Rescue My Reef

[codemonkey812]

I upgraded my 75G reef tank to a 110G in February. The first few months were promising, and most of the coral was recovering nicely. Then a lost 90% of my fish unexplainable, and algae started to bloom everywhere. I am been fighting with it all summer, and losing the battle. Every time I test my water I am not seeing any Nitrates, Nitrites, or Phosphates (I have even tried two different brands of test kits). I am doing 30G water changes monthly. I have shortened my lighting schedule. I am looking for some friendly advice on what to try next.

I am starting a Vlog on my tank and hoping to make one episode weekly. Check it out here to see what I am fighting with.

For reference here is what it looked like in May.

 

[rocsec1]

That looks like typical new tank uglies. I would send your water out to be tested to get a really accurate idea of where you are. Did you transfer the rock from your old tank or get new rock? That looks like a pretty heavy bioload. Is your skimmer sized for this tank? I would change to weekly water changes so whatever is in there will be removed faster.

 

[codemonkey812]

The rock is all from my 75g and a few rocks from my 55g, nothing new. My skimmer is rated for 100G, but I have limited space in my sump.

 

[rocsec1]

The manufacturers ratings on skimmers is usually for a light bioload so might be undersized for your tank. Usually you want to size the skimmer to the bioload not to tank size.i would increase the water changes to weekly mass send the water out to be tested.

 

[cash03ins]

I would do 50% water changes weekly until you see a change then 50% bi-weekly

 

[Thekingy]

An algae scrubber will help with the algae issue. Also I would do more frequent water changes for the next month or so to see if you get any improvement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rocsec1]

Also review your light schedule.

 

[cash03ins]

Space your rocks out and up so that the water will flow around it

 

[Travenous]

Those test kits you're using only test the Nitrates and Phosphate actually freely available in the water. The algae is actively out competing your coral for those two parameters and is consuming quickly enough that you won't see it on any test kits. I've been in a similar position, and here's what worked for me: Chaeto reactor. The Chaeto reactor out competed the algae, which caused it to disappear. The reactor gives the Chaeto great flow and light that is isolated from the rest of the tank, so that algae doesn't benefit from that as well. Be warned however, that you will need to keep up with removing the chaeto as it fills the reactor and your corals still won't be happy (because they're still starving). After the algae withers, you can easily control the nutrients being consumed by the chaeto reactor by either shutting it down, or just keeping the amount of chaeto in their very small. Your corals will then be able to bounce back and flourish.