Biocube 32 frustrated but hanging in

[Jeff_Toronto]

My first tank and was progressing well and excited. Stocked my fish after proper acclimation and qt and made sure was fully cycled. Bam. Month 3 and 4 serious algae bloom. Both green hair and annoying cyano.

Have cut back lighting schedule and feedings and I am doing about 18 percent water changes every 3 to 4 days include vacuumed sandbed clean all glass and removing as much of aglae as I can each time. Running skimmer and uv light and two koralia 425s for flow with a wave controller. All water 0 TDs coming from rodi

Just can't seem to get rid of the stuff.

Livestock look happy.

Just wish it would go away or I could find the cause

 

[hdsoftail1065]

My wifes Biocube is going through the same thing right now

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

Hey guys. Take a deep breath... I've got a BC32 and have gone through the same thing and successfuly gotten through it! I'm happy to help. Let's start off with figuring out what's causing the algae/excess nutrients. What's stocked in the tank? My guess is it's over stocked like mine was. Get me this info and I can lead you on to the next step
Here's my tank today, at 1 year... And no algae (hope this gives you hope)

 

[Jeff_Toronto]

Hey guys. Take a deep breath... I've got a BC32 and have gone through the same thing and successfuly gotten through it! I'm happy to help. Let's start off with figuring out what's causing the algae/excess nutrients. What's stocked in the tank? My guess is it's over stocked like mine was. Get me this info and I can lead you on to the next step
Here's my tank today, at 1 year... And no algae (hope this gives you hope)

For sure im probably over stocked. What fish are you keeping

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Right now inverts corals and nems. Fishless right now due to ich or velvet.

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

For sure im probably over stocked. What fish are you keeping

I've got (2) clowns, (1) firefish, and (3) green chromis. What about you?

 

[LEOreefer]

Hang in there ! My tank is just shy of a year with a solid weekly maintenance schedule and it’s just moving past the algae stage !

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

Right now inverts corals and nems. Fishless right now due to ich or velvet.

Your algae doesn't seem TOO bad... I bet adding snails would have that under wraps in a week. I'd try that before treating

 

[Jeff_Toronto]

I've got (2) clowns, (1) firefish, and (3) green chromis. What about you?

Two clown. Two chromis. 1 aurora goby and 1 lawnmower blenny.

Plus 2 skunk shrimp. 1 fire shrimp. 1 pistol shrimp ab erald crab and hermit crab. Thwse should be fairly light on bio load.

 

[Jeff_Toronto]

Hang in there ! My tank is just shy of a year with a solid weekly maintenance schedule and it’s just moving past the algae stage !

Nice.... So another 6 months to go.... Lol

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

Get a product called Reed Flux made by ReefHD. It had my algae under control in a week... And it was completely OVER RUN. The stuff is amazing man!!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

My kh has been coming in at 6.7. been trying to raise it in hopes that will help some.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

We have 2 tubos and a few other small ones, probably 6 not sure the species but the lfs' guy said they would work. Are there any you recommend?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Get a product called Reed Flux made by ReefHD. It had my algae under control in a week... And it was completely OVER RUN. The stuff is amazing man!!

I'll read up on it, thanks!

 

[LEOreefer]

Nice.... So another 6 months to go.... Lol

Keep up on your maintenance schedule. Scrub those rocks weekly to the best of your ability. Get back feeding and lighting schedule. In my opinion there is magic solution that will completely eliminate your algae issues. I have used a few additives that worked only to have the algae come back after I stopped dosing. Your rock may be leaching po4 so your most effective way of removal is weekly water changes or some sort of algae turf scrubber or reactor. I believe in running a system as close to natural as possible. On my system I run a skimmer and a algae scrubber nothing else

 

[Flexin]

You simply need a larger cleanup crew. Most of the online vendors have a package. Your tank has to find a balance, and right now it results in the algae. Dosing the tank will not fix the problem because you will continue to still do everything the same. JMO, it's better to address the problem with a larger cleanup crew and let the tank find it's balance. Every time you add something else, the tank has to balance again and six fish in that cube is heavy. So get a larger crew and leave the tank alone in regards to adding anything else and just keep up good maintenance. Besides, it's normal to have algae on a 3-4 month old tank and yours is not that bad. The tank is still new and with all that you added, it still needs to mature.

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

We have 2 tubos and a few other small ones, probably 6 not sure the species but the lfs' guy said they would work. Are there any you recommend?

I'd get 15-20 Astrea Snails... They do a great job

 

[Ryan_Darilek]

You simply need a larger cleanup crew. Most of the online vendors have a package. Your tank has to find a balance, and right now it results in the algae. Dosing the tank will not fix the problem because you will continue to still do everything the same. JMO, it's better to address the problem with a larger cleanup crew and let the tank find it's balance. Every time you add something else, the tank has to balance again and six fish in that cube is heavy. So get a larger crew and leave the tank alone in regards to adding anything else and just keep up good maintenance. Besides, it's normal to have algae on a 3-4 month old tank and yours is not that bad. The tank is still new and with all that you added, it still needs to mature.

I'll go ahead and second this... Only dose if it's beyond what a clean up crew can handle, like mine was. A lot of snails are absolutely necessary IMO

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Thanks just passed this on to the boss (my wife) she said that's the kind we got. We might grab some more. Thanks for the input!

 

[Flexin]

Thanks just passed this on to the boss (my wife) she said that's the kind we got. We might grab some more. Thanks for the input!

As your tank matures, about a year, you may have other members of he cleanup crew that are too small to see now but will grow. My bio cube is over a year now and when I feed I have tons of snails I never added that come out. Anything you do, if it’s good simply takes time. Anything that has an immediate affect normally is not a good thing and will throw off your tank. I already made those mistakes so just sharing