Tank mates living not thriving

OK so my tank was doing awsome about a week and a half ago everything seemed to be doing fine. But all the sudden I have this either brown alge blume or dimatoms all over my tank. I did put in a cleaning crew from reefcleaners about a week ago, and everything that I put in as soon as I put it in were moving all around the tank. Now all the sudden they seemed to just stop moving around. Here are my water test results (with new kits that I got last night)

Temp- 81.0F
NO3- 1.5 ppm
Cal- 400 ppm
KH- 7 dKH or 2.5 meg/L
PO4- 0.08ppm
Mg- 1600ppm
Sal- 1.028ppm
PH- 8.2

I have a few questions, it seems that my NO3 is alittle high which might explain my little growth of hair alge but is 1.5ppm really too high. Also my Mg seems to be high could this affect anything. I know before anyone says it that my Sal is high, could this be the cause of anything? Also final question would only water changes fix these problems? Thanks for the help

 

It seems to me your water temp is a little high... Have you changed feeding habits? Now that she sun is in a different place is it hitting the tank? What kind of lights.. how old are the bulbs? ... now... you added a CUC about the same time... so... are some of those guys dead? You do need a water change, IMO...soon. Do you have plenty of live rock? Are you using a filter or sump or refuge or all the above.. what? These are some of the things more experienced reefers are going to want to know.

 

I have not changed feeding habits twice a week (mitus and placton stuff) for my coral as I only have coral and no fish. The tank is in my room in the basement and there is no sunlight down there that at all. I have a six bulbe T5 unit with moonlight leds, its 324 watts. Lights were bought and put on tank 1month 2 weeks and 2 days ago and are brand new. None of my CUC is dead. My water change is going to be today keeping with my two week 10% scheadule. I have 55lbs of live rock and am running a skimmer with is rated for 3 times my tank size. I have no sump at the moment but I think for christmas my gf is getting me one. Anything else that would be helpful as I document everything everyday to the T that goes on with my tank.

 

what sized tank?

 

The tank I have now is 55g

 

Someone with more experience will help you soon.

...my take.. you have no fish...you added animal life.. so I'm thinking your NO3 spike is a result and will balance as the bacteria get caught up in the live rock. In the mean time the algae bloom is a result of the NO3 & you did not mention NO2 which I assume is also in a spike....

Now as other more experienced reefers chime in we will see if I have learned anything.

 

Thanks for the help

 

I'm guessing its a combo between high salinity and slightly high temp. It could also just be that the snails moved around and ate their fill and now are resting. My snails always seem to go through times of a lot of activity and then days of very little activity (or else they are active at night when the lights are off).

For your salinity, are you topping off iwth RO water or saltwater? To bring your salinity down in a 55g, I would take out about 1/2 to 1 gallon a day and replace with RO/DI water (not salt water). Do this once a day until your salinity is back down to 1.025/6. You don't want to drop your salinity more than .001 per day, so just make sure you check it daily (with a refractometer - if you are using a hydrometer, then I'd ask your LFS to double check your salinity with a refractometer before you mess with it as hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate).

For temp, are there fluxuations during the day, or is it always around 81? If its always at 81 then that likely isn't an issue, though you can turn your heater down a few degrees if you want. If there are fluxuations, then that could be caused by heat from your lights (what type of lights do you have and how far off the water are they?), or poor air exchange (do you have a glass top or hood on your tank?). You can aim a fan to blow across the surface of your tank to promote evaporation and cooling, or can aim your powerheads more towards the surface to get a better ripple (if you don't have that already). While 81 is a little high, its not deadly, and temp fluxuations are more problematic than a steady 81.

Finally, did you test your ammonia/nitrites? I'm guessing they are zero, but since you didn't post them I wanted to make sure!

 

I always top off with RO water, and I always check with a refractometer. Temp fluctuates alittle but not too much 79.9 and then it gets to 81 with the lights on. The lights right now are sitting about 7 maybe 9 inches from the top of the tank. I have no lid or top on my tank. My powerheads are angled at the surface and I have a pretty good ripple going on. I have a 6 T5 setup at about 324 watts, 3 blue altinic and 3 white. I did not test ammonia and nitrites last night, I still have the old api test kits for that. I will test thoes today and do a water change tonight.

 

Then I wouldn't worry about your temp. A 1 degree fluxuation isn't a big deal and your set up sounds quite good in terms of your light fixture, ripple across the water, and no top!

Honestly, my bet is that your snails are more active at night and resting during the day. Inevitably you will have some die off in CUC over time (it just happens, and isn't something you need to worry about in terms of removing them, etc). If you have hermit crabs in your tank, they may start murdering snails for their shells, at which point you might need to add more snails or remove the hermits, or both! I started with a huge CUC order when my tank was relatively new. My tank doesn't get much algae growth, and over time my CUC has dwindled quite a bit (I used to have snails on the glass all the time, and now I hardly ever see them on the glass). But the ones I have in the tank now seem to be just the right amount to keep things clean. I had some die off because they starved to death, but those who have remained keep my tank clean and are thriving.

At this point I'd just bring your salinity back down, and not worry about the rest.

One other thing, if you are getting phosphate readings, I would try to eliminate the source of the phosphates (usually food is the culprit - overfeeding, or feeding foods that are high in phosphates). That is likely what is feeding your hair algae. You can try putting some chaeto in your sump (if you have one) - as long as it gets good flow and strong lighting, it should pull phosphates and nitrates out of your water.

Good luck!

 

Thanks fastrd400. I will do the 20 gal watter change usually I do a 10 gal watter change every two weeks. With the fish, I know there are only two types of fish that I would really like to have in the tank a flame angle and a pair of clowns, but as for other fish any suggestions about fish that would help with the alge and work well with the other two? My photo period is 8hrs with the blue and white on and an hr before and after with just the blue on. As for FishyReef I only feed my coral twice a week sometimes once a week depending, so I dont think I am over feeding them. Thanks for all the tips, it just seems things are alittle out of wack and things just dont look that colorful.

 

You may be surprised how much frequent water changes improves your tank quality. Be aware that flame angels are prone to nip at corals and clam mantles.

 

A clown pair is great to start with in terms of fish (as long as its not a maroon clown pair - then it should be a late addition). If you know you want clowns, then why not start with them? You can always add more to your list as you go, knowing the flame angel will likely be your final addition. Some other nice additions for a 55g would be a midas or starry blenny, small wrasse, chromis, watchman goby or goby/pistol shrimp pair, royal gramma or dottyback, and many others!