Need Advice - Thinking About Starting Over

[Patrick Cox]

Well I thought I would give a quick update. After dialing back the flow of my zeovit reactor, I started reducing the bacteria and carbon dosing. I have really about stopped both. I am ready to dial the reactor back a bit more and then I will turn it off. I am hoping to simplify my tank.

I have also been staying on top of lightly scrubbing my rock every few days. It's really pretty easy. I normally clean my glass every few days and now at the same time I am using a toothbrush to scrub different areas of the rock as needed. But I am not removing any rock.

I also added a few more snails.

Here are a few pictures from today.

I do have a question. I am planning to eventually add a small tang to my tank like a Kole or Yellow and then also maybe a one spot fox face. That is probably all of the fish I will add. My question is, when should I do so? I want to make sure my tank is ready to support more fish but I am not sure how to tell when I have reached that time.

Thanks!

 

[joshky]

Patrick it does look like your algae is where the dead barnacles are, which would make sense and just means your tank is going through a biological cycle. Lots of good advice so far, I don't think you should start over at all.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Patrick it does look like your algae is where the dead barnacles are, which would make sense and just means your tank is going through a biological cycle. Lots of good advice so far, I don't think you should start over at all.

Wow Josh, that's a great point! I had not even thought about that but that rock in the front that has the largest amount of algae growing on it was simply covered in tunicate and sponge that has all since died off. I guess maybe that is what is driving the algae growth.

Here is a good picture that shows how much growth was on this rock when I first started the tank...

That makes me feel better! Thanks!

BTW, how is your tank doing? Have you dealt with anything similar with your rock?

 

[joshky]

Yeah my rock is going through a biological cycle itself, lots of die off and algae growth in certain areas. Unfortunately a lot of my algae is bryopsis, a lingering pest from before my tank reboot. I added a scribbled rabbitfish recently in hopes that it might take a liking to it, it's only been a few days but I think I might've seen it nip at it so hopefully it'll help me out haha. Otherwise my tank is doing fine, fish and corals are happy and I'm happy. Just patiently waiting for things to grow and help shift eyes away from my shortcomings (bryopisis ).

 

[Myka]

Wow, that's a lot of die-off from that rock! Did you beef up your CUC yet? I think the tank is looking better. I don't see any reason why you couldn't add a fish or two.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Wow, that's a lot of die-off from that rock! Did you beef up your CUC yet? I think the tank is looking better. I don't see any reason why you couldn't add a fish or two.

Yes it is a lot. I can see now why I have algae growth. And especially on that rock. Also I did add more snails. I may add some more next time I am in the shop.

Thanks.

 

[cpllongjk]

Honestly, IMO, the tank is very new and the algae is just part of the maturity process. I would just keep trucking along.

The first six months you can expect to go through stuff like this all the time.

My tank is 4 months old now since cycle. I've had diatoms, hair algae, and now cyano.

The cyano is believe is related to my T5 bulbs. But, I haven't changed anything and they come and go in stages.

I would just keep trucking along and don't get discouraged. I, personally, would add fish that eat algae. A tang is a great option. Lawnmower blenny. Basically, any fish that will eat algae. It's free food.

I agree with this post. In the past I have done the same as you and pulled the rock scrubbing it, all it did was make the problem worse or make it take more time to fix the problem.

This time all I did was run a bit of GFO here and there and it went away eventually. Once the tank matures the algae will subside over time. Feed your fish on a slight diet until it goes away then you can figure out your feeding schedule to make them fat, happy, and healthy.

I've run zeovit in the past and honestly I didn't like it because once you get to zero nutrients you have to add back to the tank to get the colors you want. In my current setup non-zeovit. I have near-zero without gfo, carbon dosing, or a refugium. The tank is just naturally holding stable as long as I don't overfeed. Thats where my auto feeder comes in. I occasionally feed manually but I let the autofeeder do most of the work.

 

[cpllongjk]

Yes it is a lot. I can see now why I have algae growth. And especially on that rock. Also I did add more snails. I may add some more next time I am in the shop.

Thanks.

One thing to remember is when the algae starts to die... start pulling some of your snails or they will die and put the nutrients back in the tank!

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, I thought I would report back. Over the past few weeks I have reduced the flow and then finally turned off my Zeovit reactor and I have also stopped dosing any Zeovit products. This is a bit of a relief for me really as this is one less thing I need to worry about keeping track of.

I also added a Kole Tang and a One Spot Foxface and really my tank has not looked better than it does today. I certainly made a dent in the algae before adding the fish but those two fish have polished off all remaining algae. And they are good eaters as well. It only took a couple of days to get them to eat Nori and they also love Spirulina Brine Shrimp. What I am not sure of now though is how much I should feed them. I want to keep them healthy but also not overfeed.

Right now just 9% weekly water changes and running my skimmer are doing the trick. Now I plan to add a few more LPS corals.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

Here are pictures from yesterday...

 

[OllieNZ]

That's a pristine looking tank Good on you for sticking with it.

 

[Patrick Cox]

That's a pristine looking tank Good on you for sticking with it.

Thanks! I'm happy with the progress I am making. Now I just need to keep it going.

 

[reefmutt]

Patrick, the tanks looks much better.
From the latest photos you posted, your foxface looks really, really thin.
If I were you, I'd get some nori in there and keep replacing it until you see his gut really fill out.
He also looks low on muscle mass, so I think you should be on the generous side for a few weeks, at least..

 

[Patrick Cox]

Patrick, the tanks looks much better.
From the latest photos you posted, your foxface looks really, really thin.
If I were you, I'd get some nori in there and keep replacing it until you see his gut really fill out.
He also looks low on muscle mass, so I think you should be on the generous side for a few weeks, at least..

Thanks for the heads up. I'll make sure I feed generously for awhile.

 

[Myka]

Woohoo! Look at that! Well done!

As long as you have a top quality skimmer, good flow, a good clean up crew - overfeeding isn't as much of an issue as many people think. Imo though, "overfeeding" means "feeding more than the system can handle" which I define as the system has high water column nutrient levels and/or nuisance algae. Tweaking/improving the above listed things can allow your system to handle more food. I push the limits - I walk the fine line of overfeeding as I find SPS corals are happiest this way; lots of food in, lots of food out, low water column nutrients. So as long as you're not seeing a build up of nutrients in the water column and no nuisance algae you can increase the food. If you start to see nutrients or algae then see what you can tweak, and if that doesn't help, reduce feeding.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Hi all,
I thought i would provide another update. My tank is doing really well. I have my SPS corals back mounted on the rock and most are really thriving. I did end up losing a couple but I am replacing with some new frags from Battle Corals next week. Those are the corals that have done best in my tank.

I posted the update in my original build thread. You can find the post here...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24806555&postcount=64

Thanks for everyone's support!

 

[Myka]

Excellent! Good job! Thanks for updating.