Newbie Desperately Needs Help

P

PJ44

New member
Hi, I'm new to reef/marine keeping and seem to have hit a brick wall, which is frustrating the life out of me. My tank, (275 litre/60gallons Aqua One) was started off in July 2016 and it was early September before I added any livestock. In conjunction I'm running a C7 Bubble Magus Skimmer and lighting is provided by the Ocean Revive Arctic T247 unit.

All seemed okay, then the dreaded brown algae started. In seeking advice from my local fish store I was told that this was part n parcel of the brown algae cycle that every new marine setup goes through and that it was just a case of riding it out. Thing is, it's now January and I'm still trying to ride out the storm. Regular water tests by my fish store indicate that the water & salinity are all fine. Hence before Christmas having exhausted all other options they suggested it could be the lighting, (a unit that they have never heard off) but more alarming was their concern with the unit having red & green LEDs.

Anyway, in following their advice I scrubbed the algae from my glass and thoroughly vacuumed the sand before turning the lights off completely over the Christmas holiday. Result, the tank remained spotless and so I decided to turn the lights on this week. Channel 1 (blues) set at 40% Channel 2 (whites) at 30%. (CH1 comes on at 10am until 9pm, CH2 runs from noon until 7.30pm.) In addition to this I covered the red & green LEDs with gaffa tape. Lo and behold, today just 5 days in and the algae is coming back, hence I've turned the lights off and am back to square one.

Can anyone please help? Not only is this so frustrating, but it's also hindering me from adding corals until the lights are sorted out. Incidentally the light unit is positioned 11" above the tank.

Thanks
 
How long are your lights on for?

You need to get numbers from your tests kits. 'Water is fine' doesnt mean much in this hobby. My guess is nitrates or phosphates through the roof.

He is right in the sense that dyno/cyano is typical in the beginning stage of saltwater tanks.
 
Things we need to know more about

1. Water Circulation
2. Nutrient test results
3. water change routine and water source
4. Feeding and amounts of food
5. type of light..

Each one above is equally important in Diatom and other algae Control..

New Tanks do often go thru a cycle of diatoms but if its taking hold of your system you need to not RIDE IT OUT You need to take a Proactive stand..

My Opinion..
 
Pictures would help too. If your doing water changes they could be working against you. Is your water change Rodi? I have some brown algae too but I'm using it to export whatever it is feeding on. No water change unless my testing is telling me that it is needed.


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Thank you for the replies, the water tests are carried out by my regular fish store and there have never been any issues. In total I've done 2 water changes on their advice. However, I do suffer high evaporation and usually go through 50 litres of RO water about every 16 days. All water is purchased from the same fish store, whereby they carry out the tests.

I have a 200 micron filter sock in place, which I rinse out on a weekly basis due to it overflowing, likewise I clean the head on my protein skimmer about every ten days or so.

The lights, Ocean Revive T247 LED unit is approximately 11-12 inches above the water level and since turning them back on I have them running from 10am in the morning until 9pm at night, 11 hours in total. Two hours of blue, seven & a half hours combined (blue & white) the one & a half hours blue. The blue lights are set at 40% intensity, whites at 30% intensity.

The sump water is and always has been free from any algae or any sludge and is crystal clear.

Having followed the advice of the fish store prior to Christmas, cleaned the tank, water change and turned the lights off, the tank showed no signs of algae. It's only since I've turned them back on over the last 5 days that I've noticed the algae gradually coming back. Hence, I've turned the lights back off. Just feels like everything is pointing towards the lights.

The wave maker is set at max, except over night when I put it on night settings and is completely off during feeding, it has a 10 minute timer.

The fish are fed once daily with frozen food, which is supplied by the same store. I mix the feed with a little tank water, allow it to defrost then pour it in. They usually have a cube of brine shrimp or chopped cockle accompanied by half a cube of krill or seaweed.

I'll try posting some photos tomorrow.

Thanks, I really appreciate your help and advice.
 
A couple suggestions that might help. I change my sock out daily to add in manual removal and skim wet probably 1/4 to 1/2 a cup over a 24 HR period. These can aid in the removal of it. The frozen food can also be strained (I use a small metal strainer but there is all kinds of diy ones) which can help not adding extra nutrients which may be during it. I'm sure others while chime in with more helpful suggestions. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
PJ44 said:
Thank you for the replies, the water tests are carried out by my regular fish store and there have never been any issues. In total I've done 2 water changes on their advice. However, I do suffer high evaporation and usually go through 50 litres of RO water about every 16 days. All water is purchased from the same fish store, whereby they carry out the tests.

I have a 200 micron filter sock in place, which I rinse out on a weekly basis due to it overflowing, likewise I clean the head on my protein skimmer about every ten days or so.

The lights, Ocean Revive T247 LED unit is approximately 11-12 inches above the water level and since turning them back on I have them running from 10am in the morning until 9pm at night, 11 hours in total. Two hours of blue, seven & a half hours combined (blue & white) the one & a half hours blue. The blue lights are set at 40% intensity, whites at 30% intensity.

The sump water is and always has been free from any algae or any sludge and is crystal clear.

Having followed the advice of the fish store prior to Christmas, cleaned the tank, water change and turned the lights off, the tank showed no signs of algae. It's only since I've turned them back on over the last 5 days that I've noticed the algae gradually coming back. Hence, I've turned the lights back off. Just feels like everything is pointing towards the lights.

The wave maker is set at max, except over night when I put it on night settings and is completely off during feeding, it has a 10 minute timer.

The fish are fed once daily with frozen food, which is supplied by the same store. I mix the feed with a little tank water, allow it to defrost then pour it in. They usually have a cube of brine shrimp or chopped cockle accompanied by half a cube of krill or seaweed.

I'll try posting some photos tomorrow.

Thanks, I really appreciate your help and advice.
Click to expand...




The above tells the issues..

200 micron filter socks over flowing . Nutrient FACTORY..
The amount of food you are feeding...

HOW are you cleaning the filter socks?
You are WAY over feeding.. When i used those cubes i would use 1/3 of a cube and strain all the liquid off .. put only meaty bits into the tank..

My Suggestions (without knowing nutrient test ) SO Guessing

1. Lower Light levels and length of light cycled
2. Reduce feeding and method
---- Use two disposable cups that fit inside each other Punch tiny holes in the bottom of one of them. You only need like 6 or 8 holes in the lowest point of the cup.. Put a inch of tank water in the cup with no holes put the cup with holes inside the water. then put the frozen food in there to though..
Feed the fish the meaty bits only and toss that nutrient ridden water out..
3. Change those filter socks for a higher Micron count for every day running and change them out Daily until you the algae gone. Run the low micron socks when you do water changes and clean up the tank.. then go back to higher micon number..
4.Double up on water changes..
5. keep your skimmer tuned and skim just a bit wet so you need to empty it maybe twice a week ...

You may be in a situation where you will need to vacuum the sand bed, But give the above a while and see if its enough..
If you do Clean the sand bed do so with water changes and only do a small area each week..

MY ADVICE for what its worth...

We have all been there .

ONE MORE THING.. The Algae is a Symptom NOT THE Issue.. This what is missing from the equation..


Good Luck



ONE MORE THING.. Other then feeding.. and i do not even do so then.. I WOULD KEEP THE WAVE PUMPS GOING 24/7 THE SAME.. and be sure nothing is setting into the sand bed ...
 
ericarenee said:
The above tells the issues..

200 micron filter socks over flowing . Nutrient FACTORY..
The amount of food you are feeding...

HOW are you cleaning the filter socks?
You are WAY over feeding.. When i used those cubes i would use 1/3 of a cube and strain all the liquid off .. put only meaty bits into the tank..

My Suggestions (without knowing nutrient test ) SO Guessing

1. Lower Light levels and length of light cycled
2. Reduce feeding and method
---- Use two disposable cups that fit inside each other Punch tiny holes in the bottom of one of them. You only need like 6 or 8 holes in the lowest point of the cup.. Put a inch of tank water in the cup with no holes put the cup with holes inside the water. then put the frozen food in there to though..
Feed the fish the meaty bits only and toss that nutrient ridden water out..
3. Change those filter socks for a higher Micron count for every day running and change them out Daily until you the algae gone. Run the low micron socks when you do water changes and clean up the tank.. then go back to higher micon number..
4.Double up on water changes..
5. keep your skimmer tuned and skim just a bit wet so you need to empty it maybe twice a week ...

You may be in a situation where you will need to vacuum the sand bed, But give the above a while and see if its enough..
If you do Clean the sand bed do so with water changes and only do a small area each week..

MY ADVICE for what its worth...

We have all been there .

ONE MORE THING.. The Algae is a Symptom NOT THE Issue.. This what is missing from the equation..


Good Luck



ONE MORE THING.. Other then feeding.. and i do not even do so then.. I WOULD KEEP THE WAVE PUMPS GOING 24/7 THE SAME.. and be sure nothing is setting into the sand bed ...
Click to expand...

listen to this guy
 
I agree with all the above. I don't think that having the lfs test your water is a good long term solution for somebody trying to set up a reef tank. Get yourself some test kits and learn how to use them. The first thing is to research what to test for and why. That is why everybody is asking for actual reading of what you test for. That gives people a whole lot of information about not only the water parameters ,but also what you're likely overlooking. Since it's a relatively new tank it's likely that the lfs is only testing for very basic parameters which would completely overlook something such as overfeeding and phosphate issues. Pics would also be very beneficial here. What you see as algae somebody else might quickly see as something completely different. The one thing that really jumps out at me is that a 200 micron sock is clogged and overflowing. Something is really off about that. It takes quit a bit of gunk to clog up a 200 micron sock. Personally I would loose the sock or change it daily. Anything else would be somewhat dependent on water test results and pics of the situation.
 
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