All SPS unhappy...I'm lost

[islander84]

First thing you are confusing the (Red slime) for algae and trying to beat it by stripping the phosphates. It is actually a cyanobacteria that commonly will pop up if things are off balance. As Dowtish said try dosing a supplemental bacteria to counter it out. More than likely there is a bacterial imbalance causing the cyano and could also be causing your stn. And tumbling a large amount of gfo can cause stn as well.

 

[islander84]

Also the brown diatoms a re a common part of your tank cycling/ maturing. Once the silica is balanced out they will fade away. It takes sometimes a year or two for the tank to mature.

 

[Javsku]

Try raising your magnesium and maintaining it at a little higher level. I have noticed by digis and months close their polyps when I let my magnesium drop too low. Just my 2 cents, as we all know every system is different.

 

[Joeganja]

Control your phosphates. Throw in phosphate sponge by kent marine then phosban by two little fishies.

 

[deerhunter06]

The tank is to young for SPS corals. The tank is still going through swings. You haven't reached saturation yet. Your magnesium is low start raising that slowly and you will see a difference

What kind of swings do you mean?

 

[ps2cho]

So what is it then keep the GFO on or off? There are different opinions here...

 

[Tahoe61]

I am on the remove the GFO team, also this tank may not be ready for sps yet, it happens. An indicator ime is the lack of coralline algae. I would stop everything and just do routine water changes. Let the tank cruise on auto pilot with monthly water changes for a couple months. Too many interventions, basically you're over thinking it. As someone that has had the exact same issue in the past, trust me the tank will come around just let it age. Some new tanks can pull off sps, some systems just take longer.

 

[ps2cho]

Really cut back to monthly? I mean I'm all for less work and less money spent on salt as long as it might help me..

Should I just watch the nitrate levels and let the kalk take care of alk and ca then dose a little mg when needed?

 

[Frostyfish]

looks like the flow to center area is lacking

Agreed, water turnover is a tricky situation. Attention should be focused on water movement throughout the entire aquarium instead of how many times the water volume is pushed through power heads. The first cycle is just the beginning in a new tank, there are a lucky few who only have one, but the majority go through several. For the most part after the first one the spikes aren't as high. Just focus on creating good flow and perform weekly water changes and it should bounce back to normal.

 

[Frostyfish]

Forgot to mention, I had a similar situation. I wasn't getting near enough movement in my tank and ended up removing quite a few rocks. After I adjusted flow direction and removed rocks algae on the sand bed and rocks cleared up in about two weeks

 

[ps2cho]

I just discovered one of my Jebao WP25's is dead. That would explain the sudden change. That doesn't change the color issue, but that explains the cyano in the middle of the tank. It was a dead spot.
I moved my remaining WP25 into the center so its the best overall flow until I can get a replacement motor.

 

[Frostyfish]

I just discovered one of my Jebao WP25's is dead. That would explain the sudden change. That doesn't change the color issue, but that explains the cyano in the middle of the tank. It was a dead spot.
I moved my remaining WP25 into the center so its the best overall flow until I can get a replacement motor.

That sucks!! Hopefully you got some good use out of it. What size tank do you have?

 

[ps2cho]

All my tank info is my signature...

60 gallon. 30x31x15.

 

[Frostyfish]

Thanks, those jebaos seem to be hit or miss on reliability. How old was it? I was going to get one, but found a tunze for dirt cheap

 

[ps2cho]

It was 2 months old. I got an email back from fish street and they said they no longer carry the older wp25 so I'll have to update. Well guess I am trying to pull it apart.

Wish I had $460 for an MP40...

 

[Frostyfish]

Check out the new jebao rw line. I know, I want one also, but I can't justify spending that much on a power head. The tunze 6015 I have is awesome and a heck of a lot less $.

 

[Frostyfish]

That's lame, hope u can fix it. Check out the RW's from jebao, unless you aren't willing to buy jebao again. The tunze 6015 I have is powerful, quiet, and inexpensive. I'm with you on the mp40, but that's a car payment for me!

 

[Aussie Reefer]

+1 on 0.00 po4 not good for extended periods. I think howerver that the 'drop' of vinegar per gallon is your problem.
I have had reefing buddies experience similar random STN issues, all with a common factor, being that they all dose vinegar to the max. lol go natural for a while

 

[ps2cho]

The wp25 does 2100gph...I don't think that tunze will be enough. However, I'm willing to get a more powerful model...is the flow more dispersed than the jebaos? I find that my wp25 is pretty focused...

 

[Touring]

The brown diatoms have been there for 5 months now... The red algae on the sand bed started 1 month ago.

I'm just lost on what to do here.

My clean up crew is 5 margarita snails 3 turbos a dozen nerites and a ton of the small Florida nerites.

I have plenty of flow 60x turnover. It's almost at sand blowing flow I turned the wp25s down just enough

5 month diatoms!! you need to take a step back. 5 months ago your tank was telling you that theres something wrong. the red algea is telling you that there wasent enough flow in that area and everything was just building.

If it was my tank i would start over. That tank isint to young for sps its just hasent got the attention for a SPS tank.