Algea galore

[JBradford]

I have an issue with HA and some cyano in my tank.

Tank is:
115 gal total volume
~80lb rock (50% was live when starting the tank in Feb)
Not 100% on skimmer brand as I bought it 2nd hand with the tank
2 reactors (1 running carbon, 1 running BRS granular GFO)
15% water change every week
Numerous coral
numerous inverts (snails, hermits)
1 clown fish left (we lost 4 list in 3 days about 3 weeks ago)

Not sure what killed the fish, water parameters were good when I tested at home and I took a sample to my LFS for double check and they were good. I had a porky puffer and his messy eating is what helped get the HA started, as well as his appetite for tasty inverts. I've since traded him off to a local with a large predictor tank when he is better off and restocked the inverts.

Back to HA. I've been picking it off the rocks daily, and I'm making a dent in it but it seems like by the time I get off work the next day it's back in full force.

I think the cyano is part of the porky's mess as well. Everyone says I don't have good flow, but the stuff in growing on powerheads, which is very high flow, so I think it's something else.

Any ideas? Sorry for the long post I'm going nuts and about ready to move my coral to a smaller tank and start this one over, I just hate to do that with all the work I've got in it. Thanks for the help.

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome.

To get to the bottom of this we are going to need a nitrate and phosphate level, water source, age of tank, lighting type.

Cyanobacteria does indeed grow in lower flow areas.

An image of the green algae would be of assist as well to rule out Byropsis.

As for clean up crew inverts, not all cuc members are created equal. Snail types make a huge difference.

Now to fish, were there any physical or behavioral symptoms of disease such as spots, flashing, breathing rapidly, hanging out at the surface?

What are you using for flow? Do you know the turn over of tank gph?

A lot of questions I know.

 

[JBradford]

Nitrate is 0. My LFS checked my phosphate and it's been .03-.06.
Water is RO/DI, filters/resins are 2 months old. Lighting is T5ho. Tank has been up since February.
Imagine I'll have to get after work today.
I honestly am not 100% on types of snails off hand.
The fish had no physical issues or anything as you mentioned. 2 got caught against powerheads, 1 vanished (assumed to be dead), 1 I believed died of stress of the other dead fish.
I can get you exact specs on flow items after work as well. I don't want to guess.

 

[Tahoe61]

Healthy fish do not get caught against power heads, so I assume they must have been compromised.
There are a few inverts that will mow down GHA, personally I like Urchins, Chitons, mid sized hermits, Cerith Snails, Astrea Snails....

https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/tank-cleaners

Algae issues seem to come on overnight, and the remedy often takes awhile to resolve but it will get better with some patience and modifications.

 

[JBradford]

I stand corrected I do also have an urchin. I always forget about that little guy.
I have about 15 Scarlett's and right now 4 emeralds. I got all my LFS had at the time.
I had a blue leg but he didn't do anything for me. Sat in one spot and never moved, and then my porky used him as a midnight snack.
And I'm pretty sure it's Mexican turbos for snails. I have 5.

Like I said, I'm having to rebuild my population after the porky moved out.

What happened to the fish is my best guess. They all perished while we were at work and I came home to find them that way. I fed them in the morning and they were happy and just like 'normal' and then after work dead.

 

[JBradford]

To followup. I run 2 Sicce 3500s @ 925 gph each and a mag 12 @ 1200 gph. However the mag also runs my reactors. But they are throttled way down with individual gate valves.

Pic of the algea. Sorry it's a cell pic and I got some reflection in it.

 

[Tahoe61]

Well that is pretty bad, wow.
You could try a Fox Face or Lawn Mower Blenny.

If it were my tank I would remove what I could manually, leave the lights out for 3 days.
Build or buy an Algae Turf Scrubber.

I would add some Chitons too.

All the phos is probably all locked up in that algae.

 

[JBradford]

I'm on day 2 of a black out now. And I turned the light on to take that pic this morning.

Had a foxface and blenny that parishes a few weeks ago. Lol

Excuse the ignorance, what is a chiton?

 

[twilliard]

Hi!
Cyanobacteria will grow in any condition. It needs to be identified as it may also be spirulina. Two different bacterium
Check out below!

 

[Bunnee911]

You can consider h2o2. Take one rock out, clean it with a brush and spritz well with peroxide. Wait a few minutes, rinse and place back in the tank.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

the phosphate could be in the rock and leaching out.. the gfo will clear the phosphate in the water column but not the rock. i would remove the rock and give it a peroxide bath then if it comes back could do an acid bath that would remove the phosphate.

 

[JBradford]

Ok thanks all for the suggestions. I'll do work and update the thread with results.