Cycles

[Paul B]

Yes I know I posted something about cycles a while ago (maybe years) but I am going to do it again. I need to get my mind back on fish stuff.
Anyway, after a great many years looking at this stuff I noticed that things, mostly things perceived as bad, come in cycles.
I really don't know why but I would like to put it up for discussion.
If your tank is only a few years old, you will not notice this but after a decade or more it becomes noticable and not just a little. My reef has gone through more cycles than I can count, now it is in a clean cycle. I don't remember when the last time this happened but my rocks are very clean.
This does not seem unusual but taking into consideration that some of them have been in there over 35 years it seems wierd, unnatural and unhealthy to me.
The tank is also going through a mushroom coral phase, they are multiplying all over the place and the hard corals are declining. I have noticed this many times. Sometimes the soft corals like leathers, colts and star polyps take over and grow out of control. Sometimes it is gorgonians. It seems they all can't grow together. I am sure it is the chemicals they exude and apparently skimming and ozone does not remove them fast enough or even at all.
These cycles can last a few years but these events are not just barely noticable, they are very noticable. All of the hard corals, mostly LPSs in my tank shrink to the point that they disappear while the softies grow immensely.
Hair algae is another one. That stuff can grow all over the place for a few months, then disappear, not to be seen again for a few years. No, phosphates, nitrates and Myley Cyrus does not give you a hair algae cycle. I know that that is the current wisdom but it is wrong.
Every tank with fish and corals has the capacity to grow hair algae. It grows mostly in new tanks which are the cleanest. Fish eat, they poop and they exude slime, our corals have algae growing in their tissues. Excess nitrates will let algae grow nice and thick but the stuff can grow with almost no nitrates. My nitrates now read 2ppm which is plenty to grow algae but I have none.
Here is a picture of my tank in the 80s (I think) see how it was covered in hair algae

The stuff goes away on it's own. You can throw rabbitfish, snails, blue legged, red legged green legged, no legged, bow legged or peg legged crabs in there with sea hares and yes, eventually it will go away. It would have gone away anyway but I know most people don't believe that and those sea hares need a home anyway.
After the algae dies for whatever reason, it will probably stay away for a few years but just when you least expect it, Wow, hair algae.
Why? I don't know.
Cyanobacteria does the same thing. That stuff can cover a tank quickly and it is not an algae so it may take longer to leave, if ever. I always have some of it under my gravel. I find it kind of colorful, as long as it stays there.
So now I am in a delema but I have huge soft corals. I know enough to stay away from LPS corals at this time as they will not prosper. I also know it is the time to buy some mushroom type corals because there is no way they can die at this time.
Pretty soon this guy which is about 13" will take over the tank and I have found a few more of them that I did not buy so they must have came from this giant.

I don't know where I am going with this but this hobby is not cut and dry. All is not what it seems and our test kits will give us no incite as to what may happen. As for now "luck" is the only thing we can assume will get us through these cycles, at least until someone figures out how to eliminate these chemicals which I feel come from corals in their effort to thrive while eliminating competition. We need a way totest for these things, if these things actually exist or maybe they are only a figment of my imagination.:crazy1:

See this red stuff from last year? No it is not cyano, this is what I strive for. A healthy coating of short algae. This stuff is from the Long Island Sound

 

[GMaquarium]

I know just what you mean.

I only have one aquarium that is well over 10 years without being completely redone. All others have at one point or another been broken down and restarted from scratch. But in this one tank I have gone from very deep sand bed, to not so deep and from a mixed reef to softies lagoon. At one point I was trying to do an Atlantic Caribbean theme, gave up on that. Had lots of battles with many types of algae and some pests. Gone skimmerless, to an oversized skimmer only to go back to an undersize one and now back to an other one. Changed lights from VHO, to MH to low output T5 and now to HO T5. Have the same pair of clowns in it for the last 9 or so years, a PJ cardinal from day one, a mandarine and a coris wrasse for 7-8 years. Right now I am slowly switching it to an anemone tank. Added a handful of nems and will let them split and grow out. Little by little will remove some of the other corals to make room for all the tentacles. The tank has only been drained once a little over two years ago when we had to move. Rest of the time its only been the partial water changes.

The most rewarding thing about a reef is the appreciation for time and recycle. There are some dead corals that have been over grown with live. Watching the tank morph into different habitats over time is very rewarding. I think a lesson that some folks might want to take from this is don't rush into breaking the tank down and redoing everything if something goes wrong. Its natural to have some sort of die-off or pest problems, crashes are not uncommon. But to learn from that and to move forward with the same setup is key.

I think it is this lesson that we all have learned from Paul B. The guy who managed to keep the same tank longer than I have been alive. Without upgrading to a giant tank or downsizing to a nano. For that I thank you, Paul you have inspired me more times thank you could even imagine. And people thought I was crazy when I had whisky and beer bottles in my tank with green star polyps growing on them.

 

[Paul B]

I think a lesson that some folks might want to take from this is don't rush into breaking the tank down and redoing everything if something goes wrong. Its natural to have some sort of die-off or pest problems, crashes are not uncommon. But to learn from that and to move forward with the same setup is key.

Thats it, now how come I couldn't say that in three sentences.

And people thought I was crazy when I had whisky and beer bottles in my tank with green star polyps growing on them.

You put bottles in your tank? Thats disquesting :wavehand:

There are some dead corals that have been over grown with live.

That is also a coincidence, just yesterday I noticed on one of my bottles (that GMaguarium made me put in my tank) had this growth on it. I have cement all over the bottle so I never noticed it but there is a hard coral that has grown from nothing on this bottle which is about 3/4" long. I have no other corals like it and I never noticed it before. I almost had to gag myself with a spoon, thats how excited I got (well maybe not that much) when I noticed it. I don't remember how long that bottle has been in there but it was always in the back and I never paid any attention to it.:dance:

For that I thank you, Paul you have inspired me more times thank you could even imagine.

GMaquarium: Thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me on here. I think you are giving me much too much credit because there are many nicer tanks than mine on here but I thank you Sir.

 

[GMaquarium]

not just bottles. I recycled all my cheezy decorations and ornaments from freshwater tanks in the reefs. There is nothing like a castle, bridge or lighthouse covered by an encrusting coral. Had a friend with a foot tall plastic statue of liberty with a real torch coral in her hand. When it comes to bottles, I will admit... honestly with a bit of geek shame. I have actually gone to garage sales and antique shops in search of old glass bottles to put in my tanks.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I have definitely noticed the mushroom phases in mixed reefs. I am trying to avoid mixed reefs as of lately.

Also, my uncle has had unbeatable hair algae in his tank for roughly 8 years. So it isn't always just a "cycle," but I am sure it is some of the time. (It isn't my tank, so please don't criticize about being unable to kill hair algae for 8 years.)

 

[Paul B]

my uncle has had unbeatable hair algae in his tank for roughly 8 years. So it isn't always just a "cycle,

You are correct, 8 years is not a cycle but to break the cycle (in his case) the hair algae would have needed to be manually pulled out. What is happening in your uncle's tank is he is allowing the hair algae to die, there by adding the nutrients back into his system. If I add plant fertilizer to my tank I will also keep having hair algae.
I am talking about a properly maintained tank which is not overfed or overstocked.
In these type of tanks, cycles happen if they are old enough. You can grow mangrove forests in a tank if you want to feed them.

(It isn't my tank, so please don't criticize about being unable to kill hair algae for 8 years.)

I try not to criticize anyone except Waterkeeper.

I recycled all my cheezy decorations and ornaments from freshwater tanks in the reefs.

One of the most unusual tanks I have ever seen was a fresh water tank in the largest store in NY, "Aquarium Stock Company" It was a huge tank and there was an entire antique toilet bowl in there along with a sink and a bunch of cast iron pipes. It sounds wierd but it was great. I think that is what inspired me to put trash in my tank.
I have a rule to only put life size things in my reef. If I wanted to add a sunken ship. I would use a porthole or propeller from a real ship. If I wanted a diver, I would put in a real SCUBA fin or regulator. I have found old rusty SCUBA knifes which I almost added a few times. If I want a lobster trap, I would get a real trap, cut a corner of it off and add that along with the real rope that went with it. Natural is the way to go.
Of course youneed to make some modifications so you don't poison everything, thats why I don't have a 1955 Oldsmobile transmission in my tank. :eek1: