Coral Problems
- Thread starter RyanEG
- Start date
Bluephish13
New member
ah i thought it looked like the bryopsis i had sorry, or maybe i had what you do. ither way you need to find the source thats feeding that algae. if your feeding 2 cubes of frozen food a day, that alone i would imagine is enough to cause mayhem. so i would still start with your feeding habits IMO IMO. it could take months for it to be spotless, so just hang in there. once you get that po4 reactor hooked up you should see a fair amount of improvement. MPO
i heard sea hairs do not really do all that great in captivity, and you are right in thinking they are only helping to remove the algae from sight but will do nothing for removing the excess nutrients.
sry i 'm a lil bit rouge on the filter sock idea. i have went the opposite route and removed every type of sponge,sock type materials from my tank. ?? just my own thing i guess. as i do not think many people do this.
i heard sea hairs do not really do all that great in captivity, and you are right in thinking they are only helping to remove the algae from sight but will do nothing for removing the excess nutrients.
sry i 'm a lil bit rouge on the filter sock idea. i have went the opposite route and removed every type of sponge,sock type materials from my tank. ?? just my own thing i guess. as i do not think many people do this.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
yep. And this is the point where a system with lots of flow will sweep the poop up and over the overflow. The mechanical filter, skimmer, or lit fuge in sump can then deal with it instead of having it collect in the display and act as a fertilizer for algae.
It looks like you have Bryopsis, several types of Caulerpa and some Neomeris growing in there. If it makes you feel any better, even my own aquarium was smothered in problematic algae at one point. (I'll have to find a pic.) We've all been there. The algae problem in these pix isn't as bad as I thought it might be.
I like the Sea Hare suggestion. Make sure to get the right kind. I've never had much luck with the blue spot kind. Look for a big ugly one! Aplysia or Dolabella spp.
(I'll see if I can find a pic of the one I used.)
Tuxedo Urchins are a good choice, too... but nothing will eat it faster than the right kind of Sea Hare!
Manual algae removal is a good option here- but I try and avoid this option because it's a PITA.
Large Turbos would also be a good investment.
Tech M can work (IME) but it likely won't permanently solve the problem. In addition, it (Mg) can effect desirable mollusks (snails, Tridacna etc.) negatively IME. Personally, I would boost Mg with Tech M to around 1350ppm and maintain it there while loading up on snails and a large Sea Hare.
Pellet foods are (IME) a great option to keep large fishes well fed while still minimizing pollution in the aquarium.
Rowaphos is extremely expensive but one big dose can turn that green jungle brown overnight
Is the phosphate really 0.8? If so it's a killer.
Natural reef water is usually less than 0.02 ppm (40xs lower than .8);0.1 ppm is considered critically high and 0.25 ppm or more will definitely inhibit coral calcification and harm or kill them.
As Gary noted PO4 control is a necessary step. Methods include:
GFO or another absorbent. Aluminum based absorbents are cheaper but may leach back harmful aluminum.Granulated Ferric Oxide may release some iron into the tank which in small amounts is harmless although care needs to be taken to avoid blowing dust on corals as it can irritate them.
Lanthanum chloride dosing. If you follow Gary's thread on this and are careful to filter the precipitant it should work fine.
Less feeding( avoid bony foods in particular; thaw and rinse frozen foods to remove packing water) and more water changes.
Run granulated carbon and skim wet to remove organic particles before they turn into nutrients.
Once you get them down consider carbon source dosing ( vodka, vinegar sugar) after serious research on your part to maintain them. Be sure you know what you are doing with this method before trying it.
A macroaglae refugium can also help.
PS; I use my fluval 404 as a place to run granulated activated carbon and purigen but not for mechanical filtration.
Good Luck
Natural reef water is usually less than 0.02 ppm (40xs lower than .8);0.1 ppm is considered critically high and 0.25 ppm or more will definitely inhibit coral calcification and harm or kill them.
As Gary noted PO4 control is a necessary step. Methods include:
GFO or another absorbent. Aluminum based absorbents are cheaper but may leach back harmful aluminum.Granulated Ferric Oxide may release some iron into the tank which in small amounts is harmless although care needs to be taken to avoid blowing dust on corals as it can irritate them.
Lanthanum chloride dosing. If you follow Gary's thread on this and are careful to filter the precipitant it should work fine.
Less feeding( avoid bony foods in particular; thaw and rinse frozen foods to remove packing water) and more water changes.
Run granulated carbon and skim wet to remove organic particles before they turn into nutrients.
Once you get them down consider carbon source dosing ( vodka, vinegar sugar) after serious research on your part to maintain them. Be sure you know what you are doing with this method before trying it.
A macroaglae refugium can also help.
PS; I use my fluval 404 as a place to run granulated activated carbon and purigen but not for mechanical filtration.
Good Luck
Well the phos was Hanna tested at ARC I believe it was .8 but it is very possible that it was .08, Chris said that it wasnt terrible but it wasnt good either, either way with the ammount of algae I have I imagine that whatever number it is, is misleading. I have been manually removing as much as possible every week and like I said Im removeing between 1 and two pound of it, after I drain off excess water. Im sure the phos level rises after these sessions because that is when the SPS coral seemed to be at their worst, now most of them are dead unfortunately.
My next question is do you all think that it would be beneficial to use GFO in my canister filter as well as in the reactor or would that be too much reduction too fast and do more damage than good? The Rena isnt hooked up to the system now but it could be less than an hours time if its wise to do so.
I would like to thank you guys for taking the time to help me through this frustrating situation. Not a lot of people say it but its always appreciated very much!
My next question is do you all think that it would be beneficial to use GFO in my canister filter as well as in the reactor or would that be too much reduction too fast and do more damage than good? The Rena isnt hooked up to the system now but it could be less than an hours time if its wise to do so.
I would like to thank you guys for taking the time to help me through this frustrating situation. Not a lot of people say it but its always appreciated very much!
Conesus_Kid
Premium Member
If it were me, I'd just run the GFO in the reactor and cut way back on the feedings. (If you're feeding frozen, be sure to rinse it in RO water. I would cut back to frozen foods 2X per week. Pellets, as Gary mentioned, pollute much less.) These, in addition to weekly water changes, running a filtersock, and adding appropriate herbivores (if you're able), should get you back on track.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Good luck and keep us posted!
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
as previously promised
as previously promised
here's a pic of the Sea Hare I used to clean up my present reef aquarium. (I had a bad outbreak of hair algae when I set up my current aquarium... remember?) This fella was ugly and about 4" in length. Cleaned up my aquarium in a week and I gave him to someone else with greener pastures.
as previously promised
here's a pic of the Sea Hare I used to clean up my present reef aquarium. (I had a bad outbreak of hair algae when I set up my current aquarium... remember?) This fella was ugly and about 4" in length. Cleaned up my aquarium in a week and I gave him to someone else with greener pastures.
I just run gfo only in reactors. I only use the canister for carbon and purigen. I don't think the gfo would work as well in a bag in a canister as it does tumbling in a reactor. How much you use and how fast you nedd to change it depends on how much phosphate is in your tank. There is a big difference between 0.08 which is not bad at all and 0.8 which is very high.
