Algae issue

[arosale43]

I’ve been dealing with a bad algae break out for a while. I siphon out as much as I could and even scrub the rocks with a toothbrush to get the hair algae and then it all comes back pretty quick. I’ve been using vibrant for the last month as well. The bubbles attaching to the rock are the worse! I was told it was Cyanobacteria so I’m going to use some chemiclean tomorrow and then another water change 48 hours after. My phosphates could be brought down a little but they aren’t crazy high, .01ppm last time I checked. I also just added a protein skimmer to help bring them down, which is causing mass amounts of micro bubbles but I heard it will stop after a week or 2 once it’s broken in. Do you guys have any other suggestions for me? Please and thank you.

 

[sunken3]

anymore info on your water parameters? what size tank is it (looks like its a nano?).. how old is the tank setup?

yes you have cyano and yes chemiclean should help with the "red" slime. your water looks cloudy (though that may just be the picture).

without knowing more, I would do the chemiclean.. then a large water change (after the correct time.. i think 48 hours).. add a bag of chemipure.

I am not sure a protein skimmer will do a ton for your setup unless you are severely overfeeding (which could also be an issue). another thing, i only see one small powerhead. you likely need much more flow to keep the cyano and other stuff from taking hold.

good luck.

 

[arosale43]

anymore info on your water parameters? what size tank is it (looks like its a nano?).. how old is the tank setup?

yes you have cyano and yes chemiclean should help with the "red" slime. your water looks cloudy (though that may just be the picture).

without knowing more, I would do the chemiclean.. then a large water change (after the correct time.. i think 48 hours).. add a bag of chemipure.

I am not sure a protein skimmer will do a ton for your setup unless you are severely overfeeding (which could also be an issue). another thing, i only see one small powerhead. you likely need much more flow to keep the cyano and other stuff from taking hold.

good luck.

Thanks for the info. So it’s the 32 gallon biocube, 30lbs rock, 30lbs sand, scooter blenny, 2 clowns, cleaner shrimp, orchid dottyback, banggai cardinal, fire fish goby, royal gramma, Duncan’s, gsp and hammers. Nitrates about 15ppm, phosphates are .08-.1, calcium 440 and everything else is pretty stable. The tank is about 8 months old and I’ve been hearing alottt about the ugly stage so I’m assuming that’s what that’s what this is. I just wanna get past it already The water isn’t cloudy, it looks crystal clear when I turn off the protein skimmer. Any clean up crew suggestions? Or should I just keep doing weekly water changes until it dies down.

 

[arosale43]

Thanks for the info. So it’s the 32 gallon biocube, 30lbs rock, 30lbs sand, scooter blenny, 2 clowns, cleaner shrimp, orchid dottyback, banggai cardinal, fire fish goby, royal gramma, Duncan’s, gsp and hammers. Nitrates about 15ppm, phosphates are .08-.1, calcium 440 and everything else is pretty stable. The tank is about 8 months old and I’ve been hearing alottt about the ugly stage so I’m assuming that’s what that’s what this is. I just wanna get past it already The water isn’t cloudy, it looks crystal clear when I turn off the protein skimmer. Any clean up crew suggestions? Or should I just keep doing weekly water changes until it dies down.

Also I am running chemi pure elite as well as Purigen.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Thanks for the info. So it’s the 32 gallon biocube, 30lbs rock, 30lbs sand, scooter blenny, 2 clowns, cleaner shrimp, orchid dottyback, banggai cardinal, fire fish goby, royal gramma, Duncan’s, gsp and hammers. Nitrates about 15ppm, phosphates are .08-.1, calcium 440 and everything else is pretty stable. The tank is about 8 months old and I’ve been hearing alottt about the ugly stage so I’m assuming that’s what that’s what this is. I just wanna get past it already The water isn’t cloudy, it looks crystal clear when I turn off the protein skimmer. Any clean up crew suggestions? Or should I just keep doing weekly water changes until it dies down.

30g you are on the edge of minimum size for an Urchin. I would personally give it a try....pincushion, tuxedo or short spine black.....worst comes to worse you sell it back or donate to LFS.

 

[arosale43]

30g you are on the edge of minimum size for an Urchin. I would personally give it a try....pincushion, tuxedo or short spine black.....worst comes to worse you 30g you are on the edge of minimum size for an Urchin. I would personally give it a try....pincushion, tuxedo or short spine black.....worst comes to worse you sell it back or donate to LFS

Thanks for the reply! I actually work at a LFS and have access to pretty much everything. I’ll definitely get an urchin. Really wanna get through this!!

 

[DiamondHands]

You have nothing in that tank that requires your light levels to be all that high. You may want to run them at 1/4 your current output and bring them up slowly (months, not days).

Also, keep scrubbing the rocks. I got some of those OXO Good Grips scrub brushes that are very stiff bristled, and tough.

Sometimes rocks that have been in other tanks and have die-off don't cure as much as we think they do. So, there can be nutrients like phosphates and nitrates that leaches for a while. Don't sweat it, just scrub, low lights - scrub right before a big water change or throw a canister filter on there when you scrub to pull everything out if you don't have a sump with filter socks (I assume you do not with a tank that size - though I've run a large sump on a nano-display before). Don't forget to clean the canister/filter socks rather immediately.

Some people will say that makes algae spread; well, for you, I think that's not an issue.

Also, at least a gallon of water weekly as a water change would be my minimum (I also have a 30 cm cube as my frag/QT/nem tank - depending on my mood) - but I do not keep ANY fish at all; just snails, hermits, shrimp, etc.

My small tank just has some Marine Pure ceramic ball media, an AI Nero 3, and Kessil 360W Tuna Blue that runs a good 15" above the water (I didn't buy it for that tank, it's part of a two light set I ran on a 60G cube).

 

[sunken3]

i would stick with chemiclean, manual removal, more water movement, water changes, and yes, reduce the lighting a bit.. at least temporarily. it should clear up.

on a side note, what you start with matters as well.. I have several tanks that I have started with my original live rock (the kind bought overnight from the tropics with all the biomatter).. I tried to start a small one with just "live" sand and dry rock and some of the bacteria additives... it is an algae haven.. lol.