need help - corals not doing well and lots of algae

[mrosenx]

hello, i have a 40g innovative marine fusion tank. had it for 5 years. have 3 fish in it who are apprently doing fine plus a peppermint shrimp. most of my corals, some which i have had for years are very small or completely shrivelled up. they used to be big and healthy. some are "white" and they used to be green when healthy, i tested my water including for phosphates and pet shop tested it and all apparently fine. I also have a ton of green algae on the rocks. never been a problem before. have not changed lights - i have LED's. Temp is in 76-80 range. I just bought 4 turbo snails to eat some of the algae and I think 3 of them died within 24 hours which has never happened before. I have a protein skimmer and do a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks and also clean the sponge filters in saltwater. I have a bag of chemi-pure elite in the tank which i change every 3 months.

I am so frustrated I am close to giving up. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions before i throw the tank out the window? Any help appreciated

 

[dtapke]

before throwing the tank out the window, may i suggest sending it to me?

what are the rest of your water parameters? alk, ph, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia etc.

whats the TDS coming out of your RO/DI before mixing your fresh saltwater?

 

[mcgyvr]

As stated please actually post the test results..
"Fine" to you may not be fine to me..

What kind of algae? Hair/film? pictures would be helpful..
Did this all of a sudden happen or has this been gradually over weeks/months,etc...

Calm the frustration and feed us with TONS of details/information.. The more information the better chance you have at receiving anything more than a total wild guess..

 

[mrosenx]

thanks for getting back to me. i might give it to you since I get more pain than joy from the hobby at this point!

i am at work so don't know the parameters but did my own test 10 days ago with the standard API dropper test and all was fine.....i also took water sample to LFS and they said it was all good too.

i don't know what TDS is. I buy RODI and salt water from local aquarium shop.

Next?

 

[mrosenx]

here are some pics. i'd say this was happening gradually over the past 6-8 weeks

Why do you think 3 of 4 snails died within 24 hours of being in tank? Is that a clue?

i have to go home and re-measure to give real parameters. When i compared the results to the little coloured cards, everything was in recommended range, but will redo and post

 

[Ccoffel81]

Need to know ph, phosphate, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrate just as a start


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[mrosenx]

parameters

parameters

ok. here are my readings:

calcium was 500 mg/L (ppm)
alkalinity is 2.45 meq/L
KH was 8 dkH

see attached photos for other readings.....ammonia, nitrate, phosphate....

please tell me what to do now? i don't have any other stuff to test....

 

[rvareef]

Need to know ph

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not so much, others you listed are more useful

 

[rvareef]

post a full tank shot, a picture of lights, filtration etc, api tests are not always the best, how often do you feed and what, what fish do you have, tell me more about your sponge filters

 

[Ccoffel81]

post a full tank shot, a picture of lights, filtration etc, api tests are not always the best, how often do you feed and what, what fish do you have, tell me more about your sponge filters

Yes now let's look at light schedule/intensity of lights and filtration


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[Ccoffel81]

Could be phosphate leaching from the rock.


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[mrosenx]

post a full tank shot, a picture of lights, filtration etc, api tests are not always the best, how often do you feed and what, what fish do you have, tell me more about your sponge filters

i have a maxspect Razor. i have attached pic of light settings....

pic of sponges attached

pic of whole tank. it looks like crap right now cuz i took all the rock out and scrubbed the algae off.

I was thinking of leaving it all in a bucket in the dark for a few (in saltwater) days to kill off all the algae. good idea or bad?

 

[mrosenx]

i have 3 fish.....one clown, one damsel and one striped tang.

I feed 1/3 of a cube of mysis frozen shrimp once a day in the AM

 

[mrosenx]

Could be phosphate leaching from the rock.


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so what do i do about that and wouldn't the phosphate test higher?

 

[Ccoffel81]

so what do i do about that and wouldn't the phosphate test higher?

Algae could be using up what leaches out daily. Did you cure live rock, was it introduced to a high ammonia content at one time? Many variables. One way to see is make a couple of gallons of saltwater in a bucket take out some rock and cover for a few days and then test for phosphate.


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[Ccoffel81]

How much live rock? With 40 gallons minimum 40 lbs.


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[Ccoffel81]

Cut back on food. Might sound bad I barely feed my reef fish, maybe once a week. Do 1/3 cube a day. Put more rock and flow should help out.


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[Joe0813]

What's your mag level... Usually if my tank has a lower mag level I start getting turf algae

 

[kiMxD]

Don't give up, sometimes it might be a very silly thing that you do that is causing that.
I'd suggest you to get (at BRS) the Triton test kit ($49.00) and send to their lab, this will help you to find out what's in your water. It's an expensive test but at this point, is worth it.

Good luck!

 

[kiMxD]

Also, I would not rely on API test kits, I've always used Red Sea or Nyos. Have you tested your water for Nitrite(No2)? I didn't see in previous posts any results for that, please let us know.