Boy My Tank Has Gotten Ugly

[Waffen06]

So I have been absent on here for awhile now. Between work, traveling, home projects and kids the tank has been completely neglected minus feedings. I will say a lot of my corals are spreading like crazy, 2 are about dead too. Biggest thing is I was battling what I thought was cyano but after multiple black out periods and two rounds of chemiclean it keeps coming back. Maybe the other reason I neglected it, but finally cleaned the glass after a couple months and its terrible. Is this still cyano? It waves almost like green hair algae but its definitely red. Where should I start besides a water change? Mad I let it get this bad but dont know if a restart is in order?

 

[Uncle99]

I would remove manually all that (appears) to be Cyano.
I would change 25% water every second day for 4 times.
I would test all parameters and put them in the normal operating range.
I would monitor Salinity, Alk, Nitrate and Phosphate weekly and work towards the least flux possible, especially the above four.
I would lower lighting a lot.
If you maintain stable waters, over a month or two you should recover.
After this time if you still have red, hit it with Dr. Tim’s.

 

[DonTavo27]

Looks Great! Like a true reef

 

[redfishbluefish]

Potentially is Red Cotton Candy Algae.

 

[Waffen06]

I would remove manually all that (appears) to be Cyano.
I would change 25% water every second day for 4 times.
I would test all parameters and put them in the normal operating range.
I would monitor Salinity, Alk, Nitrate and Phosphate weekly and work towards the least flux possible, especially the above four.
I would lower lighting a lot.
If you maintain stable waters, over a month or two you should recover.
After this time if you still have red, hit it with Dr. Tim’s.

My current parameters are
1.026
79 degrees
9.1 alk
360 ca
0 po4
5 no3
Ph swings from 7.8-8.07 throughout the day

All tests with saliferts or by apex. My ph has always been low never had luck raising it. I do dose 2 part but havnt adjusted it in months so probably why my calcium is low and alk is a little low.

 

[DonTavo27]

Alk is good, calcium needs a little boost in ML per day. You need a little Po4, and focus on dropping No3 a little. What two part are you using? I’ve haven’t really tested for PH, since I first got into this hobby over 15 years ago,
But I’m sure if you focus on getting back to basics, it’ll all balance out.

 

[mtraylor]

Looks like green hair algae with Cyano on top of it. First I would check my phosphates and try to get them under 0.1ppm. Then I would start running vibrant for about 2 months. That should take care of the cleanup.

 

[BostonReefer300]

I have so many questions, but not enough time---already spent too much time on R2R today procrastinating because my quarterly sump clean out is scheduled for today. Anyway, that's a heck of an algae problem. Your nitrate and phosphate levels are reading low because your tests are off and/or both are being sucked up by all that algae so YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM yet. They are both high and need to come down. The steps recommended by @Uncle99 make sense but might be a little aggressive on regarding the WC protocol. On lights, I'd be cautious changing things on that front if your corals are still happy until you see how the WCs go regarding parameters. I don't know based on the info you provided, but I'd guess you're probably feeding too much. After the WC changes are done, I'd probably then do Vibrant per @mtraylor
EDIT: Oh and do wet skimming for a month!

 

[Waffen06]

I have so many questions, but not enough time---already spent too much time on R2R today procrastinating because my quarterly sump clean out is scheduled for today. Anyway, that's a heck of an algae problem. Your nitrate and phosphate levels are reading low because your tests are off and/or both are being sucked up by all that algae so YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM yet. They are both high and need to come down. The steps recommended by @Uncle99 make sense but might be a little aggressive on regarding the WC protocol. On lights, I'd be cautious changing things on that front if your corals are still happy until you see how the WCs go regarding parameters. I don't know based on the info you provided, but I'd guess you're probably feeding too much. After the WC changes are done, I'd probably then do Vibrant per @mtraylor
EDIT: Oh and do wet skimming for a month!

Thanks for the info, guess I forgot some stuff. I have been running vibrant for about 3 weeks now since I noticed how bad things had gotten. As far as feeding it is minimal. Have the apex feeder that feeds once a day and it's only about 10 pellets. If I remember I feed a mysis cube a couple times a week.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do I see aptasia on top of cotton candy algae ?
Cotton Candy Algae under this heading usually appear as a light pink/red fuzz. Closer examination will show it is made up of many branches with even more branchlets. The plants are very small, lose form out of the water and sway in the current. Each plant forms from a single holdfast.
Removal is easy if it hasn't taken hold in places your fingers won't fit. Scrape your thumb on the surface it is attached to, while holding the algae like a pencil as you remove it.
Some cleaner crew that may help with this are : urchins, sea hare, large turbo snails, emerald crabs and most caribbean hermit crabs such as blue leg.

 

[attiland]

So I have been absent on here for awhile now. Between work, traveling, home projects and kids the tank has been completely neglected minus feedings. I will say a lot of my corals are spreading like crazy, 2 are about dead too. Biggest thing is I was battling what I thought was cyano but after multiple black out periods and two rounds of chemiclean it keeps coming back. Maybe the other reason I neglected it, but finally cleaned the glass after a couple months and its terrible. Is this still cyano? It waves almost like green hair algae but its definitely red. Where should I start besides a water change? Mad I let it get this bad but dont know if a restart is in order?

Nuke it with chemiclean. Fast and effective. Siphon most of it first though.