About to give up.

[Those2clowns]

I have had my IM 25 lagoon set up for about 11 months and the tank has had its highs and lows. The tank was doing absolutely fantastic for about 4 or 5 months and then I got lazy because of some stuff with my work.(I worked at a fish store and all I did was clean tanks for 2 years. I guess it’s true you shouldn’t mix work with play) Long story short my tank has fallen into a very long nutrient deprivation. Sitting at about .03 as of today when I tested it with my low range Hanna checker. The strangest thing is that the corals still grow and come out everyday, even SPS. I just can’t get rid of this green turf algae and I’m about to tear down my tank because it’s been going on for a solid 3 months. Just want any advice that could help me. My phosphate was also sitting at .01 or so, it was barely detectable. Thank you!

 

[jcdeng]

try fluconazole.

 

[Mxracer65]

I have had my IM 25 lagoon set up for about 11 months and the tank has had its highs and lows. The tank was doing absolutely fantastic for about 4 or 5 months and then I got lazy because of some stuff with my work.(I worked at a fish store and all I did was clean tanks for 2 years. I guess it’s true you shouldn’t mix work with play) Long story short my tank has fallen into a very long nutrient deprivation. Sitting at about .03 as of today when I tested it with my low range Hanna checker. The strangest thing is that the corals still grow and come out everyday, even SPS. I just can’t get rid of this green turf algae and I’m about to tear down my tank because it’s been going on for a solid 3 months. Just want any advice that could help me. My phosphate was also sitting at .01 or so, it was barely detectable. Thank you!

Do you have a clean up crew?

 

[Those2clowns]

try fluconazole.

Been there done that. It’s only a bandaid

 

[Those2clowns]

Do you have a clean up crew

Do you have a clean up crew?

Multiple crabs and an urchin. Should probably restock on crabs though

 

[2Sunny]

When a hobby becomes a chore and the value you get from maintaining it does not exceed the work then it's time to leave it alone for awhile. It is not new news that corals can thrive in dirty environments so if you want to keep this tank perhaps try focusing on that which is thriving with the regimen you can and are actually maintaining. Maybe you'll find that you actually enjoy the tank that way. If turf algae is your only problem I suggest Turbo Snails. Sadly they will die once they have completed their job.

 

[SCiMMiA]

Check if it is the same "turf" as in this thread, I did kill it with Fluconazole. But it took 3-4 treatment.

 

[Those2clowns]

When a hobby becomes a chore and the value you get from maintaining it does not exceed the work then it's time to leave it alone for awhile. It is not new news that corals can thrive in dirty environments so if you want to keep this tank perhaps try focusing on that which is thriving with the regimen you can and are actually maintaining. Maybe you'll find that you actually enjoy the tank that way. If turf algae is your only problem I suggest Turbo Snails. Sadly they will die once they have completed their job.

Fortunately I have since quit the job and am trying hard to keep this tank. It’s just very frustrating. I will give the turbos a try again

 

[Those2clowns]

Check if it is the same "turf" as in this thread, I did kill it with Fluconazole. But it took 3-4 treatment.

I will try it again and see if maybe being more offensive with it helps

 

[Mxracer65]

Just remember it takes time, patience and persistence is key.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Multiple crabs and an urchin. Should probably restock on crabs though

That's one lazy urchin....as others have mentioned if the corals are fine, ride it out, and try turbos....one year is not enough to tear it all down

 

[jcdeng]

all the algae went away with fluconazole, I was only trying to kill bryopsis, but all the hair, turf, film algae went with it. only the macro in the sump survived.

 

[FL_Reef]

Try a Mexican turbo snail. Algae eating machines

 

[Those2clowns]

That's one lazy urchin....as others have mentioned if the corals are fine, ride it out, and try turbos....one year is not enough to tear it all down

Buddy does nothing but grow it all over him. I’ve tried them before but I’ll give them another go

 

[Those2clowns]

Just remember it takes time, patience and persistence is key.

One of the biggest things I preached when I worked at the store and now I can’t even follow my own ideology

 

[brandon429]

consider taking command over this system vs rely on animals who produce waste and end up fueling it

why not run some special external controls we know of on a test area outside the tank directly on the target / rock

then set back in the unclean tank and track regrowth for two weeks (if there’s substrate in the tank it will have clouding after this long, feeding this opportunistic algae and if you twist swished rocks in a bucket of clean water I bet some detritus castings come off, that’s what I mean by not clean, it’s not an insult to the tank)


if our special area remains in check, then rip clean the tank to remove feed waste stores and do all the surfaces as the test model showed. Post your full tank pics let’s see the challenger

 

[MaxTremors]

It sounds like you’re likely just going through normal tank maturation (especially if you started with dry rock). Do you have some pictures so we can see what exactly you’re talking about.

One important thing to remember with fluconazole, is that it can up to 2-3 months to completely kill some algae (GHA being one of the types that takes longer).

Its your tank and your life, but IMO, it would be a shame to give up on a fairly young tank because of some algae, especially if it’s not really affected your corals.

 

[DungSl1nger]

I had a similar issue. I traveled for work and was relying on my then girlfriend to take care of the tank. She did a terrible job. My first trip I came home and the tank looked like a swamp. I cleaned it up but by that point the turf algae was already spreading like wild fire. I tried pulling the rock scrubbing and changing water every weekend, and cut back feeding. I had to travel again and came back it was even worse. I did the same thing. Finally, I tried vibrant and started dosing No-pox, and pulling the patches. As of last night I had very little turf algae. I just upgraded the tank to one I could use my filter roller in. At this point I am not going to dose anything and see what happens. Keep in mind it took 2.5 months for it to clean up. Good luck and don't give up.

 

[Those2clowns]

This is probably the best pic I could get with just normal setting. Unfortunately my biggest regret is starting with dry rock. If I could do it again I would do live rock but it is so dang expensive in my area that as an 18 year old senior in high school I didn’t really want to spend the money on it

 

[CanuckReefer]

consider taking command over this system vs rely on animals who produce waste and end up fueling it

why not run some special external controls we know of on a test area outside the tank directly on the target / rock

then set back in the unclean tank and track regrowth for two weeks (if there’s substrate in the tank it will have clouding after this long, feeding this opportunistic algae and if you twist swished rocks in a bucket of clean water I bet some detritus castings come off, that’s what I mean by not clean, it’s not an insult to the tank)


if our special area remains in check, then rip clean the tank to remove feed waste stores and do all the surfaces as the test model showed. Post your full tank pics let’s see the challenger

Huh? The anti clean up crew? Why is it always RIP CLEAN with you? It hardly sounds like it needs it....it's been less than a year and they say the corals are doing well....some pics would help, but I've seen tanks recover in weeks with a good CUC .