Scared my tank is going to crash

[Matthew Morrison]

My equipment and livestock.
125 gallon
Synergy 44 triton sump
Vertex alpha 900 skimmer
2 eheim 150 watt heaters
1 vortech mp40
3 radion xr15 gen 4 pro.
Refugium with 2 handfuls amounts worth of chaetomorpha (not tons more than what I started with 3 months ago)
Refugium light kessil H380
Refugium light on grow 12 hours opposite tank lights
Sicci Silent 5.0 return pump.
Radion lights were on 12 hours with 4 hours at then ramping up from 100% intensity 100% blue/purple/uv channels 0% remaining channels. 4 hours intensity 100% all channels 100%. 4 hours Ramp down to 100% intensity and 100% purple/uv/blue channels 0%remaing channels.
12 hours lunar cycle 3%intensity purple/blue channel.

5 days ago changed schedule to ab plus coral lab template.


I have 2 clown, 1 dart, 1 flame angel, 1 yellow tang,
1 emerald crab, 2 blood shrimp, one urchin tuxedo type I think. I added 1 goby, 1 mandarin goby, 1 powder blue tang, 2 green chromis 3 days ago. (Tangs getting along fine for the most part more or less.)

I added 2 clowns at first then week later 2 darts, coral beauty, and a purple/yellow dotty back.
Then a week or so later I added the yellow tang and emeral crab and 2 peppermint shrimp and 3 unidentified lps coral from my lfs. I never saw the 2 peppermint shrimp again. Within a couple weeks the coral beauty had white on its lower lip and a week later it was swimming upside down and sideways in circles and would run into rocks. It then died, right after it died I saw my dottyback with the front half of its body missing. I then got triton core 7 and dosed according to instructions. (2 months later my dkh has read 8.0-9.1 up and down using Hanna checker dkh and I’ve obly doses that 1 single time. A couple weeks later my dad got me 2 blood shrimp and an urchine from the lfs for my birthday. Couple weeks later I got rid of my 2 fluval led light strips and replaced them with 1 radion xr15 gen4 pro in 1 week intervals. Once I had 3 I bought coral from wwc. Frag pack acro and frat pack lps, then a week or so later I bought 1 acro, 1 montipora, 1 chalice from wwc. I bought 15 coral from their live sale and they will arrive Friday.
Not including the 15 frags I’m getting in a couple days my tank currently has
I have 12 coral frags (today when I got home my $125 rainbow rim chalice has disappeared.)that are all 2 months old to brand new frags. 5 Acro and rest lps besides 1 softie I believe. I fed brs reef chili for the first time a week ago and a second time 3 days ago.
I fed 1 cube mysis for consistently until my lfs only had brine so I got that and upped it to 2 cubes brine for about 2 weeks and 3 days I feed just 2 cubes my sis shrimp.


(Above is my current equipment and livestock set up and progression below is my current issue in dealing with)


I’m in my first 6 months of experience and I am dealing with a Dino outbreak. All my rocks where covered in grey mucus gunk and they has strands that had bubbles on the tips.

I cleaned and emptied my skimmer cup.
There was a greenish slimy fine looking algae all over the walls and bottom of refugium. I wiped all of it off so the only algae remaining visually was the chateomorpha. I added a small power head into the refugium to try to get the chaetomorpha not so stagnant in one spot under the kessil h380.
I turned off my lights 24 hours ago but did not encase my tank with cardboard or anything.

Today I moved my corals onto a rack so I can brush off the rock best I can.
My corals were not put on the best way I came to learn. The frag discs were superglued to the reef saver rocks.

I see some coral being covered with the gray gunk and loosing color and closing up kinda.
I gently tried to remove the algae film from the corals best I can with the couple that had it on them.

My water is murky as can be right now from the brushing of they gray gunk tonight.

I then covered the back and the right side closest to sunlight with beach towels. I have my mp40 on 100% constant flow.

Am I doing anything wrong or have I done anything wrong?
I’m just afraid that I’m doing something wrong. I want a happy and healthy reef tank. I wonder if anyone can give me suggestions on how to achieve that based on where I’m at currently in the set up and progression of my tank.

If anyone can tell me about tank crashes or desegstating loss of life in their tanks ever before and possibly what that was caused by and what you did to get a tank with health and success.
Thank you thank you thank you
THANK YOU! fellow reefers

-Matt

 

[Matthew Morrison]

What it looked liked before gray gunk
With gray gunk
Tonight after I brushed off the rock
How my tank is kind of covered with towels to block out sun

 

[tiggs]

Hey - sorry to hear you're going through it right now. Tank parameters and pics would definitely help identify possible causes. On your fish, have you noticed any spots or have you witnessed them scratching, breathing heavy, or swimming into the powerhead stream?

If I had to blindly guess, it sounds like parameter fluctuations could be contributing to this.

 

[tiggs]

Just saw the pics. How long has this tank been up and running and how long ago did your cycle end? The reason I ask is because aside from the gunk you're trying to clean up, the rock and everything looks a bit too clean.

That's a beautiful stand/canopy btw.

 

[laverda]

What are your current parameters?

 

[BestMomEver]

I’m so sorry. I’m not sure about the fish but if you go to reefcleaners.org they have information and pictures of many types of problem algae. You might start there. You may end up removing your rock and treating it. Another thing to consider is putting it in a bucket with a power head and re-cure it.

 

[Matthew Morrison]

Hey - sorry to hear you're going through it right now. Tank parameters and pics would definitely help identify possible causes. On your fish, have you noticed any spots or have you witnessed them scratching, breathing heavy, or swimming into the powerhead stream?

If I had to blindly guess, it sounds like parameter fluctuations could be contributing to this.

No I have not noticed any behavior like that. Thank you for what you said about the canopy

 

[Matthew Morrison]

What are your current parameters?

I have no idea what my parameters are. My only testing equipment is for salinity and alkalinity. Salinity is somewhere around 34-35 ppm or 1.024ish. My salinity telescope thing is hard to read exact numbers. My Hanna dkh says alk is 8.8ish but it jumps down and up from 8-9 according to Hanna checker

 

[Matthew Morrison]

I’m so sorry. I’m not sure about the fish but if you go to reefcleaners.org they have information and pictures of many types of problem algae. You might start there. You may end up removing your rock and treating it. Another thing to consider is putting it in a bucket with a power head and re-cure it.

Those fish died and all else has remained healthy. I’m more worried about the gray gunky algae people say looks like Dino

 

[tiggs]

I'd get a reading on your nitrates and phosphates, although it may not tell the entire story. The algae bloom you're dealing with is most likely out-competing your chaeto, so it's possible you have low readings, but only because the nuisance algae is using them up. It could also be an extended period of "the uglies" that most new tanks go through over the first several months. If you started with dry rock, it could last even longer because they lack the biodiversity of live rock and in some cases, they can actually leach phosphates for a while.

I'd also be careful about adding acros right now, since they're so sensitive to parameter fluctuations. If your tank is on the newer side, chances are it's going to be much harder to keep them right now than it would be down the road after things mature and stabilize a bit. Acro packs from WWC aren't exactly cheap, so I'd hate to see you struggle and get frustrated.

 

[Matthew Morrison]

I'd get a reading on your nitrates and phosphates, although it may not tell the entire story. The algae bloom you're dealing with is most likely out-competing your chaeto, so it's possible you have low readings, but only because the nuisance algae is using them up. It could also be an extended period of "the uglies" that most new tanks go through over the first several months. If you started with dry rock, it could last even longer because they lack the biodiversity of live rock and in some cases, they can actually leach phosphates for a while.

I'd also be careful about adding acros right now, since they're so sensitive to parameter fluctuations. If your tank is on the newer side, chances are it's going to be much harder to keep them right now than it would be down the road after things mature and stabilize a bit. Acro packs from WWC aren't exactly cheap, so I'd hate to see you struggle and get frustrated.

Thank you. Ya I’m going to spend my money on testing and overall health products like carbon gfo testing parameters and possibly changing from triton core 7 to kalk wasser. My reason being is I dosed 2 months ago 1 time and coral have not grown and alk has not dropped. So I’m not sure if I should stay the course or change course.

 

[tiggs]

Yeah, investing in testing is definitely a great first step. Red Sea and Salifert make great test kits (I personally prefer Salifert) and the Hanna DKH and ULR Phosphorous checkers are two things I couldn't live without. I also highly recommend keeping a log and testing parameters daily for a couple of weeks until you get a feel for what your levels are and how much they fluctuate each day. For SPS especially, consistency is key and minor fluctuations can wipe out a colony overnight. Also, I'd test the TDS of your source water just to be safe.

In the mean time, I'd also keep an eye on how much you're feeding (could be contributing to the algae's longevity), closely monitor your fish to see if any strange behavior or markings show up, and hold off on adding anything new for a few weeks (at least).

 

[BestMomEver]

Those fish died and all else has remained healthy. I’m more worried about the gray gunky algae people say looks like Dino

I’m sorry... I missed that.

 

[Patrick.S]

I would say take a deep breath and don't change anything for a couple solid months. The reason you the alk isn't dropping is because the corals aren't growing. Kalk isn't going to change that, stability will. Get the test kits and monitor, do some water changes, hold off on coral and fish purchases for a while. The tank is really young and it needs time to settle down. Just my advice, but I think the worst thing you could do is rush around and start changing everything and dumping various chemicals into the tank to get rid of algae. Steady as she goes.

 

[kz4q66]

If you can, relocate the tank. Surround by 3 big windows is not an ideal location for it.

 

[Dilan Patel]

to me 6 months is just a tad to early for sps/any corals. Not to say I haven't done it with my new build lol but I already had an existing reef tank so if the corals started to look bad...like some of them did I would just place them in the other tank to get them back healthy. But what I am seeing here is that you are unable to test Nitrate,Nitrite,Ammonia and phosphate which could be a start of why you are having some problems. does your LFS test for free? Also if your corals are dying unexpectedly it could be your flame angel. I used to have a problem with mine as it would nip without meing seeing it. One day I caught him and whitin a week my tank looked extreamly better.

 

[cracker]

We really need parameters on your water. I'd "guess" You have very low nutrient levels. Iv'e had some very similar looking stuff & think it was chrysophyets
as for the light coming thru the window You can always cover the back of the tank.

 

[Pntbll687]

Sorry to hear you lost some fish.

Can you test for nitrite, nitrate, ammonia?

Also, it looks like the tank probably gets a good amount of natural light coming through those windows. THIS ISN'T BAD. It may add to algae issues, but just takes time to get over. Shutting the lights off for a few days will help, but when you turn them back on, ramp them up SLOWLY. I'm talking only 1-2hrs of 50% intensity at the peak of the cycle. Then SLOWLY add more time and intensity over the next few weeks.

I would manually remove as much of the "dinos" every day or every other day as you can. get some plastic tubing and a filter sock, run the tubing into the sock and place the sock in your sump. Start a siphon and you can clean for hours if you want.

I didn't see in the info where you got the rock from, or if it was cured and for how long. If it wasn't cured you may be dealing with phosphates coming out of the rock for a while. BUT, it won't crash your tank. Just another little element to deal with.

The kessil h380 def needs to be dialed back. You probably only need a 3-4hr period on the grow setting.

 

[Mical]

For only 6 mos old you're putting quite the bio-load on the tank with all the fish. You should've added a fish a month AFTER the tank fully cycled. Also get yourself test kits for calcium and magnesium (if you plan on keeping coral) As mentioned above take a breath and more importantly your time. We've been all sucked into "lot's of fish and coral syndrome" only to find it's an expensive learning lesson.

 

[Neo Jeo]

You're going to lose fish. I have lost some for no reason. Doty back might of been bit by something. Blood shrimp can also eat fish and corals I have read. You can add 20 peppermint shrimp and never see them again, they hide. Get an algae blenny, he ate all my algae.

Now I do believe that sun light from your windows is causing the algae issues. When putting up a tank they always say dont put it near a window or natural light. Maybe you should look into black out shades or paint the back and side of your tank glass black. IMO