New to reefing and need help with algae.

[JimSWreef]

Thanks for tanking the time to look at what's going on in my tank. I am currently TDY in the army and my poor wife is trying to maintain my tank until I return. She took these pictures. Please help me I'd so I can figure out how to cure it.

Picture 1 looks like coralline and some other random algae growing.

Picture 2 my sand bed is growing some weird stuff. Almost looks like coralline.....weird.

Picture 4 is an overall pic. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks everyone!

Thanks again for your time and expertise!

 

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

HTH.

 

[redfishbluefish]

The reddish stuff is cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and the green stuff looks to be hair algae. I think it's fair to say you have a nutrient problem. You'll need to do things to lower those nutrients. But first need more info.....Are you using RO/DI water for top-off and making saltwater? Do you have a sump, skimmer, any reactors? Do you carbon dose (including biopellets)? What fish do you have and what's you feeding regiment like? What's your frequency and volume of water changes? What lights do you have? And finally, what are your nitrate and phosphate numbers?


EDIT TO ADD: Being a dumb lummox, I had to look up TDY - Temporary Duty Yonder

 

[JimSWreef]

The reddish stuff is cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and the green stuff looks to be hair algae. I think it's fair to say you have a nutrient problem. You'll need to do things to lower those nutrients. But first need more info.....Are you using RO/DI water for top-off and making saltwater? Do you have a sump, skimmer, any reactors? Do you carbon dose (including biopellets)? What fish do you have and what's you feed regiment like? What's your frequency and volume of water changes? What lights do you have? And finally, what are your nitrate and phosphate numbers?

Thanks a lot for the response.

Yes to Rodi water.
Have a reef octopus 1000 HOB skimmer
No sump, but a eheim easy pro 60 filter with media
No reactors as of yet. ( not sure my wife would know how to install it with me gone, but was on my list of things to get when I get back home)
I have not dosed carbon
I have 1 clarkii clown, 2 shrimp ( cleaner/blood red), 1 emerald crab, 3 Astraea snails, 7 nassarius snails, 1 long tentacle anemone, and 1 Xenia coral.
We mix types of food from small shrimps ( defrosted frozen) to flakes. We spot feed anemone every 3-4 days, and the fish gets food morning and evening, no food left over after feeding ( so not over fed).
Tank is 30 gal and I change about 8-10 gals per change.
I believe my wife has been doing that ever week and a half. ( unfortunately this is not her hobby so her attention to detail on this is not as good as mine, so some things slip.). I am sure I will have some recovery to do when I get home.
Lighting is the current orbit lighting set on a 8 hr day.

Here is what my wife tested the other day.

Thanks again for your time in helping me help my wife tame this from across the country haha. I really do appreciate it.

I am in flight school so she is having to take over my hobby until I return in July.

 

[JimSWreef]

Here is the visual setup of equipment

 

[diablomaster9045]

phosphates are high and nitrates are a tad high. Best thing I recommend is doing water changes and reduce feeding. Maybe once every 2 days.

 

[JimSWreef]

Okay I'll have her do a good cleaning and scraping of the tank and start a regular water change until it subsides. And I'll give the feeding regiment a change for a bit.

 

[cloak]

You might want to clean whatever type of media you have in that canister filter as well. (or just get rid of it altogether) If that thing is full of detritus, leftover food etc it's definitely not helping your tank. Also, sometimes increasing the circulation in a tank will help with Cyanobacteria. GL.

 

[beaslbob]

I would kill the lights and suspend all feeding (well twice per week after a week or so anyway).

When it clears then resume with 1/2 lighting and feeding and adjust until the cyano stays away but the desirables thrive.

I would also add macro algaes like chaeto in a refugium to consume the nutrients instead of the hair and cyano.

my .02

 

[JimSWreef]

You might want to clean whatever type of media you have in that canister filter as well. (or just get rid of it altogether) If that thing is full of detritus, leftover food etc it's definitely not helping your tank. Also, sometimes increasing the circulation in a tank will help with Cyanobacteria. GL.

Okay so maybe another powerhead on the opposite end of the tank?

 

[JimSWreef]

I would kill the lights and suspend all feeding (well twice per week after a week or so anyway).

When it clears then resume with 1/2 lighting and feeding and adjust until the cyano stays away but the desirables thrive.

I would also add macro algaes like chaeto in a refugium to consume the nutrients instead of the hair and cyano.

my .02

Okay I didn't have the space for a refugium, maybe I can find a HoB makeshift one to help out or maybe build a custom one. I will turn off the lighting though.

 

[LetItReef]

Use the simpler approach like Diablo said. And would also stop using Flake food.
If the Powerhead you have is rated at 500-700 gph at the least, you will be good for 1.

 

[JimSWreef]

Ya i have a vortec mp10 i forget the rating but i think it said up to 1500

 

[pskirby95]

I had an outbreak of cyanobacteria in mine for quite a while, finally got it to go away when I moved my tank. I was always told to watch my fish when I feed them, and anything they don't eat, scoop out. Then you can also reduce lighting, I put mine on my blue actinic lights during the day so I could still see the fish, and also did a few water changes. Thankfully it seems to be staying away now. A very last resort would be to use a chemical remover like ChemiClean or something of that nature, but you need to MAKE SURE that you do a water change after the 2 days they suggest, and test your water and try to get it back to a normal cycle. But don't use that until you feel like you have no other option. I ended up using and while my tank didn't seem to be hurt by it, I've heard some horror stories....

Hope you can get it cleared up before it really takes over like it did mine.

 

[JimSWreef]

I had an outbreak of cyanobacteria in mine for quite a while, finally got it to go away when I moved my tank. I was always told to watch my fish when I feed them, and anything they don't eat, scoop out. Then you can also reduce lighting, I put mine on my blue actinic lights during the day so I could still see the fish, and also did a few water changes. Thankfully it seems to be staying away now. A very last resort would be to use a chemical remover like ChemiClean or something of that nature, but you need to MAKE SURE that you do a water change after the 2 days they suggest, and test your water and try to get it back to a normal cycle. But don't use that until you feel like you have no other option. I ended up using and while my tank didn't seem to be hurt by it, I've heard some horror stories....

Hope you can get it cleared up before it really takes over like it did mine.

Thanks for the support, ha it's hard right now because my tank is in my wife's hand with me gone lol....so I am having to walk her through everything until I return... She has a month to go to keep this tank maintained lol. I will get the lights completely off. She works during the day anyways, so no one is home to watch fish play. I'll have her feed less and water change frequently...boy she is gonna love me heh.

 

[pskirby95]

Thanks for the support, ha it's hard right now because my tank is in my wife's hand with me gone lol....so I am having to walk her through everything until I return... She has a month to go to keep this tank maintained lol. I will get the lights completely off. She works during the day anyways, so no one is home to watch fish play. I'll have her feed less and water change frequently...boy she is gonna love me heh.

Not a problem! Did you say that you had one powerhead also? Ive also heard that increasing flow is helpful. Any dead spots usually are where the cyano started. I got a cheap small powerhead and stuck it in corner where I noticed a lot of it, and it helped some. Just bring the phosphates down with some GFO's, I threw mine in a filter bag and stuck right below the return in my skimmer to make sure that all the water is going through it... PhosBan by Two Little Fishies seems to work the best and its not super expensive either. The pictures I'm attaching are what I have now, controllable and a lot less significant than before.

 

[JimSWreef]

Okay so that reddish purple on the rocks is cyano and not corralline? Cool ya ill get some gfo. I was planning on buying a 2 stage gfo/ carbon reactor anyways. But until i get home ill have my wife use the bag method in the filter or skimmer as well

 

[diablomaster9045]

Okay so that reddish purple on the rocks is cyano and not corralline? Cool ya ill get some gfo. I was planning on buying a 2 stage gfo/ carbon reactor anyways. But until i get home ill have my wife use the bag method in the filter or skimmer as well

My thought is just have her do the water changes and feed less. This is easy for her to do and has little risk to your current livestock. I like to minimise the need for the caretaker to make major changes to equipment and chemical filtration. You will want to minimise major changes until you are home to help with it.

As for the canister filter I would bet is does need some cleaning as well. I'm am not sure about recommending cleaning it, as I have personally never used one on a reef.

A general rule of thumb when someone else is taking care of your tank is KIS (Keep It Simple).

 

[beaslbob]

Okay I didn't have the space for a refugium, maybe I can find a HoB makeshift one to help out or maybe build a custom one. I will turn off the lighting though.

IMHO you don't have to get too complicated. A simple partition on tank will allow the chaeto to grow protected. An additional small light from the side would help it grow while the rest of the display area still has the lights off.

my .02

 

[beaslbob]

but if you're away I agree with having the wife kill the lights and stop all feeding until it clears.
my .02