Ready to leave the hobby......

Daniel@R2R · Feb 12, 2017

hybridazn said:
Look at your lights, I used to run a Chinese led fixture over a frag system and no matter what I did I got the same brown goop algae that would grow on everything. I swapped it out for a kessil and it literally disappeared over a few weeks.

I believe @mdbannister had the same issue and after I told him this he pulled his lights and had the same results.

#TrueStory

hybridazn · Feb 12, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Really?

I wish I was kidding, I ran the black box leds with the algae problems. I wish I could give more concrete evidence rather than my basic observation but its all I have to go on. Nothing else changed in the system or my maintenance habits. From what I could gather it had to have something to do with the leds used in the fixtures.

tomxreef · Feb 12, 2017

How many fish do you have? Do you see any bubbles?

Shep · Feb 12, 2017

I think I have the same algae problem going on, following along

ReelRednekReefer · Feb 12, 2017

Tmr8188 said:
How many fish do you have? Do you see any bubbles?

2 fish. Yes it can have bubbles but less so these days.

Diesel · Feb 12, 2017

Not sure if we talking about some sort of cyano here.
But it never hurt to test for it.
Take a portion of the algae you see in your tank and place it into a cup with about 2 cups of tank water.
Now add 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide
Over the course of several hours you may start to see a change in the water and the color of your sample.
If in fact it is the common cyanobacteria and not spirulina the water will start to turn a different color.
Now if it is spirulina there will be no change as h2o2 has little effect on the individual cells.

Macdaddynick1 · Feb 12, 2017

By this picture, I think one of your snail is eating it. Which means that there is still hope. You should try trochus snails, they are pro at eating soft/film algae like that. Turbos are more for the harder stuff like hair algae and you only have 3 in a 90 gallon. When I started my tank I've had similar algae growing everywhere. After throwing trochus from old tank into the new one, I think in less than 2 days it was all gone, it went from the forest of slime to white rock (mind you, I have about 20 trochus in a 60-70 gallon, you won't need that many but you can try 4 and you should notice the difference). You need to have the right clean up crew for every algae species. For example I don't have turbo snails and I have trouble with hair algae. You essentially need the right predator for the job. A lot of people cannot keep chestnut snails and they have trouble with bryopsis. Another solution is to encourage coralline algae in your tank by keeping your ca and alk fairly high and stable, as algae competes with each-other and coralline is the lesser of two evils it's not a bad option.

Good luck.

Mrx7899 · Feb 12, 2017

I had something that looked similar and dosed hydrogen peroxide and it killed it

yama · Feb 12, 2017

Does loads of copepods and phytoplankton they will eat algae that's what I used to rid my tank of Dinoflagellates which is the worst you can have. An I run Chinese black box reduced to 6 hours a day 18℅ white 60℅ blue

4FordFamily · Feb 12, 2017

hybridazn said:
Look at your lights, I used to run a Chinese led fixture over a frag system and no matter what I did I got the same brown goop algae that would grow on everything. I swapped it out for a kessil and it literally disappeared over a few weeks.

I believe @mdbannister had the same issue and after I told him this he pulled his lights and had the same results.

Funny you say that, I had this same problem over my 180 FOWLR and I had Chinese LEDs.

Looked and behaved like Dino's... looked just like the op's goo

sundog101 · Feb 12, 2017

Does it look like this?

If so I'm not sure what it is haha. I had this in my tank and could never found out what it was. In my experience nothing eats it and I'm not even sure if it's an algae. It's seems like an algae-like detritus and it just falls apart. The best way I've found to get rid of it is to get some filter socks and stir it all up. Also siphoning it out works pretty well.

Nick92515 · Feb 12, 2017

Best would be to scope it so we have a direction to go. Otherwise were just guessing. Mine would be dinos, but it almost looks like diatoms and cyano in one. Could be anything, what treatments have you tried so far?
H2o2?
Vibrant - liquid gold.

Its fixable, and it will take time

But anythings fixable. Just proper steps.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 12, 2017

I want to vote a Lyngbya.

Denisk · Feb 12, 2017

I noticed you tried a lot of things but have you ever tried running a filter sock and and scrubbing the wall/ overflow and then removing it. Also I would potentially remove a rock at a time and scrub it well in some saltwater and put it back. I wonder how long it'll take to just grow back bc if it's quick. Something would be causing the growth.

I've ran the same leds and I know many people have too and I've never seen this. I had great growth with them and no other issue. Also it doesn't look like your typical Dino problem.

Best of luck! Don't give up though, everyone tends to go through something in the hobby.

ReelRednekReefer · Feb 14, 2017

Hey everyone! Thanks for the help. After discussing it with he wife and the LFS( who gave a great deal for credit on my livestock) I opted to exit saltwater. Job and two active kids along with other projects dictate to much of my time (and money) to be able to care for and build a reef to my standards. Then the day after I posted this thread my skimmer pump went out and that was the last straw.....

After dismantling the tank I believe I found the sources of nutrients driving the algeas. Many of my cuc which I presumed were simply hidden had perished which has exponential results as we know. It was simply growing faster than it could be considered consumed and phosphates must have been very high but just not free to show on the tests. Combine all this with an underrated skimmer and.....well you see the results

It may be partially due to the lights but without controlled variables I can't be sure.

So.....they grow algae well! They likely will grow plants well thus a lightly planted fresh water community tank will make use of my tank and satisfy my aquatic compulsion without breaking the bank or commanding as much of my attention, plus when the kids can have more input on livestock so it should be more enjoyable for the whole family.

This hobby should be fun, it was for a time and one day when life slows down it will be again and my reef will be what it should be until then I'll stick to freshwater.

ReelRednekReefer · Feb 14, 2017

sundog101 said:
Does it look like this?

If so I'm not sure what it is haha. I had this in my tank and could never found out what it was. In my experience nothing eats it and I'm not even sure if it's an algae. It's seems like an algae-like detritus and it just falls apart. The best way I've found to get rid of it is to get some filter socks and stir it all up. Also siphoning it out works pretty well.

When I would scrub it off it would clog to itself and rocks which seem to make it worse. I had this problem in the beginning and I think my livestock was eating it faster than it could grow until it dwindled down.

Flippers4pups · Feb 14, 2017

Without water testing and more information, there was nothing left but speculation on my part. (Scratches balding head)

I can whole heartily, honestly confirm that the "Chinese black box" theory of cause for the OP's issues is dead. (I'm enjoying some of the greatest success in keeping hard coral in my 24 years of reef keeping! Period.) Maybe I'm the lone wolf on this........ na, there's a ton of others having success too.

So.......
Water testing on a weekly basis is essential for proper health and success in reefkeeping. You must know what your water pramameters are to adjust them when needed! (No and's, if's or but's! Unless you have a crystal ball)

Op stated that he let the tank go on "auto pilot". (Hand to forehead)

Throwing in the towel is okay. Life gets in the way and it's time to get out. No harm.

Good luck

Roy 9121 · Feb 14, 2017

ReelRednekReefer said:
I have thought this could be an issue........

I had a set of the Chinese LEDs, they were horrible. I sucked it up and bought the Hydra 52s. I love them. How long are you running your lights now?

Flippers4pups · Feb 14, 2017

I've had them since early October of 2016. They are not plug and play like T5's for sure, but once dialed in and my corals had been acclimated, they took off.