Inverts slowly disappearing

MombasaLionfish · Feb 14, 2020

motortrendz said:
What are your actual parameters besides fine lol. Bc obviously with that much algae overtaking your tank it's not fine... not trying to be mean. Just trying to help.

What test kits are you using? Usually when some says .25 on po4 they're using an api test.
What's your salinity, nitrate,alkalinity, magnesium?
What kind of water are you using? Rodi? Self made or store bought?
What kind of lighting as well?

I think your disappearing crabs and dying snails could be from other elements that can also be casuing your hair algae.

A lawnmower blenny would not be able to put a dent in this, manual removal as much a possible, if the rocks are a le to be removed I'd remove them and scrub them and get some hydrogen peroxide and give them a bath to help kill back the algae. But if you dont fix the underlying problem then it will just come back.

Those are what I got I can check again with pictures. I can check the test kit in the morning. I will check all those as well. Nitrate says zero but I can recheck. Rodi me and my dad hooked up a whole filtration system on to the sink. I have to small white LEDs that came with the tank and then a bigger light which is a bigger LED. This is what it looks like.

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MombasaLionfish · Feb 14, 2020

Also thank you guys for the help. I really do appreciate it.

motortrendz · Feb 14, 2020

U using api kits? They're hard to get a real read.

The white leds are definitly hurting you, too, too much of the spectrum that feeds algae growth. But I would start scraping the glass and removing as much as you can. Pop those frag off the rocks and stick them on a rack for now and get those rocks scrubbed. The thicker it gets the harder it will be to get rid of it. And itll engulf the frags you have and choke them out.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 14, 2020

motortrendz said:
U using api kits? They're hard to get a real read.

The white leds are definitly hurting you, too, too much of the spectrum that feeds algae growth. But I would start scraping the glass and removing as much as you can. Pop those frag off the rocks and stick them on a rack for now and get those rocks scrubbed. The thicker it gets the harder it will be to get rid of it. And itll engulf the frags you have and choke them out.

No I use Red Sea kits. I can turn those off they do not really matter. The problem with popping the frags off the rocks is the frags have grown onto the rocks. Yes I know it nearly choked my blasto. I brushed it with a toothbrush last weekend it worked pretty well until it grew back. I can scrub them down again.

motortrendz · Feb 14, 2020

With a red sea kit you got zero on nitrates? Hmmm. but I would be interested to see where your alk and magnesium are. Bc if they're both low that can set up a healthy environment for the algae to flourish. I mean theres alot of factors that go into it. But covering the basics first and removing while you fine tune the system will help you get back on track.

motortrendz · Feb 14, 2020

Best way to get those rocks cleared up is to remove them and scrub them using hydrogen peroxide. Which is y I would remove the frags while doing it. limiting your photo peroid and reducing the whites as much as possible.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 14, 2020

The zoas have grown on to the rocks. I have already shut off the whites.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

Salinity: 1.025
Magnesium: 1200 ppm
Calcium: 420 ppm
Alkalinity: 6.2 dkh
Amona: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Phosphate: 0.25-0.50

Pictures are still downloading. I have water getting ready for a water change.

motortrendz · Feb 15, 2020

So heres some goals to try to achieve:

Get nitrates up between 6-10ppm
Alkalinity up to about 8-8.5
Mag up to about 1350-1400(its slightly elevated number but will help with algae control)
Lower po4 to about 0.06-0.10

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

motortrendz said:
So heres some goals to try to achieve:

Get nitrates up between 6-10ppm
Alkalinity up to about 8-8.5
Mag up to about 1350-1400(its slightly elevated number but will help with algae control)
Lower po4 to about 0.06-0.10

Get nitrates up? Isn't that bad.

motortrendz · Feb 15, 2020

Zero is bad. You need a balance. If you keep them below 10 your fine. But at zero your asking for dino and/or cyano outbreak. It can also be a false zero, with that amount of hair algae. They are absorbing the nitrates and phosphates which means bot numbers could actually be higher. Which goes back to my earlier post about manually removing as much as possible.

You can dose nitrates, and looks like you should dose alkalinity as well.
I'd say get more fish and feed more, which will raise nitrates naturally. And do a few water changes to get the alk back up.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

motortrendz said:
Zero is bad. You need a balance. If you keep them below 10 your fine. But at zero your asking for dino and/or cyano outbreak. It can also be a false zero, with that amount of hair algae. They are absorbing the nitrates and phosphates which means bot numbers could actually be higher. Which goes back to my earlier post about manually removing as much as possible.

You can dose nitrates, and looks like you should dose alkalinity as well.
I'd say get more fish and feed more, which will raise nitrates naturally. And do a few water changes to get the alk back up.

Cool ok. I can feed my fish way more I was limiting them because of all this algae. They will be happy to get food every day again. Me and my dad were just looking into dosing alkalinity. We already have a bucket of water getting ready it should be ready tomorrow or later today.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

Oh also a few people said sea hare. Should I get one and what kind?

motortrendz · Feb 15, 2020

Itll definitly eat some. But even a sea hare I dont think would be able to keep up.

MombasaLionfish · Feb 15, 2020

motortrendz said:
Itll definitly eat some. But even a sea hare I dont think would be able to keep up.

What kind of sea hare? How about urchin?

Krully · Feb 16, 2020

@motortrendz Don't you think the 0 nitrate is because his algae is eating it?

Also not relevant to your current issue but ditch the hydrometer and get a proper refractometer even a cheap one from amazon with calibration fluid, will save you salinity issues in the future.

I'd say go easy and simple again, weekly water changes, scrub the rocks, get some CUC as suggested by others and make sure your RODI is 0 TDS (ask your LFS to test it for you if you don't have a TDS meter). Overall you're on good tracks, you'll find good advice here and you're willing to listen so patience is key!

MombasaLionfish · Feb 16, 2020

Krully said:
@motortrendz Don't you think the 0 nitrate is because his algae is eating it?

Also not relevant to your current issue but ditch the hydrometer and get a proper refractometer even a cheap one from amazon with calibration fluid, will save you salinity issues in the future.

I'd say go easy and simple again, weekly water changes, scrub the rocks, get some CUC as suggested by others and make sure your RODI is 0 TDS (ask your LFS to test it for you if you don't have a TDS meter). Overall you're on good tracks, you'll find good advice here and you're willing to listen so patience is key!

I have a refractometer but I could not find it. What is TDS? Also what kind of sea hare?

Krully · Feb 16, 2020

Oh okay! TDS is the dissolved solids in your water, basically the higher it is the more crap there is in your water that can lead to more algae, diatoms, etc...