Algae and nitrate issues

[mcowan]

I have a 55g saltwater tank with the following:

1 chalk bass
2 clowns
1 coral beauty
1 canarytop wrasse
1 cleaner shrimp
5 nassarius snails, 5 hermit crabs, and 2 astrea snails

Ive had the fish for a few months now (it was running over the summer without fish) and I have been battling issues with ich - all of them have had specks come and go except the clowns. They're all swimming fine and eating. I KNOW everyone says to quarantine by I honestly do NOT feel that I am experienced enough to quarantine properly, so I've been trying to keep their water clean instead.

Which brings me to my main question: just checked and my nitrates are over 80ppm, plus I've had this problem with brown algae covering everything (can't figure out if it's diatoms or Cyanobacteria). How can I improve my water quality?

Here's some more info:
I don't think I'm overfeeding - they only get a sliver of a block of brine shrimp plus a few flakes of food once a day. I give them garlic guard with it sinc I was told it can help with the ich. Hardly any food makes it to the bottom.
I just installed a powerhead and a new protein skimmer last week (the old one wasn't that great) and I have a hang on back filter and a bunch of live rock.
I do a 10% water change every week. Question about that - should I vacuum the substrate? It's crushed coral. I have been removing the live rock for 5 min while I vacuum since there is so much fish waste it's unbelievable that such small things could make that much. I blame the coral beauty since he's eating algae all day (and you would think that would cut down on the algae bloom!)

I wonder if the light I have is too bright? It's on for 8-10 hours each day.

 

[Rover88]

Retest your nitrates.

If you really have 80+ ppm in nitrates you /need/ to do large water changes.

Either your tests are funky, or you have to do a much larger water change. Your nitrates ideally should be near zero, or at least below 5ppm. Do you use RO/DI water? Or tap water?

 

[mcowan]

Here's a photo

 

[mcowan]

Here's a photo

 

[mcowan]

I use tap water

 

[mcowan]

I might be reading the test wrong. I'm supposed to press it against the white correct? It's bright orange (API test). Even if I am not supposed to press it against the white it would be at least 40 ppm. It's been that way for a few days now. The tap water is 0 ppm since I tested that too.

Thanks should I just be doing more water changes then? And not vacuuming the substrate?

 

[Rover88]

If your nitrate is that high it needs to come down. API test kits however aren't known for their 'precise' accuracy I use the same ones. I'm not sure what has yours so high, but the only way to really lower it, at least quickly, is large water changes. Essentially diluting out the bad.

 

[mcowan]

Also I forgot to mention ammonia and nitrite are both 0

 

[mcowan]

OK thanks is it ok to not have the salt water age 24 hours? I don't have enough water premade to do a big water change.

 

[rockhead51]

Why are you:
-using tap water and not RODI? That could be bringing in a ton of nastiness right there.
-"removing" the LR to clean? Everytime you pull LR out of the water it is going to lose some bacteria. Dead bacteria = dead stuff decaying plus less ability to handle dead stuff decaying.

Also what kind of filtration do you have? Sponge filters are notorious nitrate factories....

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[mcowan]

I'm doing those things because I'm a beginner which is why I'm looking for advice. I don't know what RODI is. Thanks.

 

[Chris918]

RODI water is reverse osmosis deionization water. It usually means using a system like the BRS 4 stage or 6 stage system. This cleans water with a membrane, sediment filter, carbon blocks and di resin. This system will take nitrates, silicates, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine, chloramine, etc. out of your water. All of these things are undesirable and lead to lots of algae and nutrient issues in a tank. For example my tap water has almost 300 ppm of TDS (total dissolved solids=bad). After my RODI I have 0 ppm. While not possible for every reefer to afford, it will be the best investment you can possibly make for any saltwater aquarium. Many hobbyists won't start a saltwater tank without it nowadays.

 

[WLachnit]

Even for your size tank, an RODI system is an investment that will pay off. I agree with previous post that I wouldn't start tank without one.


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[rockhead51]

Yeah. Sorry, man. Didn't mean to come across like I was ridiculing you.
So water. Like the other poster said, you can pick up an RO or RODI system and save some cash over the long run (you'll have to buy salt, and equipment to mix your own- like a plastic trash can and a power head you can put in there) over doing what I do, which is buy saltwater at my local fish store (LFS). Around a buck a gallon- cheaper in some places, and sometimes they'll let you "prebuy" a quantity and pick it up as needed. You'll still need some RODI for things like topping off your tank when water evaporates (the minerals like salt don't evaporate, so you top off with fresh water).

Rocks-. Best bet to get your aquascape set up like you like, and then leave it alone. Not just to keep the bacteria healthy, but to keep your fish less stressed out.

Another tip on cleaning- I "blow out" my sand almost daily. Using a thing like a turkey baster, but smaller (probably called a coral feeder at an LFS), I shoot a stream of water down into my sand an various spots around the tank. Do it from too high, and you just create a sandstorm, but do it right, and you'll see detrius being pushed up out of the sand. Then your filtration can take care of a lot of it.

Hope that helped a bit.

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[tjm9331]

Yup first thing to do is either get yourself an RODI unit or find a LFS that sells water then do a large water change to get as much of the tap water out.

How long has the tank been running? if it's fairly new then the brown algae will go away over time. All new tanks go through the ugly stages brown algae, hair algae, cyano and these will go away as the tank matures.

First thing I would definitely start with though is swapping out your tap water with RODI water.

It's ok to be new to the hobby, you're doing the right thing by coming here looking for help. We're always happy to give a helping hand to those looking for it.