Please help me i'm at my whits end!!

[Corailline]

I have a sps dominated tank with lps and soft corals, fish and the usual inverts. I did a 4 day total black out when I had an issue with dino. All corals,fish and inverts did not even flinch. When I resumed the lighting I started out at 4 hours and increased the time over about 5 days. No it is not a cure all, but a great way to knock it down while you get a handle on the nutrient issue. Algae needs nutrients and lights remove both and the algae will take a big hit.

 

[DaveK]

This post is going to be a bit different from the others.

First all the stuff about adding more CUC members and/or algae eating fish is nice, but it's not going to solve that big a problem by itself,

Second, in my opinion you have way too many fish in the system. More to the point, you have 2 tangs and a foxface, These fish tend to produce a lot of waste produces. I would recommend you remove one or two of the tangs or foxface and about 1/3 of the other fish.

Third, any ammonia reading other than 0 is a problem in a reef, but it may be your test kit. Get a quality test kit and retest. If it's not 0 look for problems. You may have something the died in the LR.

I also recommend doing the following -

Cut way back on your feeding.

Make regular water changes.

Run GFO (Phosban or equivalent) in the system. A reactor for this is a help.

Raise your lighting to reduce light for the time being. This is not a long term fix, but slows regrowth down.

Re do the LR so it's a open as possible and gets circulation. Yea, it's a big job, but you only need do it once.

 

[GlassMunky]

In addition to all that, if you do decide to rework the rocks. take the time to scrub off all the algae you can outside of the tank since your already going to be moving the rock. just one more little step twords the end goal

 

[lzrlvr]

hi try some algaefix from API.it will help begin the process of removing your algae.be aware that as the algae dies it will also leave unwanted waste that should be removed by partial water changes that you should already be doing.lowering your phosphate level is also very important.i use a product called chemi-prue in my 12 gal nano and my inhabitants are doing very well.your tank needs help.try out my advice it worked well for me.

 

[KARussell88]

Ok so now that ive read everything here is what I've gotten:
-Rock needs to be changed from a wall structure to a mound structure (will do spring break which is next weekend if this other stuff doens't help) - I've wanted to change my rocks anyways now I have an excuse lol
-Phosphates need to be taken care of (bought test kit & phosban today)
-CUC needs to be larger (bought CUC pack from reefcleaners this morning)
-Lights need to be cut off or lessened (will cut them 3 hours, if this, plus everything else doesn't work will do total cut off)
-Manual removal & water changes will remain the same
-I feed too much (Dt's, cyclopeze, and coral frenzy will be stopped, only brine will be used after thawed and juices removed 2-3 times a week)
-I hate to use chemicals so right now I won't use any chemical algae removers..
One person says I don't have to many fish one says I do, more opinions on this...
I have a drip test kit and it ammonia looks to be 0 but its hard to tell, its definitely not .25 but it could still be larger than 0

 

[Val]

In addition to all that, if you do decide to rework the rocks. take the time to scrub off all the algae you can outside of the tank since your already going to be moving the rock. just one more little step twords the end goal

+1 I agree if you are moving the rock anyway I would also scrub off what algae I could outside of the tank.

 

[mbdave]

I think that is an excellent strategy. You have taken this in very well I believe you will have success! On the amount of fish you have there will be lots of opinions on how many is to many or to few when it comes down to the wire I guess it depends on you and how well you can manage your tank, but you are on the right path.
Remember this though Mike Paletta said this at a club meeting for a Bay Area reef club I attended years ago and it still stands true, "Nothing good happens fast in this hobby, only bad happens fast." So take your time, have a nice glass of tea, and enjoy the animals in the box.
Dave

 

[DaveK]

hi try some algaefix from API.it will help begin the process of removing your algae...

In my opinion, using chemical algae control products in a reef system is generally a bad idea. While they do work as far as killing some types of algae go, they also have some problems.

First, even though they claim to be reef safe, they can often kill other livestock you want in the tank.

Second, unless you correct the underlying problems, the problem algae that gets killed will be replaced by another problem algae that the product has no effect on.

Now there may be some extreme cases where there is just no other way, and all other methods have been tried. In that case, I'd say maybe.

Also in the case of Algaefix, there is a FW and a SW product, If you have a reef, and are going to use it, make sure you get the one for SW.

 

[florida reef]

I am by no means an expert but I'll tell you what I do with my 90g. I run phosphate reactor as well as ecobak. I skim heavily and do regular water changes(as I read you do also).I would expand my cleanup crew with more snails and crabs. Also, you mentioned that you have an 8 bulb fixture, do you run all 8 bulbs for 8 1/2 hours? If so, that may be too much and besides contributing to nuisance algae growth, it may burn your corals.

 

[mgraf]

Another good thing to do is get a turkey baster, and blow as much gunk out of the pores of your live rock. Tons of uneaten food particles as well as other organic material can accumulate there. I once had a hair algae problem, but only on a few rocks. After doing this for a few days the algae just disapeared. Just a thought

 

[KARussell88]

The turkey baster thing is a good idea, I'll keep that in mind when I change my rocks formation
So just finished my water changed and ripped as much of the algae out as I could. I also moved a lot of my corals that were being overgrown down into the sand, because most of the algae is on the rocks and glass. Hopefully they all pull through as I try to take this thing down.