New Algae Phase???

so.......I MIIIIIIGHT be able to squeeze this baby in under my stand. Gosh, it's getting crowded in there! Have to get a maxijet to feul it.

Yote, I will work on increasing the overall flow. I already had 2 spare K1s, which I know isn't much at all, but better than nothing. I placed them a lot lower in the tank to hit some slower spots. Have a line on some K4s on CL that I'm looking at.
 
Update:
I am on day 2 of lights out in my tank. I have not done a total blackout, as in, throw a blanket over it to block out ambient light. The diatoms in the sand have not changed at all, neither more, nor less. I have noticed the appearance of dinos (:shock:) on my glass and on my cords which suggests that I have it elsewhere in the tank too.....AGAIN. The algae on my rocks has not deminished noticibly, but it is only day 2. My algae scrubber is getting CAKED in brown sludge only 2 days after its last cleaning. My skimmer if foaming madly. My tank looks so terrible right now! :cry: I am still waiting for my GFO/carbon reactor in the mail. Here are my latest parameters:

Nitrite...........0ppm
PH...............8.2ppm
Phosphate....0-0.25ppm (very hard to read on the color card)
Nitrate..........20ppm
Ammonia......0ppm

My hippo tang is currently in QT because she broke out in ich for more than a week and didn't seem to be getting better on her own. I really don't want to put her back in the DT, especially since I now have dinos, and she is the hardest darn fish to catch. But she will not fare well for much longer in the itty bitty 10g QT. I already lost a beautiful foxface to dino poisoning 2 months ago. And my super cool railway goby also took a trip down the Porcelain John Express 4 days ago, I suspect because of eating the dinos in the sand and off the rocks. :grumble::grumble::grumble:

Here is what I haven't done yet and am considering......
  • adding in a UV sterilizer
  • removing the DSB from my fuge and replacing with either live rock rubble or bio balls
  • adding more live rock to the DT
  • dumping in a :pooh:-load of cleaners (although at this point, it may be a waste of money since I can't keep any of the little buggers ALIVE!)
  • increasing my flow from 2 K3s and 2 K1s by adding 4 K4s and a split (Y) loc line from my return pump to increase surface tension
  • use and regulate with buffers
  • start using a refractometer instead of my hydrometer to confirm quality salinity levels
  • do even more frequent small water changes
  • replacing all my MH lights since they are over a year old by now
I am also considering dumping every living thing (inverts, corals, and fishies) into a bare glass (no meds) 55g QT (another $300) and completely disassembling the DT to scrub (or even boil) all the LR, clean the glass, replace the sand entirely, etc etc etc. :frustrat::frustrat:

I really don't want to do this, as I am afraid I might make things even worse. Sometimes I wish there was a Dr. Phil for aquariums!!! I could use an 800-FIXMYTANK number to call and get more advice from. A house call would be even better.

I really am trying to be patient and wait this out, but it's very disappointing and depressing when things in my tank are dying :death: and everything looks so sad and brown and ugly. I am willing to admit that its all my fault thus far for the early NOOB mistakes that I made, but when will it stop?

Would I be better off starting it all over again?? Should I just sell my fish, re-cure all my rock, dump the sand, dump the water, soak all my equipment in vinegar, and wait out another 8-week cycle? Or, do I spend another $500 on additional equipment that MIGHT make this go away? :HELP!: :bowdown:
 
You know, I totally feel for you. You sound exactly like I sounded when my 240 was overrun by majano and kenya weeds. They had killed off all my corals and I HATED my tank. I was in your shoes last summer.

Do you think that trying more things is going to stress you out more? Or will it be a giant relief to dump those rocks into a giant pot of boiling water?

Boiling live rock and starting the tank all over again should be a last resort. But if you're miserable with your tank (which it sounds like you are), doing so could start you off with a tank you love!

First off, you know you will have to do some of the things you listed anyways. Like getting new bulbs. Using old bulbs is a good way to create algae problems no matter what the state of your tank is. You are aware of the mistakes you made setting up this tank, so you are smart enough not to repeat them. You know you will have to buy a refractometer, because hydrometers suck and if you want to do a tank right, you need to use a refractometer.

I say go for it. You will feel SO GOOD boiling all that rock!

You will need to buy some plastic tubs for your livestock. Save as many corals, fish and CUC as you can. You will have to buy some new live rock from your LFS to seed your existing rock, since it will be dead rock if you kill it off.

I've seen your posts here... You seem to be having so many problems. This is not the way the hobby is supposed to be. Please don't think that your current tank is representative of what most of us go through -- we all experience algae, but very few of us experience what you are describing!

Maybe if you start over, it will give you a fresh look at the hobby, and it will be what you need to start liking your tank again.

It's something to think about. I ended up boiling all my rock and I am SO GLAD I DID. There was no way I could have continued having a tank in the state that it was in. My tank now, 6 months later, is the total opposite of what it was 6 months ago. And I had to start all over to get it that way.
 
Biff, you are so encouraging, and I really appreciate it. I think, as a precursor to your suggestion, I will try one more hail mary pass. I am planning a 12-day total black out period. Just before I start, I will connect my dual carbon/GFO reactor. After day 4, 8 and 12, I'll do a 30% WC. During this time, I'll be repainting my light fixture reflector to a brighter white and replacing my MH bulbs and cleaning all my equipment, and increasing the tank flow with more powerheads. After the lights out, I'll be increasing my cleaner crew, which has been dying off over the last several months. If...after all this....I am right back where I started, then I will take your suggestion, and start all over again.
 
Your CUC are dying off probably because they are eating the dinoflagellates (which are toxic to them). I'd try to eliminate the dinos first, or else any CUC you add will probably still die from eating it :(
 
Well, I had a dino outbreak as a result of new lights (went from dim t5's to super bright LED lighting and it fueled an outbreak). You said your pH was at 8.6 before, but now it is 8.2. Def work it back towards 8.6, dinos hate high pH.

What worked for me was lights out for a week, except for about an hour every day to wake the fish up and feed them lightly. After 3 days I did a 20% water change. My skimmer foamed like crazy - I think it was from the dying dinos without light. Keep up the blackout, after about a week, I was dino free.

Good luck, don't give up!
 
Couple more comments:
A bigger water change less often is more effective than small water changes more often because there is a larger overall turnover and greater waste removal. (20%/2 weeks > 10%/week)

I suggest reef buffer 8.4 if you're having issues keeping you pH stable. I add some in every water change I do, ad it's done wonders keeping my pH stable.
 
From their experiences, it sounds like your plan would work :) Might be worth a try since you're giving it one more shot before starting over. Keep us posted. Everyones' experiences here add up.
 
I'm really crossing my fingers on this one. Thanks Parrotchute, I read your other post and wanted to know if you've had long term success.
 
Hang in there andysgirl. We have all had major set backs in this hobby. I think it must be fate testing us to see if we really want to stay in the hobby. It weeds out the weak ones that way. Don't give up it will get better. We are all here for support.
 
You have no idea how close I came to pouring a gallon of bleach in my tank when I was fighting Dinos.I was that fed up with it.
Check your calcium and alkalinity levels.Some types of Dinos actually feed on the calcium and carbonate,which makes them even harder to get rid of.
I also didnt do any water changes while the tank was blacked out.Every water change I did,just made em that much worse.
 
I'm conflicted about the water change. Won't the (hopefully) dying algae bring ammonia into my tank? And if I con't change the water, won't it just be chock full of all those nutrients that I am trying to get rid of??
 
When I was coping with it, some sources said changing the water fueled it while others said it exported the nutrients it was feeding on. I let as much of it die off from lack of light, and at the end of the no light cycle I did the change. A caveat, however, my dino blight was kicked off by new bright lights so they may have just gone away like a normal algae cycle and everything I did was just for show
 
Do a big water change right before you turn the lights back on.
The day I turned my lights back on,after 14 days of a blacked out tank.I did a 90% water change.
I normally would NOT do that big a water change,was I was at my last straw and was going do or die.
 
I have a very low fish count at the moment, mostly because I don't want to add, and lose, another fish until this crap is cleaned up! I just ordered my phosban/carbon dual reactor today. Should get it in 2 days. I've decided that I will start a new thread to chronicle the things that led to my tank in its present state, and to keep a log of the things I am doing (starting next week) to try to get rid of it. Hopefully, it will help others avoid my mistakes and can read what worked, or didn't work for me.
 

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