Bacteria

[ReefGamer]

Hello again everyone,
I was dumb and used red slime remover for Cyano after trying to let it pass and trying to fix the causes naturally. Immediately the Cyano vanished and I have now what looks like Dino’s and green hair algae.. I haven’t figured out which one it is ( I have another thread here asking about it).

I just read an old post from Paul B, that this is an antibiotic and it will have killed strains-of beneficial bacteria..I have a hunch this is what caused the algae I am now dealing with.

What is the best way to get this bacteria back? Microbacter 7? Turbo start! Dr Tim’s? Or wait it out?

Hannah checker ULR has phosphates at 0.00 if that says anything. Idk if the red slime remover did something to bottom that out.

Thanks for the help!

 

[X-37B]

I would add turbo start and a piece of live rock would help get you back inline.

 

[ReefGamer]

I would add turbo start and a piece of live rock would help get you back inline.

Will this induce a cycle or raise ammonia or anything crazy? I have a tons of growing coral and fish. Add another piece of live rock Is fine?

 

[X-37B]

Define tons.
Not knowing anything about your tank makes it hard to give an answer.
I would just add some bottled bacteria then.

 

[ReefGamer]

Define tons.
Not knowing anything about your tank makes it hard to give an answer.
I would just add some bottled bacteria then.

My tank is 5 months old but the rock is years and years old ( from the previous owners tank).
I have acro, monti, some colonies of Duncan, frogspawn, torch. Maybe 12 other growing frags of LPS. Probably the most GSP you have ever seen as well. Lol. 120 gallon. The corals have been growing and splitting like crazy. All the fish have been growing and healthy. I have 11 fish with no issues yet.

the Cyano has me worried bc it was covering some coral so the red slime, but it was a mistake. Whatever it did is causing this new algae growth.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Will this induce a cycle or raise ammonia or anything crazy? I have a tons of growing coral and fish. Add another piece of live rock Is fine?

If you order the rock online and it gets shipped, yes you'll see an ammonia spike from the rock likely, how much depends on how much rock you order and if you wanna dump cash on it you can get it shipped submerged with some suppliers which might negate that altogether. There's some natural die off typically. If you can find a chunk from a local reefer in a stable tank, then you'll not have a cycle.

*Edit - also I'm assuming your question about cycling and ammonia was strictly related to adding live rock and not bacteria.

 

[ReefGamer]

If you order the rock online and it gets shipped, yes you'll see an ammonia spike from the rock likely, how much depends on how much rock you order and if you wanna dump cash on it you can get it shipped submerged with some suppliers which might negate that altogether. There's some natural die off typically. If you can find a chunk from a local reefer in a stable tank, then you'll not have a cycle.

*Edit - also I'm assuming your question about cycling and ammonia was strictly related to adding live rock and not bacteria.

Okay, I understand. Do you know what bacteria I can add to just add biodiversity? From what I lost from the slime remover and maybe a little boost as well?

 

[KrisReef]

The picture of the receding coral(Duncan or Sun?) has green algae growing on it. The rest of the tank doesn't look horrible, not what I expected from your description.

With zero phosphate (Measured, Hanna URL), I am guessing that your nitrate is ~25ppm or higher? If your lps corals have been growing then it appears you are feeding your fish plenty of food.

Do you have any herbivorous fish, or a clean-up crew to get after the algae that is starting to manifest?

I suspect that your phosphates are too low and nitrates too high. If you are using any phosphate remover I would cut back or remove that and add Microbacter 7 being careful to follow the drops/gallon they recommend and being careful not to overdose that product as it can cause additional problems instead of fixing them, ime.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Okay, I understand. Do you know what bacteria I can add to just add biodiversity? From what I lost from the slime remover and maybe a little boost as well?

I may be the wrong person to get too deep with there. I'm just getting back into this and my last trip was with the old figi rock which was super easy because of its bacterial diversity. Today's landscape is a shot show. Bottled bac today comes in two basic forms, live and dormant. You'll have to note what's what in your research. I do know turbo fritz start is a live one and you'll see a faster impact as it doesn't have to 'wake up'. This stuff has been highly recommended on here through a thread some guy tested a bunch on. I'd need some time to reference it. I've used this and keep it on hand for fast cycling of my QT tanks.

I've also used biospira and Dr Tim's, not for what you're trying to do but just cycling. Those two seem to be slower but they've worked for me as well. For a display tank I'll never invest in anything less than live rock for bacteria. Just curious, how could you even confirm you've killed what bacteria existed on the live rock you inherited? I thought I read that you got the rock from a previous reefer. It was still alive when you got the tank right?

 

[ReefGamer]

The picture of the receding coral(Duncan or Sun?) has green algae growing on it. The rest of the tank doesn't look horrible, not what I expected from your description.

With zero phosphate (Measured, Hanna URL), I am guessing that your nitrate is ~25ppm or higher? If your lps corals have been growing then it appears you are feeding your fish plenty of food.

Do you have any herbivorous fish, or a clean-up crew to get after the algae that is starting to manifest?

I suspect that your phosphates are too low and nitrates too high. If you are using any phosphate remover I would cut back or remove that and add Microbacter 7 being careful to follow the drops/gallon they recommend and being careful not to overdose that product as it can cause additional problems instead of fixing them, ime.

it looks worse in person, I mean it went from zero to all this in one day. That Duncan colony was clear. All I had was cyano kn the tank and nothing else, that disappears and this showed up instantly, scared Dino’s from bottoming out.

my nitrate is 5-10 ppm ( probably 8, not more than and is usually 0-5 ppm.

Yes, I overfeed for sure. I have always had low phosphates and nitrates so I try to overfeed a bit. I had a large cleanup crew, but my new yellow wrasse is scaring the hermits. I have 4 right now, one large turbo, like maybe 7-8 snails left over. I have a lawnmower blenny and a flame angel, I don’t think the wrasse eat it though the carpenter picks the nori.

the thing is I use very low filtration compared to everyone else. My nitrates have never been high after it was 20 in the beginning. I have two filter socks, a skimmer, and an old marinepure block( not sure this does anything). Weekly water changes as well (8-10%).

 

[ReefGamer]

The picture of the receding coral(Duncan or Sun?) has green algae growing on it. The rest of the tank doesn't look horrible, not what I expected from your description.

With zero phosphate (Measured, Hanna URL), I am guessing that your nitrate is ~25ppm or higher? If your lps corals have been growing then it appears you are feeding your fish plenty of food.

Do you have any herbivorous fish, or a clean-up crew to get after the algae that is starting to manifest?

I suspect that your phosphates are too low and nitrates too high. If you are using any phosphate remover I would cut back or remove that and add Microbacter 7 being careful to follow the drops/gallon they recommend and being careful not to overdose that product as it can cause additional problems instead of fixing them, ime.

Also, that Duncan has always had those dead heads, I’ve recovered a lot of them already. It was also very bleached out.

 

[ReefGamer]

I may be the wrong person to get too deep with there. I'm just getting back into this and my last trip was with the old figi rock which was super easy because of its bacterial diversity. Today's landscape is a shot show. Bottled bac today comes in two basic forms, live and dormant. You'll have to note what's what in your research. I do know turbo fritz start is a live one and you'll see a faster impact as it doesn't have to 'wake up'. This stuff has been highly recommended on here through a thread some guy tested a bunch on. I'd need some time to reference it. I've used this and keep it on hand for fast cycling of my QT tanks.

I've also used biospira and Dr Tim's, not for what you're trying to do but just cycling. Those two seem to be slower but they've worked for me as well. For a display tank I'll never invest in anything less than live rock for bacteria. Just curious, how could you even confirm you've killed what bacteria existed on the live rock you inherited? I thought I read that you got the rock from a previous reefer. It was still alive when you got the tank right?

I might do the turbo start, seems like it would help.

the rock I got was from previous owner and should definitely have tons of biodiversity. I don’t think I have lost it all but some strains as PaulB has mentioned in another thread when another person used red slime remover. He said it kills beneficial bacteria as well.. I believe the bacteria I lost was whatever was keeping this new algae outbreak at bay.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

I might do the turbo start, seems like it would help.

the rock I got was from previous owner and should definitely have tons of biodiversity. I don’t think I have lost it all but some strains as PaulB has mentioned in another thread when another person used red slime remover. He said it kills beneficial bacteria as well.. I believe the bacteria I lost was whatever was keeping this new algae outbreak at bay.

I'd look for many examples to support your theory in practice. So many things beyond bacteria contribute to what your fighting, coincidences do occur. However, you're not likely to do any damage by adding some live bacteria. I hope you get this sorted out.

 

[KrisReef]

it looks worse in person, I mean it went from zero to all this in one day. That Duncan colony was clear. All I had was cyano kn the tank and nothing else, that disappears and this showed up instantly, scared Dino’s from bottoming out.

my nitrate is 5-10 ppm ( probably 8, not more than and is usually 0-5 ppm.

Yes, I overfeed for sure. I have always had low phosphates and nitrates so I try to overfeed a bit. I had a large cleanup crew, but my new yellow wrasse is scaring the hermits. I have 4 right now, one large turbo, like maybe 7-8 snails left over. I have a lawnmower blenny and a flame angel, I don’t think the wrasse eat it though the carpenter picks the nori.

the thing is I use very low filtration compared to everyone else. My nitrates have never been high after it was 20 in the beginning. I have two filter socks, a skimmer, and an old marinepure block( not sure this does anything). Weekly water changes as well (8-10%).

Good enough.

At 5 months your tank is still developing microfauna and the red slime remover probably set it back a bit, but it didn't kill it all either. Go slowly and patiently forward knowing that some algae will grow along the way. That Duncan has been recovering and it can survive with algae growing next to it.

I would look to find a small piece of live rock that has sponges and coraline algae growing on it from another reef tank that does not have pests and add that to the tank. If you have a sump that is where I would put it, and then I'd just be patient and wait for the nutrients to move towards a more natural balance (low P and NO3)
Gotta go, go slow and relax. A little algae isn't the end of the world, its part of the tanks life cycle. gl

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Good enough.

At 5 months your tank is still developing microfauna and the red slime remover probably set it back a bit, but it didn't kill it all either. Go slowly and patiently forward knowing that some algae will grow along the way. That Duncan has been recovering and it can survive with algae growing next to it.

I would look to find a small piece of live rock that has sponges and coraline algae growing on it from another reef tank that does not have pests and add that to the tank. If you have a sump that is where I would put it, and then I'd just be patient and wait for the nutrients to move towards a more natural balance (low P and NO3)
Gotta go, go slow and relax. A little algae isn't the end of the world, its part of the tanks life cycle. gl

OP please clarify, you said rock was years old, when you got the tank it was still alive from previous owner? I.e. rock didn't go dry ever? I'm assuming your tank isn't 5 months old. That's just how long you've had it?

 

[ReefGamer]

Good enough.

At 5 months your tank is still developing microfauna and the red slime remover probably set it back a bit, but it didn't kill it all either. Go slowly and patiently forward knowing that some algae will grow along the way. That Duncan has been recovering and it can survive with algae growing next to it.

I would look to find a small piece of live rock that has sponges and coraline algae growing on it from another reef tank that does not have pests and add that to the tank. If you have a sump that is where I would put it, and then I'd just be patient and wait for the nutrients to move towards a more natural balance (low P and NO3)
Gotta go, go slow and relax. A little algae isn't the end of the world, its part of the tanks life cycle. gl

I did research the slime remover and seemed perfectly fine form what I read at the time, was told that it was bacteria that fought for the resources the cyano used to grow. Come to find out it’s antibiotics..

should I do that even if my rock has that? I’ve had some sponges and half my rockwork is coralline algae covered. I understand man, thanks. The only algae I am scared of is Dino’s and is why I’m worried about it. I don’t want to lose to that like so many others.

 

[ReefGamer]

OP please clarify, you said rock was years old, when you got the tank it was still alive from previous owner? I.e. rock didn't go dry ever? I'm assuming your tank isn't 5 months old. That's just how long you've had it?

To be most specific, the previous owner had the tank for over a year ( he had it years before that in Texas, but idk if the rock went dry when he moved here). When I bought the tank four months ago, we moved everything over and I kept half the water and the rocks that he had. Half the water brand new and all the aragonite sand. I did have ammonia there in the beginning. The three biggest rocks were already covered with GSP, the Duncan colony and lots of rock had GHA all over it already as well. That was my start. I’ve neveR dosed a single thing until I used Flux Rx for the GHa that killed all of it and now the red slime remover.

I only give myself an extra month from what he had, so I said 5. LFS said to add half the amount he had it so my tank was “ 6 months old” when I got it. But I would not say my tank was stable or water quality was amazing. Fish dying in the beginning andnew corals “surviving”.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Ok that helps. Other than a cycle from moving due to detritus being kicked up, from a bacterial standpoint your tank is not 5 months old.

 

[ReefGamer]

Ok that helps. Other than a cycle from moving due to detritus being kicked up, from a bacterial standpoint your tank is not 5 months old.

Yes, I can see that. I don’t know if I messed that up though. One thing I found weird was I still don’t see any pods anywhere, swimming, in rock, in sump, or in the sand.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Yes, I can see that. I don’t know if I messed that up though. One thing I found weird was I still don’t see any pods anywhere, swimming, in rock, in sump, or in the sand.

I don't see any connection between pods and bacteria