Are you using rodi water ? Id go to walmart buy a denture brush and scrub all the rocks the best you can and then do a 6 to 8 gallon waterchange . What light is that and what wattage are you running it at? Birdsnest dont come in white lol. Dont worry about not having a lfs. Make a game plan then follow through. After your waterchange order yourself a cleanup crew online , 5 astrea, 5 trochus 5 cerith, 4 nassarius. Its not going to fix overnight . Keep changing your mechanical filtration , you need biodiversity. Whether its snake oil or not , try some microbacteria 7 for a week after your waterchange and see if that might help.

Also any recommendations on reputable online orders? I used to just buy from a LFS.

 

[Schulks]

PS: Talk with Dan Sanchez, diver/owner of Gulf Live Rock.

I have to add to the Gulf Live Rock name dropping.

I had amazing service with them and everything went perfect. I received a ton of critters and some very unique pieces. They also had the best price around. Check them out for your live rock needs!

 

[Subsea]

Also any recommendations on reputable online orders? I used to just buy from a LFS.

What do you want to buy?

 

[SliceGolfer]

So here's what I see in your tank:

• Bleached Seriatopora (Birdsnest)
• Bleached Stylophora
• Bleaching Seriatopora
• Bleaching Duncans
• Invasive algae like substance (I believe chrysophytes, Subsea believes Calothrix)

What needs to be determined:

• Where do you source your water for water changes?
• If you supply your own, is it RODI or tap water?
• If your own RODI, what is your TDS level?
• If your own RODI, do you have DI resin that removes silicates?
• What are your current water parameters?
• Specific gravity:
• Alkalinity:
• Nitrate:
• Phosphate:
• Calcium:
• Magnesium:

From here, we can make better informed recommendations:

• Do you increase nutrients like nitrate or phosphate?
• Does your salinity need adjusting, which in turn affects alkalinity, calcium, magnesium?
• Is one parameter in spec, but another low or high?

Three recommendations I can make right now until there is more information:

• DON'T add anything new to the tank
• Your current lighting is too intense for the current stage of your tank, i.e. invasive algae, corals bleaching
• Stop water changes until you can validate you are not introducing additional nutrient sources for the algae, i.e. silicates

 

[Rammess]

I have to add to the Gulf Live Rock name dropping.

I had amazing service with them and everything went perfect. I received a ton of critters and some very unique pieces. They also had the best price around. Check them out for your live rock needs!

Could I just re aquascape and just keep the same water I have with new Live rock. Move the corals over to that new rock, and just get rid of this algae infested dry rock that never seemed to allow corraline to win the battle. Or do I just wait this out and somehow pray corraline will win the war of attrition.

 

[Rammess]

So here's what I see in your tank:

• Bleached Seriatopora (Birdsnest)
• Bleached Stylophora
• Bleaching Seriatopora
• Bleaching Duncans
• Invasive algae like substance (I believe chrysophytes, Subsea believes Calothrix)

What needs to be determined:

• Where do you source your water for water changes?
• If you supply your own, is it RODI or tap water?
• If your own RODI, what is your TDS level?
• If your own RODI, do you have DI resin that removes silicates?
• What are your current water parameters?
• Specific gravity:
• Alkalinity:
• Nitrate:
• Phosphate:
• Calcium:
• Magnesium:

From here, we can make better informed recommendations:

• Do you increase nutrients like nitrate or phosphate?
• Does your salinity need adjusting, which in turn affects alkalinity, calcium, magnesium?
• Is one parameter in spec, but another low or high?

Three recommendations I can make right now until there is more information:

• DON'T add anything new to the tank
• Your current lighting is too intense for the current stage of your tank, i.e. invasive algae, corals bleaching
• Stop water changes until you can validate you are not introducing additional nutrient sources for the algae, i.e. silicates

Attached are some photos from tonight. The corals seem to have their polyps extended and seem happy, despite the ugly algae that just comes back every day relentlessly. (Maybe not as happy as they could be, but polyps extended, they just arent very vibrantly colored)

Also the large one I believe is pocillopora bought that as a $10 frag and there is also a yellow acropora, and I figured they are atleast indicating that the basic parameters are in check.

My water temp isjust barely under 78 degrees
Salinity seems to be just barely under 1.025
I am not sure on other parameters at the moment.

Also see my light schedule on next post since I took it from my phone.

 

[Rammess]

I don’t want to inadvertently kill something trying to fight the algae but I do want it gone.

 

[SliceGolfer]

My water temp isjust barely under 78 degrees
Salinity seems to be just barely under 1.025
I am not sure on other parameters at the moment.

You need to help us help you. If you cannot answer what your Alk, Ca, Mg, N03, P04 are, you need to find that out. You also did not address water sourcing.

Bleaching and bleached corals do not equal parameters are in check.

 

[saltybeverage]

It starts to cover the sand and is pretty much always on the rocks. I can hit it with a turkey baster and it just scatters and blows around the tank. I try to do water changes weekly 30%. I did notice the other day a sliver of sunlight hitting the tank going through a blind, but I am not sure if that causes this. I have tried Chem Clean over 3 times now using the recommended dose (about 2 scoops). It doesnt seem to even do anything.


I don't have many snails anymore some have died, and I have yet to restock since a LFS closed down recently which sucks. It is only a 15g tank, so doing a 30% water change with 1.025 frresh RODI saltwater should be sufficient in getting rid of nutrients. I only have 2 fish in there. Maybe 4-5 snails. I want to add more snails, and maybe a shrimp.

I just want this to go away so I can have crystal clear water with thriving corals. I am nervous to try too many things since my corals actually seem happy. Despite the picture since it wasn't that long after a water change and I disrupted a lot of it, but the polyps are typically extended. I have noticed that the coloration in my corals has faded. Orange in the Monti is faded, the yellow in the acropora faded, they still seem to be growing slightly and polyps on the acropora extend, but not great color. I think the large one is a Pocilopora, but I forget. That one seems to thrive the best.



I did start with dry rock and I fully regret it

 

[saltybeverage]

It starts to cover the sand and is pretty much always on the rocks. I can hit it with a turkey baster and it just scatters and blows around the tank. I try to do water changes weekly 30%. I did notice the other day a sliver of sunlight hitting the tank going through a blind, but I am not sure if that causes this. I have tried Chem Clean over 3 times now using the recommended dose (about 2 scoops). It doesnt seem to even do anything.


I don't have many snails anymore some have died, and I have yet to restock since a LFS closed down recently which sucks. It is only a 15g tank, so doing a 30% water change with 1.025 frresh RODI saltwater should be sufficient in getting rid of nutrients. I only have 2 fish in there. Maybe 4-5 snails. I want to add more snails, and maybe a shrimp.

I just want this to go away so I can have crystal clear water with thriving corals. I am nervous to try too many things since my corals actually seem happy. Despite the picture since it wasn't that long after a water change and I disrupted a lot of it, but the polyps are typically extended. I have noticed that the coloration in my corals has faded. Orange in the Monti is faded, the yellow in the acropora faded, they still seem to be growing slightly and polyps on the acropora extend, but not great color. I think the large one is a Pocilopora, but I forget. That one seems to thrive the best.



I did start with dry rock and I fully regret it

Hey so this sounds like you have too much phosphates in the water. Dry rock leeches phosphates into the water a lot of the time. Mine hit 1.7 when I set up my new tank. Had to use phosban to knock it down fast. You can run GFO as well like chemo pure or something. I also think you might want to dose some Purple Non-Sulfer Bacteria. I had cyano really bad. Like a whole blanket over the whole tank, a while back, started dosing this, and within 3 weeks the cyano was holding on for dear life. It was in a few spots and then eventually just couldn’t keep up with the bacteria and was gone for good. That stuff is a god send for outbreaks like this. And it’s just adding to your tanks good bacteria so no need to do massive water changes or anything.

 

[SudzFD]

It starts to cover the sand and is pretty much always on the rocks. I can hit it with a turkey baster and it just scatters and blows around the tank. I try to do water changes weekly 30%. I did notice the other day a sliver of sunlight hitting the tank going through a blind, but I am not sure if that causes this. I have tried Chem Clean over 3 times now using the recommended dose (about 2 scoops). It doesnt seem to even do anything.


I don't have many snails anymore some have died, and I have yet to restock since a LFS closed down recently which sucks. It is only a 15g tank, so doing a 30% water change with 1.025 frresh RODI saltwater should be sufficient in getting rid of nutrients. I only have 2 fish in there. Maybe 4-5 snails. I want to add more snails, and maybe a shrimp.

I just want this to go away so I can have crystal clear water with thriving corals. I am nervous to try too many things since my corals actually seem happy. Despite the picture since it wasn't that long after a water change and I disrupted a lot of it, but the polyps are typically extended. I have noticed that the coloration in my corals has faded. Orange in the Monti is faded, the yellow in the acropora faded, they still seem to be growing slightly and polyps on the acropora extend, but not great color. I think the large one is a Pocilopora, but I forget. That one seems to thrive the best.



I did start with dry rock and I fully regret it

What is your nitrate and phosphate? You must have high levels to promote significant algae growth.

I’d start with finding out those numbers. Then we can figure out if water changes are truly sufficient or if you need some other waste reduction

 

[Rammess]

You need to help us help you. If you cannot answer what your Alk, Ca, Mg, N03, P04 are, you need to find that out. You also did not address water sourcing.

Bleaching and bleached corals do not equal parameters are in check.

My water has been RODI water from LFS. I think the one thing here that is different from any of my previous tanks is this one was started with dry rock instead of live rock. Probably why this algae has fully engulfed the rocks. z

I will have to get you water test info tomorrow.

 

[SliceGolfer]

In my experience, having started 4 tanks with CaribSea Life Rock, I find some batches have very high silicates which allowed chrysophytes to proliferate.

The water from your LFS could be suspect, especially if you see a new bloom of uglies after a water change.

If you can remove a small piece of rock that has the growth on it, take a syringe, dropper, even a q-tip and cover some area with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit out for two minutes, then put back in the tank. Monitor what happens next. Does it die, live, etc.

 

[sixty_reefer]

My water has been RODI water from LFS. I think the one thing here that is different from any of my previous tanks is this one was started with dry rock instead of live rock. Probably why this algae has fully engulfed the rocks. z

I will have to get you water test info tomorrow.

Most likely you will see that your nutrients have bottomed out. I will guess phosphate it’s at zero or close to

 

[MissMolly]

X2 to this

So here's what I see in your tank:

• Bleached Seriatopora (Birdsnest)
• Bleached Stylophora
• Bleaching Seriatopora
• Bleaching Duncans
• Invasive algae like substance (I believe chrysophytes, Subsea believes Calothrix)

What needs to be determined:

• Where do you source your water for water changes?
• If you supply your own, is it RODI or tap water?
• If your own RODI, what is your TDS level?
• If your own RODI, do you have DI resin that removes silicates?
• What are your current water parameters?
• Specific gravity:
• Alkalinity:
• Nitrate:
• Phosphate:
• Calcium:
• Magnesium:

From here, we can make better informed recommendations:

• Do you increase nutrients like nitrate or phosphate?
• Does your salinity need adjusting, which in turn affects alkalinity, calcium, magnesium?
• Is one parameter in spec, but another low or high?

Three recommendations I can make right now until there is more information:

• DON'T add anything new to the tank
• Your current lighting is too intense for the current stage of your tank, i.e. invasive algae, corals bleaching
• Stop water changes until you can validate you are not introducing additional nutrient sources for the algae, i.e. silicates

THIS!!!! Listen to this guy.

 

[MissMolly]

My water has been RODI water from LFS. I think the one thing here that is different from any of my previous tanks is this one was started with dry rock instead of live rock. Probably why this algae has fully engulfed the rocks. z

I will have to get you water test info tomorrow.

I have started several tanks w dead rock, no problem as long as you have light and parameters in control. Otherwise you will be punished.

 

[Rammess]

I have started several tanks w dead rock, no problem as long as you have light and parameters in control. Otherwise you will be punished.

Is their anything to mention about my lighting starting around 4 in the afternoon and being lit till 1am? Is there too much natural light during the day, and then the LED is on too long overall?

 

[Rammess]

Most likely you will see that your nutrients have bottomed out. I will guess phosphate it’s at zero or close to

I keep getting conflicting report saying my nutrients have bottomed out or that I have too much. So do I feed more mysis or less. I feed like around a half a cube every 2-3 days or so. Only livestock are a small clown and royal gramma. 1-2 snails some of the others have died over the course of a year and I have not yet replaced. I will go pick some more of these up today. (local LFS closed) so I am resorted to Petco. Somehow they have some saltwater stuff, so cleaner crew can be good from there.