What am I missing

[Schad7]

Please help if you can.

I have a 75 gallon tank. Its been up and running for about 14 months now. A 35 gallon sump, reef octopus 150 skimmer, GFO & Carbon reactor. 2 koralia 1050 circulation pumps, sicce 3.0 return pump and a maxspect 300w light. All is controlled on apex. I use a 5 stage RO/DI with 0 TDS

PH: Apex
Ammonia: API
Nitrite: API
Nitrate: API
Phos: Hanna
Calcium: Red Sea previously/ Switched to Salifert
KH: Red Sea previously/ Switched to Salifert
Mag: Red Sea previously/ Switched to Salifert

stock list
2 clown
4 black axil chromis
2 firefish
1 diamond goby
5 nassarius snail
5 large turbos
20? tronchus
20 or so small hermit crabs, most of the hermits are in the refugium.

I have had a continuing problem with hair algae that I cant seem to get under control and cynobacteria. It has really been a major issue just hasn't gone away.

I started to get in to dosing about a month ago. I was using a red sea test kit and the BRS ca alk and mag kit. I was getting very weird numbers with the red sea test kits. I was thinking it was user error so I would check them again and get the same numbers. I would add a set amount of mag for instance and then get a lower reading a couple hours later. I couldnt trust them so I got a set of salifert test kits and am very glad I did. I can no see direct results after dosing! In the time between initially dosing and getting the salifert test, I stopped all dosing since I didnt believe where my levels were at. Once I got the salifert I found my levels to be pretty low. Calcium was at 330, KH was at 7.0 and mag was at 660
I did my first dosing manually and found all levels in check with slowly raising the level according to BRS calculator.

Two weeks ago I decided to add a silicone tubing on my drain and my return just to make things easier to move around. I know I cleaned the one tube but now looking back I am questioning if I did both of them.

Again checked all the levels and everything seemed just fine.

Monday morning I got to work and found out I was going to be gone all week and just had to let the apex do its thing. While I was gone I noticed my PH was higher than normal. Normal has been 8.1 in the morning and 8.3ish at the peak of the light cycle. By high it was 8.3 in the morning and 8.48 at the end of the day. Nothing alarming but just out of the norm.

I came home yesterday to find my SPS totally dead. 2 Favia is 95% gone, 2 hammers are 90% gone, GSP is still kicking but not full. 2 acans that Im not sure whats going on. The cyno has been on steroids this week and is everywhere. Its not covering and pieces of coral just all over the rocks.
So Again I just went through all the tests again and can find nothing obvious

PH: 8.35
Ammonia:0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Phos: 0.0
Mag: 1050
KH: 7.7
Ca: 300

While I was gone I ordered 2 MP40s and a bubble magnus doser. I was planning on playing with new toys today not trying to chase unknown demons. Sorry for the long winded post but theres everything I feel may be relevant. Thanks for the help

 

[kgeig001]

None of the fish you have do anything for your tank but look pretty and poop feed the corals. I would get rid of two chromis and replace with a lawnmower blenny. Also, your cleanup crew is pretty much doing nothing for your hair algae. The large turbos will help as long as the algae is manageable. If it's very thick and long, they will probably avoid it. You need to remove your rocks, scrub them down and then get a lot of those hermits back in your main tank...they do eat algae. Once the algae on the rocks is cleaned up, let your cleanup crew work for you. You may have to replace the GFO every two or three days for a few weeks to get the phosphates down. Measure the affluent coming out of the reactor (not the tank) to see how fast it's getting used up. When it gets under control, stay on top of regular water changes, don't overfeed and don't overstock. good luck.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Schad7]

So I went to do another water change today and noticed a mass directly under my return line in the sump. I was able to free it and pick it up. I would say it was 2" across. White in color and very jelly like. I put it in a pail to try and get a picture. When it hit the bucket it split wide open and unleased an odor that would gag a maggot. I have since been trying to search of a picture of what I saw and cant seem to find anything under marshmallow blob. Anyone have any idea what this could be? I would assume the two are related in someway

 

[Reef Frog]

Your coral issues could be explained by the calcium & magnesium levels. I once let my drop (but not as low as yours) and my favias & a few other corals were not happy about that.

What about the alkalinity? With those levels I suspect that salinity could be off as well. Are you using a calibrated refractometer?

 

[firefly73]

sounds like a bacterial ball to me. yuk.

while n03 p04 etc are all zero its very doubtful they are.... gha and surface algae would be grabbing the n03 before you can read it.

cyano would prob be getting the p04 and n03.

cyano typically shows husbandry and flow issues

gha as stated is a cuc issue and husbandry. all reef tanks should have a rabbit and lawnmower blennys etc they keeping eating algae poop it out so the skimmer has a good chance of removing the solids BEFORE they break down and pollute adding to the fuel for algae growth but if they do the fish then continue to eat the algae poop it out and you get another chance and on and on.

skimmer getting good skimmate? should be dark brown to blackish( not jet black as it goes off so to speak clean the skimmer bowl!!!!)

substrate depth? too deep kills off the live rock and hydrogen sulfate builds up. VERY TOXIC. CHECK FOR BLACK BOTTOMED ROCKS FROM THE SAND LEVEL DOWN.

no issue with a dkh of 7.7 aslong as thats stable
ca300 very low 400
mg 1050 very low 1300

you maybe getting precipitation affecting the tank chem.

raise mg to 1300 from 1050 to 1300 should be fine in 1 hit but advise over 24hrs in smaller doses.

then raise ca to 350 then later 400

how is your coraline growth?
+1 on kgeig001 post

 

[firefly73]

as a after thought are you running that max 300 at MAX depending on your tank thats prob too much par for lps. could be fueling the algae growth as well

 

[gallegos]

Your cal and mag are wayyyyy to low. What's your alk? This is where your problem is

 

[bshow24]

Your cal and mag are wayyyyy to low. What's your alk? This is where your problem is

Said Alk was at 7.7

I would personally assume the corals were hurt by the lack of consistency in parameters. Get them back up to "normal" levels slowly, as most have mentioned, and then get your doser online to maintain consistency.

The cyano should go away with you adding more flow to with the MP40s. Most of the time cyano forms when there are too many nutrients and dead spots, at least for me. I had a battle for a while but it all disappeared when I added a Maxspect Gyre to the tank. Hair algae, technically the turbos SHOULD handle it, but make sure you maintain your GFO and are changing it out as needed. Pull some algae by hand when you can and see if you can limit the growth/get the turbos to eat the stuff!

Looks like you have a "soft" restart in front of you though, but hey you live and you learn, you're ready for the next steps with your tank!