tank woes continued

[lumpy]

75 gallon tank.

So previously I posted about a cyano problem and got a couple peices of feedback. Too much light (lfs told me this)
Too much food
Too many fish.

I reduced my light so that my white bulbs were running for about 3 hours a day. Actinics are running nearly 12.

I reduced feeding to every other day. Probably still too much.

I added a full pack of snails from reef cleaners.

Increased my pump capacity on my protein skimmer (put in a bubble master)

Decreased the amount of fish in my tank too:

yellow tang
six line wrasse
2 clowns
a goby

When I brought in the fish I traded in I had my lfs run water tests for me to double check my own readings.

Salinity was .025
no nitrates
no nitrites
no ammonia
calcium was where it was supposed to be (dont remember the number right now)
Phosphates were high (no supprise) this was using an electronic test. They didnt show up on the drip test for me at all.

I'm still having cyano issues but more importantly most of my corals have died or are shrinking back. I noticed that some of them appeared to be shrinking back and then I noticed that the cyano would grow in the extra space. It didn't look like the cyano was the culprit to me.

Any idea of other things I can look for. I raised the amount of light back up after the die off but no luck.

I'm using RODI water that I run in my basement.

I'm thinking I may not have enough flow as when I use a turkey baster to blow off the cyano from the rock I get a mist of white dust with it. Although I am running 2 khoralia powerheads. I'd have to double check their specs to tell you what size they are.

Any thoughts or suggestions cause at the moment I'm feeling cursed and I've lost a fair amount of money I cant afford to replace. Plus I'm starting to see die back on a 200 dollar coral.

 

[tritan]

How much flow and turnover from the sump do you have currently in the tank? What gph are the korelias and return pump?

Also you say that white debris is coming off when you try to baste the rock? How old is this tank and did you wash off the rock before placing it in the tank?

As for the lighting you may want to cut it back even more to somewhere around 8-10 hours of running time and adjust it accordingly after you get things under control. What kind of bulbs and lighting system is it?

 

[d2mini]

Where did your rock come from?

 

[lumpy]

I'm lucky enough to have 3 lfs's within about 30 minutes of my house. I got some rock from each. No new rock has been introduced in 8 months to a year though.

 

[lumpy]

unfortunatly due to calcifying algae I can no longer tell. I think the Power heads where khoralia 5s. I have no idea what my sump return is other than that it was something the guy at the lfs suggested. when I was first setting up the system.

 

[SarahSmile]

Do you have a protein skimmer? When was your last saltwater water change on the tank? What lights do you have?

 

[lumpy]

yep I'm running a skimmer. its a bubble master pump in a custom made skimmer. I do salt water changes once a week when I also top off the system about 8 gallons to 12 gallons.

I'm running a 6 T5 bulb light fixture with 2 whites and Red bulb on the white side and 2 actinics and a UV bulb on the blue side.

 

[kbuser92]

That red bulb is probably some of the problem.

 

[lumpy]

Red Bulbs hurt corals?

 

[d2mini]

It's either excess nutrients, excess light or both. These are the causes of cyanobacteria (red slime algae). But I think nutrients is more common.

Have you tried lights out for a few days to see if that helps at all?
I would try that first. But i know you severely cut back already.

I would also try upping your water changes. Do at least a 20% change a few times per week for a few weeks. See if that helps any.

Phosphates are high (but how high?) so you need to get that under control regardless.
I have heard of success at eradicating red slime by employing an algae scrubber.
This may be good for you to do regardless. Will help keep phosphates in check.

How is your protein skimmer skimming? Well? Not so well? Dry or wet? They say you'll pull more junk by skimming on the wet side. Just watch your salinity levels.

 

[lumpy]

I havent tried lights out. I think he said phosphates were around double what they should be.

I know that would cause the cyano but wouldnt the cyano and the corals be flourishing? Dont both use phosphates?

 

[ErinCahir]

No. Phosphates hurt corals.

 

[lumpy]

oh I see.

 

[lumpy]

ok so best way to reduce phosphates quickly while I work on the longer term sollution?

 

[ErinCahir]

I think there are chemicals you can add to bring them down, but water changes are really your best bet.

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

+1 Erin. Water Changes are your friends. The lights out for three days did nothing for me when I had it. But, manually removing it (most of it), then adding the red slime remover (the chemical), waiting three days, and then doing a huge water change helped wonders. Best of luck!

 

[lilmatty5dimes]

Agreed with Anthony. When I had my 150 the best thing I had to do was blast the rock with a turkey baster and then siphon out all the red slime with each water change. Red slime remover is suppose to be a good product. Good luck