Help! 1 year old tank cycling again

[Sdurhman]

as the title says, I've had my mixed reef tank with fish and inverts up and running for a year. Starting a few weeks ago noticed some SPS browning and LPS shriveling and melting as well as what looks like green/brown algae on the tank walls and sand bed. I tested everything myself and had my coral guy test as well, only significant finding was nitrates around 25ppm. I did about an 80% water change. And everything is within normal limits bilateral nothing looked better, in fact it looked worse! These are my readings:
Nitrate 8ppm which is where I normally keep it
Calcium 400
Alk 8
Mag 1500
Phosphates trace

Now I've lost a number of corals and got curious. Due to the algae issue just on the sand and glass I tested ammonia and nitrite. I hadn't before because I didn't think about my tank cycling again but low and behold, my ammonia level is at 1ppm! Nitrite is 0.

So my question is, is my tank in fact cycling again, has anyone had this happen and what do I do!? I don't want to lose the poor lives of all my coral and fish and the thousands of dollars in livestock I have!

Thanks for taking the time to help!

 

[sfin52]

The thread "Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?" will take you in a much more productive direction

Possible Dino's

 

[Sdurhman]

Why the high ammonia?

 

[sfin52]

You have stuff dying. That leads to ammonia. Some stands of Dino's can release toxins into the tank.

 

[sfin52]

Any pics of the algae that some people can identify.

 

[Sdurhman]

I did have a turbo snail die yesterday but I pulled it right out of the tank. I assumed it was from whatever problem I've been having. everyone else is accounted for, not that I can absolutely keep track of every snail I have though...

 

[sfin52]

Great looking tank. Is the algae green or a different color.

 

[mcarroll]

So my question is, is my tank in fact cycling again, has anyone had this happen and what do I do!? I don't want to lose the poor lives of all my coral and fish and the thousands of dollars in livestock I have!

You're not too far off at all in your assessment.

Sounds like it could be toxic dino's blooming as a result of the PO4 and NO3 being removed from the system.....roughly speaking.

Check out the thread @sfin52 linked (especially the first post) and see if you think you "fit".

While you're assessing the situation, I would immediately take any nutrient reducers offline: no carbon dosing, no GFO, et al. I would even cut back macro algae severely or remove them.

Use activated carbon at about 1/4 the normal dose and change it out weekly.

Post here or on the other thread and let us know what you think!!!

 

[Sdurhman]

Mostly on the green side but slightly brown. Thanks! I think it's a great looking tank too when things aren't dying off and covered in algae! Haha

These give a better picture of what's happening to some of the corals. I would say most, if not all, are being negatively affected but some are far worse than others...

 

[sfin52]

@mcarroll I was about ready to tag you.

 

[mcarroll]

Judging from the photos, snails seem to be all over the place.....good! Just not much to eat....rock looks very bare.

After you add activated carbon (just in case), and take nutrient reducers offline, I may suggest doing nothing to see if that's enough.

Dosing a small amount of N and P would be the most "severe" thing I can imagine recommending so far.

The few corals you showed that look to be in bad shape would probably respond well to this....and fertilizers aren't too expensive.

 

[Sdurhman]

All I have is a protein skimmer running. But I do have a carbon reactor that I haven't used in about 7-8 months. So you're saying I should add carbon. I feel like I need to keep the protein skimmer on. Last time I turned it off for a couple days my nitrates spiked.

 

[mcarroll]

Yes, I would put in a 1/4 of the amount the carbon maker recommends....usually it's something like 1 cup per 100 gallons and change it once a month. We're going with a smaller, more frequently changed dose.

Skimming doesn't do a lot for nitrate or phosphate removal....but it does to a lot for oxygenation.

If you saw a nutrient spike after turning off the skimmer and turning off the skimmer is all you did, then I'd almost suspect die-off of something due to O2 depletion as the reason for the spike.

Does this make any sense?

 

[Sdurhman]

That makes sense, thanks so much for the help!

 

[savetheocean]

How many gallons is that tank? Its awesome

 

[Sdurhman]

It's a 90 gallon

 

[brandon429]

we talk about assessing a cycle off pics alone in lots of places.

This tank has no free ammonia. Test misread, that's the part I want to detail so far.
Zo's do not open even in .25 levels of free ammonia, much less 4x

also, with that level of live rock, any ammonia will be eaten up within 24 hours and faster, likely 12

if you have ever got a 48 hour consistent reading of ammonia off this tank, to any degree, please post the API test kit that read it (test kit has been unstated so far, assumptions beginning)
curious if it was red sea ammonia test too


a true ammonia event that can overcome the oxidation command of that much coralline live rock is strictly related to a fish loss or a dirty sandbed, filthy, which was disturbed liberating a bunch of half rotten detritus proteins into suspension, that did not occur here most likely, pretty clean bed cross section we can see.

you would be amazed at the ways in which common low level ammonia test kits mis indicate serious events...even using the conditioner Prime is known to throw them off, especially the nitrite reading portions.

There are better ways to biologically assess a cycle than with an ammonia test kit, ironically.

the pics/no ammonia in that system. not even for 12 hours. we do 100% water changes, tap water rinsing the whole sandbed all at once, in tanks far old and with far less dilution, same ratio of coral growth. the wc affected nothing here, only waste reserves kicked up somewhere or loss of a large organism would create a + 24 hour duration ammonia event in a 90.

 

[Sdurhman]

I unfortunately only had an API test, not my favorite test. I've switched all my other tests to salifert but not ammonia. I do understand that I don't have a trustworthy test, but all my trustworthy tests were coming back normal. I got some MicroBacter7 today and am going to start treating and see if it helps. Another torch that I've had for 8 months has melted away, and my birds nest that has been growing like crazy before all of this has developed white spots as of today. Any recommendations?

 

[mcarroll]

Water changes and/or ammonia neutralizer? If you want a different viewpoint, maybe pick up a Seachem ammonia alert and see if it concurs?