Confused About My Coral Coloration--Things Aren't Adding Up

[rhpmiller]

Hey all,

Hoping some folks can help me figure out potential issues and solutions for something going on in my tank, as I'm a bit confused with some of what i'm seeing in the tank vs. what i'm seeing in my testing.

To start, I've got a 20 gallon Max Nano that's almost 2 years old and it's a bit of a mixed reef, with 5 fish, CUC, and an anemone. Over the past ~2 months my SPS colors are fading and turning more pastel-ish, and any new SPS frags do the same. Even my slimer is feeling it.

My initial thoughts were that I don't have enough nutrients in my tank, backed up by my readings on both Hanna and Salifert tests of N03 and P04 being 0.0 on most readings. However, I have lettuce and hair algae growing on my power heads, parts of my rock, and tips of some corals, and a new film on my glass almost daily. So i'm assuming there's nutrients, but they just keep getting taken up by the algae vs. coral.

So what I'm hoping people can give me some advice or help with is:

1. What do you think is the cause of the coral fading and pasteling?
2. Since I can't get a tang to put in and eat the algae, while I dose NO3/PO4, does anyone have any suggestions on how to balance increasing nutrients, without blowing up the algae?

Really appreciate any feedback and input!

 

[DaveWrasse]

At first glance it looks like your SPS are not getting enough light. How many watts of light do you have?

 

[rhpmiller]

At first glance it looks like your SPS are not getting enough light. How many watts of light do you have?

I've got a Red Sea LED90 running at 65% blue and 5% white. So probably significantly lower than what the Red Sea site says for some common settings: 75% Blue + 100% White = 70 watts.

 

[rhpmiller]

Should also note that I have a skimmer, just don't run it. So maybe that'd help with the more-recent algae bloom? However, unsure if that would make my nutrient deficiency worse.

 

[Ben549]

Should also note that I have a skimmer, just don't run it. So maybe that'd help with the more-recent algae bloom? However, unsure if that would make my nutrient deficiency worse.

what do you have in your tank that is turning that algae back into nutrients in the water?

 

[Ben549]

Hey all,

Hoping some folks can help me figure out potential issues and solutions for something going on in my tank, as I'm a bit confused with some of what i'm seeing in the tank vs. what i'm seeing in my testing.

To start, I've got a 20 gallon Max Nano that's almost 2 years old and it's a bit of a mixed reef, with 5 fish, CUC, and an anemone. Over the past ~2 months my SPS colors are fading and turning more pastel-ish, and any new SPS frags do the same. Even my slimer is feeling it.

My initial thoughts were that I don't have enough nutrients in my tank, backed up by my readings on both Hanna and Salifert tests of N03 and P04 being 0.0 on most readings. However, I have lettuce and hair algae growing on my power heads, parts of my rock, and tips of some corals, and a new film on my glass almost daily. So i'm assuming there's nutrients, but they just keep getting taken up by the algae vs. coral.

So what I'm hoping people can give me some advice or help with is:

1. What do you think is the cause of the coral fading and pasteling?
2. Since I can't get a tang to put in and eat the algae, while I dose NO3/PO4, does anyone have any suggestions on how to balance increasing nutrients, without blowing up the algae?

Really appreciate any feedback and input!

you shouldn't be dosing NO3PO4X if you have undetectable nutrients. Also, I'm pretty sure you need to run a skimmer if you are dosing NO3PO4X for it to work right

 

[Dburr1014]

you shouldn't be dosing NO3PO4X if you have undetectable nutrients. Also, I'm pretty sure you need to run a skimmer if you are dosing NO3PO4X for it to work right

I didn't see where he is dosing nopox, did I miss something? He does state he is dosing no3/po4.
OP
Are you manually removing hair?
I would run the skimmer, at least for some of the time.
Do get the nutrients up, need to get a consistent reading. It may work in your favor for competition of other users.

 

[Ben549]

I didn't see where he is dosing nopox, did I miss something? He does state he is dosing no3/po4.
OP
Are you manually removing hair?
I would run the skimmer, at least for some of the time.
Do get the nutrients up, need to get a consistent reading. It may work in your favor for competition of other users.

good call, that's, my mistake.

I agree that ne needs detectable nutrients.

 

[rhpmiller]

good call, that's, my mistake.

I agree that ne needs detectable nutrients.

@Ben549 and @Dburr1014, thanks for the comments!

Sadly, I don't have anything that's turning that algae back into nutrients. I have some snails who go at the film algae, and my blenny will occasionally snack on some on the rocks, but not much else. So there isn't a utilitarian fish--like a tang--that is processing the algae into nutrients.

And sounds like doing a trial run of running the skimmer and dosing Nitrogen and Phosphate may be the next step.

I haven't run GFO in months, am seemingly at my max for livestock in a 20g, and feed every 1-2 days. Not sure how I can't get some nutrients to pop up. Guess I just have really good bacteria in my sand bed? Ha.

 

[Ben549]

@Ben549 and @Dburr1014, thanks for the comments!

Sadly, I don't have anything that's turning that algae back into nutrients. I have some snails who go at the film algae, and my blenny will occasionally snack on some on the rocks, but not much else. So there isn't a utilitarian fish--like a tang--that is processing the algae into nutrients.

And sounds like doing a trial run of running the skimmer and dosing Nitrogen and Phosphate may be the next step.

I haven't run GFO in months, am seemingly at my max for livestock in a 20g, and feed every 1-2 days. Not sure how I can't get some nutrients to pop up. Guess I just have really good bacteria in my sand bed? Ha.

FWIW, I also have a Max Nano but I don't have algae issues and I rarely manually remove algae. You don't need a tang, full stop. My approach was a combination of bacteria, micro crustaceans, CUC, and the blenny; which were all implemented before algae progressed and passed a light film on the rocks. Once it has a foothold, it is more of a challenge for sure. I did dose nitrate for a bit initially.

Last time I tested my PO4 it was around .6ppm..........so not ideal but I also don't have algae issues.

 

[Ben549]

Guess I just have really good bacteria in my sand bed? Ha.

I don't think this is the case, I expect it's the algae.

 

[Ben549]

@Ben549 and @Dburr1014, thanks for the comments!

Sadly, I don't have anything that's turning that algae back into nutrients. I have some snails who go at the film algae, and my blenny will occasionally snack on some on the rocks, but not much else. So there isn't a utilitarian fish--like a tang--that is processing the algae into nutrients.

And sounds like doing a trial run of running the skimmer and dosing Nitrogen and Phosphate may be the next step.

I haven't run GFO in months, am seemingly at my max for livestock in a 20g, and feed every 1-2 days. Not sure how I can't get some nutrients to pop up. Guess I just have really good bacteria in my sand bed? Ha.

Also, I feed about a 1/8-1/4 cube of mysis and 1/8-1/4 cube of brine shrimp daily. This is mostly for the anthia but my benny, despite being a herbivore, never says no to free food.

 

[rhpmiller]

FWIW, I also have a Max Nano but I don't have algae issues and I rarely manually remove algae. You don't need a tang, full stop. My approach was a combination of bacteria, micro crustaceans, CUC, and the blenny; which were all implemented before algae progressed and passed a light film on the rocks. Once it has a foothold, it is more of a challenge for sure. I did dose nitrate for a bit initially.

Last time I tested my PO4 it was around .6ppm..........so not ideal but I also don't have algae issues.

Yeah, that's the somewhat confusing part for me--i've had all my fish and same number of CUC for the past year or so and haven't had any algae issues until recently.

I've always had lower nutrients in my tank, but just another twist in the hobby journey for me. Appreciate some of the suggestions!

 

[Dburr1014]

What I mean about raising nutrients;
Raising nutrients to have more competitors, IE, bacteria, coraline, ect. To take over the areas of hair algae(any algae) while your manually removing.
Thread 'Nutrient imbalance in a nano tank' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nutrient-imbalance-in-a-nano-tank.996173/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-chemical-interaction-between-species-as-a-hypothesis-for-a-mature-tank.995049/&ved=2ahUKEwi2mqHJrLKAAxVuMlkFHaKTCbEQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2TSbwsQPlSSGs5W4_YiqMK

 

[rhpmiller]

What I mean about raising nutrients;
Raising nutrients to have more competitors, IE, bacteria, coraline, ect. To take over the areas of hair algae(any algae) while your manually removing.
Thread 'Nutrient imbalance in a nano tank' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nutrient-imbalance-in-a-nano-tank.996173/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-chemical-interaction-between-species-as-a-hypothesis-for-a-mature-tank.995049/&ved=2ahUKEwi2mqHJrLKAAxVuMlkFHaKTCbEQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2TSbwsQPlSSGs5W4_YiqMK

Yeah, I dose Microbacter 7 and Microbacter Clean alternatively and also dose phyto almost daily. Will try to take out some of the algae manually to get closer to a "fresh" start and see if it can stay away and get some of the nutrients up

 

[BranchingHammer]

What do you run your alkalinity at? I see a bunch of possible burnt tips which might be caused by high alkalinity and low nutrients.

 

[cooltowncorals]

Very possible you have nutrients being consumed by your hair Algea.

If you want more feed more or dose them brightwell sells both in easy to use forms.

I would get a PAR meter rent or borrow from a local reefer. If you don’t know how much light you have it’s pretty difficult to keep SPS.

 

[rhpmiller]

What do you run your alkalinity at? I see a bunch of possible burnt tips which might be caused by high alkalinity and low nutrients.

Usually 9-9.3, but I did have a sharp upswing to 10 after a water change a couple of weeks ago, which I’m sure didn’t help.

So stabilizing alk + increasing nutrient uptake (while removing algae and sea lettuce) seems to be the route.

 

[Pod_01]

Out of curiosity you mentioned you don’t run skimmer, how about water changes? Do you do any or none or ….. ?

My suspicion is that due to low PO4 your biofilm is not functioning and died back. This released the stored PO4 into your rock and algae is now taking over.
This is based on my experience with algae.
You did mention you used GFO so I suspect you used to have detectable/elevated PO4 and tried to correct it. In reef tank what you did or did not do 3 weeks to 3 months ago is what you see now.

IMO before you play with light, flow I would try to make sure the water chemistry is good. There is no magic bullet or button or potion that can quickly fix a reef tank (temporary fix maybe but you will be at the same place in month).
The algae will need to be manually removed though.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Usually 9-9.3, but I did have a sharp upswing to 10 after a water change a couple of weeks ago, which I’m sure didn’t help.

So stabilizing alk + increasing nutrient uptake (while removing algae and sea lettuce) seems to be the route.

Are you dosing anything or just water changes? I would try to bring alk down into the 7.5-8 range if you're having undetectable nutrients. My acros grow best in this range and its closer to NSW parameters.