WHAT is going on here?? (pictures)

[tmb22]

I've been getting tired of looking at disgusting brown spots on the sand bed (along with one weird dark red spot), and general green-ness of the whole aquarium.
I would think the cycling would be done by now, since it's been established with live rock for about three months.

I usually clean the glass, but haven't been lately because I had a burst of baby copepods that are occupying the glass, and I don't want to kill them by swiping
at the glass with a sponge. I thought I'd post some pictures of my problematic areas, and see what you guys think.

Also I have a green star polyp that is now curling in it's tentacles.. I'm not sure why. I did a water change yesterday and I rose the salinity slightly. Could that
be why?

One more thing, my turbo snails were spawning last night, so the water quality can't be too awful... Here are my water parameters:

pH 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Calcium 400 ppm
Carbonate Hardness 160 ppm
Phosphate .25 ppm

All the fish are currently in Hypo due to a blue tang with ich.

 

[Jacuzzi]

Its diatoms and and the red is cyano, both very normal to have during a cycle so dont worry. Try to vaccuum as much of it as you can and keep up with the water changes and it will go away over time. You may want to also increase the flow in the tank as that also contributes to these types of algae. Not sure about the GSP but someone else should chime in on that. Good Luck

 

[Jarret]

Your phosphate is high which is likely one of the issues for the cause of the algae. Your rock is smothered in it! But I'm sure you know that

Where did you get your rock from? Looks like some of it was dead while a few others may have been live rock. Depending upon where you got your rock from it could be leeching phosphates.

Did you notice a spike in the ammonia/nitrite before this?

 

[coultkr]

I just see the one snail - what size is your tank and what does your clean up crew consist of?

 

[wrott]

You could have PO4 leaching out of the LR, what is your SG? WCs and lights out for 3 days will help, along w/ GFO and carbon, of coarse. Red Slime remover works to break-up and oxidize the organics.
The GSP will be hard to kill, check SG.

 

[tmb22]

Your phosphate is high which is likely one of the issues for the cause of the algae. Your rock is smothered in it! But I'm sure you know that

Where did you get your rock from? Looks like some of it was dead while a few others may have been live rock. Depending upon where you got your rock from it could be leeching phosphates.

Did you notice a spike in the ammonia/nitrite before this?

I just see the one snail - what size is your tank and what does your clean up crew consist of?

You could have PO4 leaching out of the LR, what is your SG? WCs and lights out for 3 days will help, along w/ GFO and carbon, of coarse. Red Slime remover works to break-up and oxidize the organics.
The GSP will be hard to kill, check SG.

Thanks for all the help. I got my LR from a place called http://www.aquacon.com/ I sure hope it's all still alive. If not, the rocks that are alive will seed the ones that aren't, correct? I didn't notice any ammonia or nitrite spikes before this. The green algae and cyano has been going on for at least 2 weeks. All levels have been pretty steady.

I have 5 turbo snails and like 7 astrea snails. My tank is 55 gallons with a sump that has about 20 gallons of water in it. I also have a cleaner skunk shrimp.

My specific gravity is about 1.024 right now. It was about 1.028 for a day, but I fixed that tonight. I'm going to do lights out for three days, but what are WCs? I have carbon running through a fluval 405 canister filter, and I think I should definitely look into some GFO. Perhaps just running through the fluval 405 as well.

Thanks for all the help so far and any more would be great as well

 

[HanoverFist]

WC = Water Change

The purpose is to remove the phosphates, nitrates, etc with the water and replace with some "pure" saltwater. This dilutes the concentration of phosphates, nitrates, etc - in comparison to what they were before the WC. Think of it as manual filtration of bad chemicals.

 

[serpentman]

Thanks for all the help. I got my LR from a place called http://www.aquacon.com/ I sure hope it's all still alive. If not, the rocks that are alive will seed the ones that aren't, correct? I didn't notice any ammonia or nitrite spikes before this. The green algae and cyano has been going on for at least 2 weeks. All levels have been pretty steady.

I have 5 turbo snails and like 7 astrea snails. My tank is 55 gallons with a sump that has about 20 gallons of water in it. I also have a cleaner skunk shrimp.

My specific gravity is about 1.024 right now. It was about 1.028 for a day, but I fixed that tonight. I'm going to do lights out for three days, but what are WCs? I have carbon running through a fluval 405 canister filter, and I think I should definitely look into some GFO. Perhaps just running through the fluval 405 as well.

Thanks for all the help so far and any more would be great as well

Yes, live rock will seed "dead" rock. Although it's still alive in a bacteria sense, new LR is littered with die off and decaying detritus that will release nutrients. The algae blooms you are experiencing are normal. Be prepared because a hair algae bloom is likely to follow. I would definitely consider running GFO and be patient as it will abate in time.

Here's an example. I just set up another tank in my office. Here it is cycling:

And 6 weeks later:

 

[Korrine]

I'd look into getting Dual BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...ter-bags/dual-brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html

I won't set up another tank w/out it!!


Dude here's mine at it's worst

 

[TampaReefer79]

What fish do you have in QT besides the blue tang? I don't know if you know this or not, but a 55 gallon is way too small for a blue tang.

 

[tmb22]

WC = Water Change

The purpose is to remove the phosphates, nitrates, etc with the water and replace with some "pure" saltwater. This dilutes the concentration of phosphates, nitrates, etc - in comparison to what they were before the WC. Think of it as manual filtration of bad chemicals.

Oh haha, I'm familiar with the water change and what it does. I had just never seen it abbreviated with WC before haha.

serpentman, that is crazy how it comes and goes so fast! Thanks for the pics of your tank. It looks great, btw.

I'd look into gettingDual BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...n-reactor.html

I won't set up another tank w/out it!!


Dude here's mine at it's worst

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely order that reactor asap. I'll probly just take off the fluval 405 and use it for a freshwater tank or something. Maybe just run a sponge in it. Who knows. Your tank looked about as bad as mine! I'm glad it's just a cycle and will go away in a little while.

What fish do you have in QT besides the blue tang? I don't know if you know this or not, but a 55 gallon is way too small for a blue tang.

I've got the blue tang, two clowns, and a blue damsel in the QT right now. I've heard it's not ideal to keep a blue tang in a 55. But I've seen them in much smaller tanks living for years and years. I think he'll be just fine.

One more question. When I get my GFO and carbon reactor, how often should I switch the carbon and GFO out for new stuff? I'm not a big fan of recurring costs... but unfortunately recurring costs are part of the hobby.

 

[GrendelPrime76]

the 1 thing i didnt see mentioned is what type of water are you using? if its tap water algae could be feeding off the gunk from the tap

 

[Korrine]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php

 

[tmb22]

the 1 thing i didnt see mentioned is what type of water are you using? if its tap water algae could be feeding off the gunk from the tap

I'm using RO/DI water from the stage 5 plus from Bulk Reef Supply. I'm glad I learned about that one early on.

Thanks for the link Korrine. Very informative. Looks like GFO is pretty much a necessity for our tanks if we want the best environment for our fish and corals.

 

[TampaReefer79]

I've heard it's not ideal to keep a blue tang in a 55. But I've seen them in much smaller tanks living for years and years. I think he'll be just fine.

You already knew the tank was too small but you're going to do it anyway. Saying that other people do it so that makes it ok is not good reasoning. I'm not trying to bash you, just trying to help you out. I went down this same 'tang road' when I came into the hobby years ago. You're not starting out the right way...

 

[TripleT]

I'd trade the tang, do more frequent water changes, and be patient.

As the tank matures problems like this will start to subside.

Also note that properly feeding a blue tang in a 55 will make it harder to maintain water quality.

 

[IAReefer]

I think people need to focus on his issue with his cycle, not start up the whole "great tang debate". I agree with other, use GFO, carbon and give it some time, it will clear up.

 

[TampaReefer79]

I think people need to focus on his issue with his cycle, not start up the whole "great tang debate". I agree with other, use GFO, carbon and give it some time, it will clear up.

We ARE focusing on his issue with the cycle. The fact that the cycle isn't over is even more reason that a tang should not be in there. It also sounds as if the tang was already in the tank, and taken out due to ich to treat. As mentioned, overfeeding the tang in a small tank will lead to nutrient issues as well. Especially if your skimmer isn't adequate and water changes aren't done large enough often enough.

 

[reefsurfing]

increase your flow and add some cheato to your sump incase you have PO4 and thats just a normal cycle stage. I would avoid any big water changes as this will just lengthen the time of your cycle since you would be removing the bacteria that are a normal part of a cycle.

 

[Dingo44]

It's all about nutrient in <= nutrient out. It's good you're hoping on this early, if not, your tank may look like this:

Your comment is not wanted~dc