Hello I need help

[Tubby]

Hi I had a glass lid on my reef tank I removed it and i am using a nicrew 150w the light is 10 inches about the water surface it runs in 5% white and 20% blue. Right after I removed my lid my tank went into a real mess. The coral closed up I think my frog spawn is dying. The Algea has gone berserk. I need help what should I do? I have a 40 gallon breeder.

This is the water perimeter

Ph 8.1

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 10

Calcium 480

KH 214.8

Phosphate .25

Alkalinity 9.3

Magnesium 1530

Temp 76

 

[Lps_lover12]

In my opinion the temp should be more around 77-78. Mag is a little too high, my thinking for everything closing up is that since you removed the lid the lights are a lot stronger now so the corals are getting blasted with more par, you’ll wanna drop it back down and rent a par meter if you can. Coral need to be acclimated to higher lighting extremely slow, over months

 

[Tubby]

Oh no removing the lid was a bad move but it sweats and the water gets all over the floor. the light has been lowered but maybe it needs to be lowered more. What is a good ideal number for mag?

 

[Lps_lover12]

Oh no removing the lid was a bad move but it sweats and the water gets all over the floor. the light has been lowered but maybe it needs to be lowered more. What is a good ideal number for mag?

For euphyllia they like higher mag so I keep mine around 1400 ish. 1500 is nothing to freak out about tho

 

[Tubby]

For euphyllia they like higher mag so I keep mine around 1400 ish. 1500 is nothing to freak out about tho

Does removing the lid cause more phosphate? All of sudden there’s tons of algea

 

[melonheadorion]

removing the lid let more light in. light is part of what is now feeding the algae

 

[Lavey29]

Light and your elevated phosphate level is the source of your algae.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi I had a glass lid on my reef tank I removed it and i am using a nicrew 150w the light is 10 inches about the water surface it runs in 5% white and 20% blue. Right after I removed my lid my tank went into a real mess. The coral closed up I think my frog spawn is dying. The Algea has gone berserk. I need help what should I do? I have a 40 gallon breeder.

This is the water perimeter

Ph 8.1

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 10

Calcium 480

KH 214.8

Phosphate .25

Alkalinity 9.3

Magnesium 1530

Temp 76

I too run with glass lids and Glass acts as a filter or in better terms Diffuser and removal of glass with same intebnsity is equivalent of cranking up the lights suddenly. Lower them 20% and tweak to desired intensity percentages slowly.
On parameters:

Looking at numbers, I assume you are using Api kit?

Ph 8.1 - 8.1 -8.3

Ammonia 0 I suspect false reading but good if accurate (see note below)

Nitrite 0 - Disregard as it applies to FW Unless sky high (above 100)

Nitrate 10

Calcium 480 - Good - Range is 400-450

KH 214.8 - Applies to FW - are you using test strips?

Phosphate .25 - Very high if accurate- you want .04-.08 no higher than about 1

Alkalinity 9.3

Magnesium 1530 quite high. While you can go up to 1500, best at 1300-1400

Note: May be a good time to get an ICP kit and send water sample to be tested. Also, would not be a bad idea to take a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at

 

[Tubby]

how would one bring phosphate down? I’ve decided to put the lid back on it has cause too much trouble for me. I am using API you are correct. But I’m using a Red Sea later to do all the testing again hopefully it’s better reading.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Those numbers don’t seem crazy in my opinion. It is likely the shock from the sudden light intensity increase. Can the intensity on those lights be adjusted? Or you could raise the lights higher if that’s an option.

—
The phosphates can be managed downward with less feeding, more frequent water changes, siphoning sand bed if you have one, siphoning your sump as well. Increase your skimming and changing out socks/filter floss more often. At least for a while.

 

[Tubby]

Those numbers don’t seem crazy in my opinion. It is likely the shock from the sudden light intensity increase. Can the intensity on those lights be adjusted? Or you could raise the lights higher if that’s an option.

—
The phosphates can be managed downward with less feeding, more frequent water changes, siphoning sand bed if you have one, siphoning your sump as well. Increase your skimming and changing out socks/filter floss more often. At least for a while.

Wow ok I did a siphon last week so maybe sometimes this week I will siphon again. How often should I change out the filter floss?

 

[Tubby]

Wow ok I did a siphon last week so maybe sometimes this week I will siphon again. How often should I change out the filter floss?

Those numbers don’t seem crazy in my opinion. It is likely the shock from the sudden light intensity increase. Can the intensity on those lights be adjusted? Or you could raise the lights higher if that’s an option.

—
The phosphates can be managed downward with less feeding, more frequent water changes, siphoning sand bed if you have one, siphoning your sump as well. Increase your skimming and changing out socks/filter floss more often. At least for a while.

Yeah I turned down the intensity. How would we know if it’s too little light or too much light?

 

[Isaac Alves]

Yeah I turned down the intensity. How would we know if it’s too little light or too much light?

If I have sensitive coral or something new I either put it in the sand bed to acclimate or use my light’s acclimation function — which basically brings the light intensity down like 20% and automatically ramps it back up to the original intensity over a couple weeks. You can do the same thing by hand if you have an intensity dial of some kind. And watching your tank closely to observe how the corals respond.

Regarding filter floss, I change mine out every two days on my office tank, a very low tech set up that’s been running a few years.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Observation is the best way to see how everything is responding to small changes over time.

—-
Phosphates are caused by decaying material in your water — basically. Leaving the filter floss or sock sitting in your water will release phosphorus as the organics break down. Without adding extra components to your setup I think watching what you feed, refreshing your sock / floss often, and water changes are going to help get a good routine going to manage phosphates.