Hydrogen Peroxide for bubble algae

[mcarroll]

I understand what you are saying and agree completely but this tank has been great on the water balance. My NO3--around 5ppm and PO2 0.2ppm so im not sure what is causing it.

Forget levels. When you have algae, that's all the test you need.

It's a process of elimination to figure out the cause....never that hard though.

Overstocked?
Overfeeding?
Lack of flow?
Buildup of detritus in rocks?
Buildup in sand?
Nutrients from makeup water?

It's always one or more of these kind of things.

What have you checked so far?

-Matt

 

[K_red_raider]

Oh no… You shouldn't dip the rocks in peroxide or any other dipping preparation! The dips for zoas (and/or corals) work only for frags on plugs.
You just can't dip rocks. You would probably end up with a huge mess with dead organisms and ruin your system.
If the problem is with the rocks you'll need to remove them mechanically and deal with the predators, water changes and nutrient balance.

Grandis.

I was wondering if it would kill everything. I have a new man made rock structure that is curing right now so I may just go with the crabs and wait for the rock until I get the new stuff in the tank

 

[K_red_raider]

Forget levels. When you have algae, that's all the test you need.

It's a process of elimination to figure out the cause....never that hard though.

Overstocked?
Overfeeding?
Lack of flow?
Buildup of detritus in rocks?
Buildup in sand?
Nutrients from makeup water?

It's always one or more of these kind of things.

What have you checked so far?

-Matt

Overstocked---4 small fish in a 30 should not be a problem
Overfeeding---I feed Rods once a day everyday to every other day and it is just a very small amount
Lack of flow---I have two MP10s in the tank with plenty of flow
Detritus in rock---I have not ever seen any on or in the rocks...but i guess could be some
In sand---I have fine sugar sand so I cant clean it out or at least dont know how to cuz every time I try to suction it it just sucks the sand out
Make up water---I have tested it a bunch and have never had anything in it and it is the same water that I use for my 120 SPS and have no problem with it

 

[A. grandis]

I was wondering if it would kill everything. I have a new man made rock structure that is curing right now so I may just go with the crabs and wait for the rock until I get the new stuff in the tank

You can't use dipping methods o the live rocks. Never! They will "kill the rock". You don't want that.

The algae problem needs to be solved with the nutrients.
If you don't know about the nutrient balance you'll aways have the problem no matter what.
You can make the system brand new, but you'll get algae sooner or later because of the nutrient pool.
Algae will always exist in your systems. They come with the plugs and so on...
Check your phosphates, nitrates and make sure the water you're using for evaporation and water changes doesn't have high nutrients, specially silicates.
Make sure your testes aren't expired.

Do not overfeed! Avoid frozen foods, they normally have lots of phosphates.
Remove detritus from the tank while performing maintenance.
Make sure your lights are good reef lights and if you need to change bulbs do so.
MHs and T5s should be changed every 12 months max.
If you have LEDs you also need to understand about the light features of the system you've got and make sure the light is optimal for a reef system.
LEDs aren't the best yet for reefs IMO.

Artificial live rocks, depending on the material used, could give you eternal algae problems!!
Avoid the use of shells when making your rocks!
If your current rocks are made with shells, please make a plan to take the system down and make new rocks with aragonite or coral gravel.
Make new rocks and cure them really well. It normally takes 60 days curing with daily 100% water changes (fresh water).
There is lots to artificial live rocks. Hope you're doing right...

Good luck!

Grandis.

 

[mcarroll]

Overstocked---4 small fish in a 30 should not be a problem

Probably true. But I'm gonna ask what they are in the next question.

Overfeeding---I feed Rods once a day everyday to every other day and it is just a very small amount

With many fish they do well with even less-frequent feedings...2-3 times a week would be plenty...once a week or even every other week is even plenty for some fish. So you could at least consider a change here. What fish do you have?

Lack of flow---I have two MP10s in the tank with plenty of flow

It's not the pump or number of pumps, but how you use them! Seriously, "two mp10's in a 30" is not the whole story. For example, I had two mp40's in a 50 breeder and they provided terrible flow. (In my case, different pumps did a much better job.) You have to look at your tank and find the dead zones - they are there. The question is if there are too many, and how much crud are they accumulating? Then you can decide what, if anything, needs to be done about it.

Detritus in rock---I have not ever seen any on or in the rocks...but i guess could be some

Take a power head and blow out the whole rock structure. If anything is there, this should be sufficient to make a difference. If it turns out to be bad, a few "blow out sessions" might be called for before you see results.

In sand---I have fine sugar sand so I cant clean it out or at least dont know how to cuz every time I try to suction it it just sucks the sand out

Verify if the sand bed is compromised first. Swizzle your finger or something around in the sand a few places that are likely to accumulate detritus: under the mp10's, under the sump return, and at the bases of rocks. If anything comes out of the sand that isn't pure white, you have identified at least part of your problem. The most sensible solution, if you do find a problem here, is to siphon out the whole sand bed over the course of at least four or five water changes. Replacing the sand bed is optional, but figuring out what cause the problem is not.

Make up water---I have tested it a bunch and have never had anything in it and it is the same water that I use for my 120 SPS and have no problem with it

The 120 probably has separate lighting and a separate feeding and maintenance schedule....maybe different filtration too. So I wouldn't make too many assumptions, even though that is a good sign. Testing nitrate with a quality nitrate test kit and phosphates with some kind electronic meter would be the only minimums I'd suggest, in case you hadn't already done both.

Something to remember is that fighting detritus is fighting against gravity and the natural way of things. In the ocean, there's a huge recycling of nitrogen that only begins with the crud falling to the ocean floor. In our tanks, that's unfortunately where it ends and that's why it's a problem and you cannot "win" - why it's something that everyone has to deal with sooner or later. How good your flow is determines to a large extent how much sooner or how much later your personal attention will be required.

-Matt