Do I restart my tank?

[Chris_Noles]

Dragons breath looks really cool.
Have you talked to John from reefcleaners.org? He may have a few suggestions for you.

I have not but I have seen his website before! My lighting schedule is below is that might be apart of my issue....Just afraid the macroalgae will get destroyed like every coral I've had in my tank so far (except the GSP).

 

[j.falk]

Hey now...there is nothing wrong with a tank chock full of GSP! Love that stuff...impossible to kill, affordable, and will cover dang near everything in sight.

 

[j.falk]

Are you only running the UV channel on the light?

 

[Chris_Noles]

Are you only running the UV channel on the light?

I am running blues, UV and white light. The blues are at about 50%, UV at 30%, White at 6%

 

[j.falk]

Those seem like low light levels...could that be why your corals died off?

 

[Dom]

Every other week

That isn't frequent enough. It needs to be FAITHFUL, WEEKLY 20% water changes.

Do that for 6-8 weeks and reevaluate.

 

[Fort Salty]

Thanks I just tested the LFS water and nitrates and phosphates are zero. Tuxedo Urchin might be the solution I need to turn to. A refugium would be impossible for me since there is barely any space left in the back chambers and I know a hangon back refugium could be pretty expensive on not even work. Maybe I can put some Macro Algae in my tank? I would've mind the look but not sure where to get some....

If you were to try a seperate refugium, you could probably just hang a box with the holes in it on the side of your tank. Sea lettuce or Calurpa for $15 and let your light grow it. Or you could try some in your tank. I'm not sure if that would help or not.

You could also consider adding some more easy corals from your lfs. Good bacteria and such will be on the frag, and the corals compete with algae for nutrients in the water. Do you have any feather dusters or tube worms? They also will collect things from the water column. You could probably add more Astreas if they stay in the same relative area all the time.

 

[Fort Salty]

I second the weekly water changes.

 

[Chris_Noles]

Those seem like low light levels...could that be why your corals died off?

Here are some older pics, whatever algae was in my tank just slowly killed all sps and even my zoas. Light levels used to be double until I turned them down 3 months ago.

 

[|Frank|]

Hey now...there is nothing wrong with a tank chock full of GSP! Love that stuff...impossible to kill, affordable, and will cover dang near everything in sight.

Haha this looks cool not gonna lie

 

[Doogs]

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

The 48+ TDS LFS doesn’t care. All their tanks have cyano and all share the same filtration. Dust on products….I never go there.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are some older pics, whatever algae was in my tank just slowly killed all sps and even my zoas. Light levels used to be double until I turned them down 3 months ago.

Toxins may be part of the issue as both cyano and dino release toxins.
Can you post pics with White lighting versus the blue in original pics?

 

[Chris_Noles]

Toxins may be part of the issue as both cyano and dino release toxins.
Can you post pics with White lighting versus the blue in original pics?

Yup here you go, looks like a lot of green film algae.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yup here you go, looks like a lot of green film algae.

Looks to be mainly cyano.
Some causes are:
- Not Enough Air Bubbles: Typically, a protein skimmer fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Too Much Reef Food: Overstocking / overfeeding your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Premature Live Rocks :Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which becomes a breeding ground for red slime algae
- Infrequent Water Changes: If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes will dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Poor water Source: Using water source which contains nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out a welcome mat for cyano
- Slow running water will run Red: Inadequate water flow is one leading cause of cyano bloomsas slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for red slime algae development

You mentioned , you took steps that did not work. Can you describe what you did to attempt to defeat it?

 

[Chris_Noles]

Looks to be mainly cyano.
Some causes are:
- Not Enough Air Bubbles: Typically, a protein skimmer fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Too Much Reef Food: Overstocking / overfeeding your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Premature Live Rocks :Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which becomes a breeding ground for red slime algae
- Infrequent Water Changes: If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes will dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Poor water Source: Using water source which contains nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out a welcome mat for cyano
- Slow running water will run Red: Inadequate water flow is one leading cause of cyano bloomsas slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for red slime algae development

You mentioned , you took steps that did not work. Can you describe what you did to attempt to defeat it?

I have tried reducing nutrients, this causes dinos which I had to fight. I’ve dosed Razor and Microbacteria to get rid of bubble algae while still having this algae. I’ve scrubbed rocks and even sprayed them down with a hose to try and kill it. I’ve turned down lights, done blackouts and even dose hydrogen peroxide while fighting dinos with this algae.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

save yourself headaches and money. invest in a quality rodi unit and mix your own saltwater, this is a water based hobby it totally makes sense to make and store your own. it is definitely more convenient and cost effective if you plan on doing this for any amount of time. this will also help you cross off possible issues while you figure things out.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have tried reducing nutrients, this causes dinos which I had to fight. I’ve dosed Razor and Microbacteria to get rid of bubble algae while still having this algae. I’ve scrubbed rocks and even sprayed them down with a hose to try and kill it. I’ve turned down lights, done blackouts and even dose hydrogen peroxide while fighting dinos with this algae.

Try this below as it does work when done precisely. You may want to consider another source/outlet to purchase your water.
Adding a pouch of Chemipure blue will remove any toxins if present and keep phos and nitrate in check

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons.

After the 5 days, add a few snails such as cerith, Trochus, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[blecki]

This could be the issue, would testing the saltwater with the TDS meter net any useful information? I used to mix my own but just buying it was more convenient

Your mixed salt water is going to show TDS somewhere between 300 and ERROR in most TDS meters... Salt is a dissolved solid after all.

Looks to be mainly cyano.

And green cyano too! Kinda neat. Usually that stuff is red.

I have tried reducing nutrients, this causes dinos which I had to fight. I’ve dosed Razor and Microbacteria to get rid of bubble algae while still having this algae. I’ve scrubbed rocks and even sprayed them down with a hose to try and kill it. I’ve turned down lights, done blackouts and even dose hydrogen peroxide while fighting dinos with this algae.

There's lots of good advice in this thread but, you really can't starve out cyano. Even after you've fixed all the problems causing it to grow in the first place, it can be near impossible to kill it. A blackout won't work if you've got coral - the coral will die first; and ambient light from the room is enough to grow this stuff. It's a very resilient and efficient organism. So that said, you really needn't be afraid of a chemical solution. You still need to do the right things to keep it gone but something like Chemiclean will kill it (but will take multiple treatments) and you don't seem to have anything that would be sensitive to it. Peroxide doesn't seem to do anything to cyano. High flow will stop it from attaching to the substrate and forming mats, which in theory lets something like a UV sterilizer kill it - but I've got a ton of the red variety in my little tank and it has survived all attempts to kill it save chemical; the tank is all zoas and anemones and thus is kept incredibly dirty and I'm not willing to risk the BTAs with chemiclean so I live with it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Your mixed salt water is going to show TDS somewhere between 300 and ERROR in most TDS meters... Salt is a dissolved solid after all.


And green cyano too! Kinda neat. Usually that stuff is red.


There's lots of good advice in this thread but, you really can't starve out cyano. Even after you've fixed all the problems causing it to grow in the first place, it can be near impossible to kill it. A blackout won't work if you've got coral - the coral will die first; and ambient light from the room is enough to grow this stuff. It's a very resilient and efficient organism. So that said, you really needn't be afraid of a chemical solution. You still need to do the right things to keep it gone but something like Chemiclean will kill it (but will take multiple treatments) and you don't seem to have anything that would be sensitive to it. Peroxide doesn't seem to do anything to cyano. High flow will stop it from attaching to the substrate and forming mats, which in theory lets something like a UV sterilizer kill it - but I've got a ton of the red variety in my little tank and it has survived all attempts to kill it save chemical; the tank is all zoas and anemones and thus is kept incredibly dirty and I'm not willing to risk the BTAs with chemiclean so I live with it.

Cyano is not just red but green-yellow-purple and even brown

 

[Dom]

Yup here you go, looks like a lot of green film algae.

Good photos!

Yes, I think weekly 20% water changes will go a long way.

Good luck!
Dom