Ok here is the deal I have a 54 gal bow corner setup. The tank has been great for about 2 years now no problems. The about 1 month ago i took out the last of the bio balls. Everything was still kick *** no problems I was running 1 65watt actiniic and a 10k pc which where on its way out so boom I get the red algae all over covers eveything couldnt get rid of it then I buy the red slime remover and within 2 days it was all gone.. So now i go out and pick up a nice pc/mh setup with (2) 65 watt actinic and 1 10k m/h everything was great fish all doing great all my mushrooms and inverts where great within about 2 weeks of adding the lights I got this brown algae thats very dark and hairy everywhere. I do numerous water changes but nothing it wouldnt go away it got so bad my anenome dies and takes my tank out killing 2 percs,1 flame and 1 mandarin and 1 scopas tang I was away when it died and didnt get it out till it was to late . So only thing left in my tank is a cleaner shrimp and probrably 10 snails some hermit crabs and about 70lbs of live rock. No for the past 3 weeks i have been tring to get this algae stuff out to no avail. I went out and bought an r/o unit everything i can do. Its a very stringy algae that covers the substarte after about an hour and covers everything reaqlly fast my water is a murky brown color I just dont know what to do.. My nitrates,nitrie, are 0ppm my amonnia is at about 5ppm and the phosphates are at next to nothing. My skimmer pulles so much crap everyday i must get a gallon of this smelly brown mud every 3 days I have no clue how to get rid of this and its really discureging As I have so much wrapped into this can someone please help figure what this is and how to elimiate it I have pics if i could figure out how to get them up
Algae Problem Help Please
- Thread starter mu8st7ang
- Start date
DouzeCordes
New member
Maybe you should try adding a UV unit and some more desirable macro algae to compete with the bad stuff. Also, keep doing water changes. This should pass with time so long as you keep the nutrients low as well. Also I would turn up your skimmer to pull the maximum, and maybe hook a refugium up with Caulerpa or some other macro algae to take up the nutrients the bad algae is feeding off of. You can also blow and vacuum the bad algae up and out of the tank. Test your water for phosphates and silicates and do a few water changes, this should help this problem. For the corals and polyps its overgrowing use a small powerhead and direct the flow near the polyps using your hand and blow it gently off, or simply use a soft toothbrush to ease it off. Otherwise you might hurt the corals.
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You were not using ro/di and now are?
When your old water would evaporate, all the contaminates stayed behind, and built up in the tank. Your first cyano outbreak was killed off by the medication, but the contaminants/nutrients still stayed behind...except what you were able to pull out via the skimmer...
Now you are on ro/di, on your second outbreak, and nitrate spike (post anemone), and the skimmer is still working to get rid of what built up in there. I'd say a refugium would be a good idea for you---Foster-Smith has a good in-tank one that requires no piping---But you are going to have to go through a period of water changes, a lot of them, balanced against the health of the corals. I'd advise no anemones, not in a coral tank: corals can't move, but they can sting, and all-whatever breaks loose.
Water changes, carbon, a lot of skimming and dumping, and growing algae under controlled conditions, maybe polypad---the carbon and polypad only for a few days---For ordinary muck, I'd advise a polishing filter like diatom or cannister, but this isn't muck: it's a buildup of whatever malady your original water source contains, and it has to be exported the hard way. (As an example, here in Spokane, the aquifer has been contaminated by farm runoff, and the nitrate level is not good: without inquiring of your water department and asking for the list of what's in it, you don't know what's in there, but the ro/di will make your life a lot easier.) Good luck.
When your old water would evaporate, all the contaminates stayed behind, and built up in the tank. Your first cyano outbreak was killed off by the medication, but the contaminants/nutrients still stayed behind...except what you were able to pull out via the skimmer...
Now you are on ro/di, on your second outbreak, and nitrate spike (post anemone), and the skimmer is still working to get rid of what built up in there. I'd say a refugium would be a good idea for you---Foster-Smith has a good in-tank one that requires no piping---But you are going to have to go through a period of water changes, a lot of them, balanced against the health of the corals. I'd advise no anemones, not in a coral tank: corals can't move, but they can sting, and all-whatever breaks loose.
Water changes, carbon, a lot of skimming and dumping, and growing algae under controlled conditions, maybe polypad---the carbon and polypad only for a few days---For ordinary muck, I'd advise a polishing filter like diatom or cannister, but this isn't muck: it's a buildup of whatever malady your original water source contains, and it has to be exported the hard way. (As an example, here in Spokane, the aquifer has been contaminated by farm runoff, and the nitrate level is not good: without inquiring of your water department and asking for the list of what's in it, you don't know what's in there, but the ro/di will make your life a lot easier.) Good luck.
