Do I restart my tank?

[Chris_Noles]

Hi, I have been fighting an algae in my tank for over a year. It is a green/brown/red algae that grows on my rocks, sand and has killed all of coral in my tank. I do water changes, blow the algae off the rocks and a day later everything comes back. I have already done a complete teardown of my tank a year ago and the same issues exist. I have added a more snails and a conch and they won't touch the algae on the rocks.

My tank is a 25 gallon with an AI Hydra 52 that is on 8 hours a day. I run Purigen, carbon and filter floss. I run a skimmer sometimes too. Livestock is only a Clownfish and Royal Gramma that I feed frozen mysis once a day. The only coral left in my tank is GSP that has stopped growing aggressively. I use RODI water for water changes and for my top off.

What should I do from here? I have tried dosing microbacteria, razor and others but nothing has worked. I'll attach pictures of the algae below.

 

[Chris_Noles]

 

[reefpeeper]

How old are the ro/di filters? Also do u test nitrate and phospate?

 

[LAX Noob Reef]

Looks like Red cyno and film. Any CUC? this will happen again, also what's your nutrient?

 

[keatonmjenkins]

You know what I think really helped my tank was getting into a rhythm of doing changes and my buddy hooked me up with a large bag of dark ruble rock he had in his system that’s 4-5 years old. With in 3-4 months algae was gone and now it rarely shows up and this has been over a year.

 

[Chris_Noles]

Looks like Red cyno and film. Any CUC? this will happen again, also what's your nutrient?

2 Astrea Snails, Conch and 3 hermits. My nitrates are high, this is the salifert test

 

[|Frank|]

I had algae issues in my last tank. So as soon as my new tank was cycled I threw some copepods in and haven't had nearly as much algae and "uglies" as I did in my previous system. Give this video a look, maybe this could help in your system....

 

[Chris_Noles]

How old are the ro/di filters? Also do u test nitrate and phospate?

no idea on the RODI filters I buy my water from the LFS, phosphates and nitrates are high. When the both get low I get dinos as well…

 

[|Frank|]

no idea on the RODI filters I buy my water from the LFS, phosphates and nitrates are high. When the both get low I get dinos as well…

A tds meter would indicate if they have good water or not. Only a few bucks on amazon if you don't have one already

 

[Chris_Noles]

A tds meter would indicate if they have good water or not. Only a few bucks on amazon if you don't have one already

Yup, I’ve tested it and it’s 0 TDS. I’ve dosed copepods a while ago and it didn't do too much for my tank. I’ll watch the BRS video and see if they did something differently…

 

[Dom]

A few things:

Buying your water from the LFS isn't the best idea. They sell you water from their system, which is old. Any new water they make, goes back in their system.

Water changes will go a long way in solving your problem. But while you mention that you do water changes, you didn't mention the frequency and size.

Water changes should be FAITHFUL and WEEKLY. Also, the water change should be 20% of your total volume. Your tank is 25 gallons, so, a 20% water change is 5 gallons. Very convenient.

I would suggest that you focus on faithful water changes for the next 6-8 weeks and then reevaluate.

 

[LAX Noob Reef]

For now, try Fritz Algae gone. Water change 30% ever week. You should have a skimmer running. Lights off for 4 days, and cover your tank with something so no lights in. You also want to throw in some macro algae to try to complete with what is going on in your sump if you have it once 4 days gone.

 

[blecki]

Buying your water from the LFS isn't the best idea. They sell you water from their system, which is old. Any new water they make, goes back in their system.

This is not my experience with any LFS I've ever been to, and if one did that, I would never shop there again.

Simply ask them. Most have a giant tank of mixed water if they sell pre-mixed water at all. This water is never used in any system, just mixed and ready.

 

[Doogs]

no idea on the RODI filters I buy my water from the LFS, phosphates and nitrates are high. When the both get low I get dinos as well…

Test the LFS water. I found 5-10pm nitrates in one LFS and I know of another that lets 48+ TDS water go out to customers.

 

[blecki]

That means their RODI system is broken or just garbage. Not that it's recycled tank water.

 

[archercorals]

Try dosing bacteria. If you are having Dino’s when getting lower waste levels, you have a bacterial imbalance. Also bump up the clean up crew. Get 5-10 turbo snails, or a sea hare

 

[Dom]

This is not my experience with any LFS I've ever been to, and if one did that, I would never shop there again.

Simply ask them. Most have a giant tank of mixed water if they sell pre-mixed water at all. This water is never used in any system, just mixed and ready.

While there are some reputable local fish stores, the brick and mortar stores are trying to compete with their online counterparts. This is one of the ways they do this. Why do you suppose the OP has high nitrates and phosphates in the water they buy; it is likely old water.

 

[VirginiaReefer]

Can you try doing blue only lights for a few days and see if that helps? It's one of the things I did to beat some algae. May help

 

[Chris_Noles]

A few things:

Buying your water from the LFS isn't the best idea. They sell you water from their system, which is old. Any new water they make, goes back in their system.

Water changes will go a long way in solving your problem. But while you mention that you do water changes, you didn't mention the frequency and size.

Water changes should be FAITHFUL and WEEKLY. Also, the water change should be 20% of your total volume. Your tank is 25 gallons, so, a 20% water change is 5 gallons. Very convenient.

I would suggest that you focus on faithful water changes for the next 6-8 weeks and then reevaluate.

My TDS meter reads 0 with the water I buy from them. It's in a giant tank that you can see. As for water changes yes, I try to do a water change biweekly of 5 gallons and a day after I scrub down everything almost all the algae comes back.

 

[Chris_Noles]

Can you try doing blue only lights for a few days and see if that helps? It's one of the things I did to beat some algae. May help

Have tried blackouts with dosing hydrogen peroxide and bottled bacteria. This algae just ends up coming back in a couple of days after the blackout