Need Help with Algae

[droth]

I reallyneed some help here.

PROBLEM: I just got back from a two week road trip to the Grand Canyon to find two of my fish dead and a large algae problem. I was seeing the beginning of a problem before I left but it’s escalated into a larger problem. I had an experienced salt water person stop by to top off the tank and clean the glass when I was gone but my aquarium still has gone down hill. Before I left on my vacation I had a green hair algae problem and was getting a pink residue on the bottom of the tank but it wasn’t as thick as it is now.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: I’m now noticing green bubble algae forming on the live rock. The Red algae is now forming small blankets on top of the live sand. The green hair algae are attached to the live rock but mainly near the bottom of the tank. Some of the hairs are about 2 inches in length.

My water chemistry looks to be spot on (see below) so I’m at a loss to figure out why I’m having this algae problem as well as the loss of two of my fish. I was told the flame fish was good one day and dead the next day.

Water parameters
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Calcium = Don’t know
Alk = 300
PH = 8
SG = 1.022
Temperature = 77 degrees

System parameters
Tank size – 45 gallons

Lighting – Current Extreme Pro (five T5 bulbs, 2 blue & 3 white). I have the all five bulbs on from 12 noon to 7 pm and I have just the blue bulbs on from 7 pm to 10 pm and also from 7 am to 12 noon.

Power Heads – (2) Koralia 600 GPH Turbo pumps

Filtration – Aquaclear 70

Skimmer – I just purchased a Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Skimmer but haven’t installed it yet.

Amount of live rock/live sand – 53lbs live rock & 60lbs of fine sand

How long the tank has been set up? Tank has been set up since January 08, 2010.

Inhabitant listing
How long were they in the tank? I presently have the following in the tank

• Frog Spawn Coral, purchased on January 31, 2010 & doing well
• Bubble Coral, purchased on January 31, 2010 & doing well
• Purple Mushroom Coral, purchased on January 31, 2010 & doing well
• Brain Coral, purchased on February 11, 2010 & doing well
• Pink Tipped Coral, purchased on February 11, 2010 & doing well
• Coral Banded Shrimp, purchased on February 11, 2010 & doing well
• Flame Angle Fish, purchased on February 11, 2010 & past away last week
• 3 Chromis, purchased on February 19, 2010 & two doing well one dead
• 10 small Hermit crabs, purchased on January 31, 2010 & doing well can’t tell if there all alive
• 10 small snails, purchased on January 31, 2010 & I do see several shells in the sand, seems like some are dead
• 2 Mexican Turbo Snails, purchased on February 20, 2010 & doing well

I have also seen a Bristol worm in the tank. It’s reddish in color, about 3” long and looks similar to a caterpillar


Was the animal eating at the LFS? I did see the Flame angle nipping at the corals once but other than that I didn’t notice.

 

[Bifferwine]

You are having this algae problem because your tank is brand new. All new tanks go through a normal algae cycle -- it usually starts with diatoms, then moves to red slime algae, then progresses to bubble and hair algae. It will usually take several months to the first year or so to get all the algae under control.

Your tank has not been set up long enough to have all those animals in it. You should wait at least a month before adding your first animal. After that, add one fish at a time, with 3 weeks in between each addition.

What kind of water are you using? If you are using tap water, that will really make a great breeding ground for algae. Also food. If you use flake or pellet foods, they normally contain preservatives which fuel algae. You should only use frozen foods.

 

[VAreef]

Are you using dip strips to test your water? I would question those parameters. With fish dying in the tank and algae growing I find it hard to believe you have zero Nitrates. The red algae sounds like red slime algae. How many and how often have you changed your water? Algae feeds off Nitrates, phosphates, and light. Sounds like you need to do some water changes and some new test equipment.

 

[parrotchute]

All the advice above is excellent. Pictures would definitely help.
More contributing factors will be your low pH and slightly low salinity. The tank is exploding in algae because the natural filtration capacity of the tank hasn't grown large enough, and you've partially exceeded it with all those animals so quickly.

 

[droth]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I have always used RO water. I think you're right I must be going to fast. I did get my live rock from a friend and it had already been cycled and had nice color to it right from the beginning.

I have been using strips to text my water and pellets as food along with frozen coral cubes (see below).

Food: New Life Spectrum, Pellets and H2O Life Coral Food Mix. I'm only feeding every second day.

Test Strips: Fresh & Salt Quick Dip Strips for Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, Chlorine, Alkalinity, PH

Test Strips: Jungle Fish Care, Quick Dip Ammonia Strips

 

[droth]

I'll stop purchasing animals and start doing 25% water changes every week for a while.

How do you recommend I clean the tank?

Should I suck up the red algae from the bottom and Hair algae from the rocks when I do my water changes?

 

[Bifferwine]

You should get a turkey baster. Suck up as much of the algae as you can. The hair algae will probably be easier to remove by hand, just grab it and pluck it.

 

[droth]

Thanks Bifferwine, I have a baster I was using to clean the live rocks once in a while. I appreciate the advice.

 

[VAreef]

Test Strips: Fresh & Salt Quick Dip Strips for Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, Chlorine, Alkalinity, PH

Test Strips: Jungle Fish Care, Quick Dip Ammonia Strips

Test strips are horribly inaccurate and sometimes just plain don't work. Get a Salifert or API saltwater test kit. It takes longer to test your water but with much more accurate results.

 

[Bifferwine]

No problem! We all go through that awful algae phase at one point or another. It's beatable, but it's frustrating :(

 

[droth]

VAreef I'll check into those text kits at my local aquarium supplier.

David

 

[andysgirl8800]

In the meantime, you may also want to reduce your total lighting schedule. For the tougher hair algae, you can use a new toothbrush. If you have any rocks without corals on them, you can remove them from the tank and scrub off in buckets of saltwater. Hair algae releases spores when you disturb it and if you're skimmer isn't hooked up yet, there is nothing preventing those spores from growing new algae in other places. During your water change, siphon out as much of it as you can.

 

[droth]

At this point I would hate to dismantle my live rock in order to clean off the hair algae. I'll try cutting back on the lighting time a little bit, sucking out as much of the algae I can during frequent water changes and get my skimmer operating. Hopefully after a week or two I'll see some improvement.

Can anyone tell me the minimal amount of time I need to have my T5 lights on without harming the corals?

David

 

[bjohanson1234]

What you can do to help is what is called a "Black out"

Do a water change pulling out as much algae as you can.

Turn the lights out and if you can, cover the glass of the tank with newspaper or a sheet to block as much light as possible.

After a three days, do another waterchange removing as much algae as you can.

After a total of one week, do another water change removing as much algea as you can.

Turn your lights back on for an hour and every day, increase it by 15-30 minutes. You dont want to shock your corals by giving them too much light.

You do the waterchanges to take out the nutrients from the dead algae. If you didnt, the algae will return after you turn the lights back on.

Run your skimmer through out the process so it can remove dead algea.

Your corals should be fine. In nature, there are storms and hurricanes that can block the sun almost completely for weeks at a time.

 

[droth]

That's different, do I leave the newspaper or sheet on the glass for the entire three days without using my lights?

Tanks for the advice.

David :Cheers:

 

[bjohanson1234]

Yup. The complete darkness will kill off the algae but the corals are able to store enough energy to survive.

It wont get rid of the algae completely, but it will kill off enough to make it more managable. I have done it and so have a few other people on the site.

Ultimatley though, you need to find tha cause of the algae. SInce this is a new tank, I will wager that it is just going too fast. But too much feedings can cause nutrients to rise also.

 

[andysgirl8800]

Droth, Sorry for your troubles. It may be a long read, but I did post a thread about battling a bad algae outbreak. It may have some information that can help you.
https://www.livingreefs.com/great-algae-genocide-war-2010-a-t24202.html