Tank going downhill fast

[Reef_puck]

I have a 40g Aquatop reef tank. I set this up in December of 2021 and tank was doing good until the past 2 months but it’s getting bad and wondering if recoverable?

livestock
2 small Ocelllaris clown fish a a purple fish
2 red legged hermit crabs
6 astrea snails
frogspawn, Zoas, small green nepthea, ricordea and Galaxia. almost all are from frags

i ungraded the stock lights to a radio XR15 blue and a eco tech MP10. auto top off. Stock return pump and skimmer.

10 gallon water changes every month.

I have been very careful not to over feed. I add a pinch or Omega Marine flakes most days and usually 3 days a week I feed a quarter of a cube of frozen mysis.

for the past 2 months the corals do not open much. A month ago a large bubble algae outbreak started and is still there. I added an emerald crab that has started to make a dent there. There has been a green algae on the glass that requires hard scrubbing to remove. Now the dreaded green hair algae is starting. I also see some sort of white film on the surface. I have the return pump aimed towards the surface to move it around but i do notice not allot of flow going towards to overflow. Skimmer production is very low and I have it lowered down ( highest water level) and can’t adjust it more.

tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and they all show zero.

if there is hair algae that means most likely phosphates are present.

any ideas on recovery process? Do not want to pull the LR to scrub the tank. If that is the case I may just tear the whole thing down. There is no sump so don’t know what options there are for a refugium, phosban reactor or a different skimmer.

thoughs before these corals die off?

 

[Reef_puck]

More pics

 

[Jekyl]

More CuC for starters. Check out reefcleaners.org and buy their cleaner package for your tank size. White light pics can help beyond that.

 

[Jekyl]

Don't get discouraged, you're just in the ugly phase. It's normal, things get easier. Along with above suggestion, remove what you can by hand during water changes, dose live phyto, get nutrients so they aren't at 0. Ditch the API kit and get yourself some salifert / red sea or hanna nitrate, phosphate and alkalinity.

 

[mtraylor]

Well you have lots going on. So I will start off with the corals first.

Your corals are not opening most likely due to the lack of nitrates. I would start doing some nitrates to get those uo to about 10ppm.

Once you do that. That will stop the imbalance you obviously have on low nutrients to the phosphates. That is why you probably have hair algae issue. That one change should help 2 problems.

Now you still need to get a full panel of parms to see what else may be out of sort.

What is your alkalinity?

Also check
Calcium
Magnesium
Phosphates

 

[mtraylor]

Also agreed you need a bigger cuc. Get som turbo snails and a tuxedo urchin

 

[PeterEde]

ICP to know what's in the water would be a start beyond normal parameters.
10Gal a month?

I've been doing 5 gal every other day to drop my nitrates but looks like you need some

 

[mtraylor]

NP. I can probably take a picture now even though it's not hooked up. At least it's together.

 

[sizemore5000]

Do water changes more frequently- 1/month is a little light for 40g. Use a brush to lightly clean your rock up and vacuum well. Manually remove all that algae and detritus, and try to control things algae thrives on - nutrients and light. Consider an automatic feeder for the fish, and feed less. They can likely stand a few lean meals . Reduce your photo period, and if possible, tune your spectrum. Avoiding white light will help. Your fish won't care much at all, and the coral only want their favorite flavors of light.

 

[Jekyl]

Do water changes more frequently- 1/month is a little light for 40g. Use a brush to lightly clean your rock up and vacuum well. Manually remove all that algae and detritus, and try to control things algae thrives on - nutrients and light. Consider an automatic feeder for the fish, and feed less. They can likely stand a few lean meals . Reduce your photo period, and if possible, tune your spectrum. Avoiding white light will help. Your fish won't care much at all, and the coral only want their favorite flavors of light.

His nutrients are too low, doing more water changes could create a bigger problem. I haven't done a water change in months.

 

[Reef_puck]

Got the Salifert test kits.


Nitrate - 25
Alk - 7.3
Cal - 400
mag - 1080
Phos - 0


Now Nitrate appears high - Besides doing a larger water change would a real skimmer help here? Other options?

Alk and Mag are a little low - need to worry?

 

[Reef_puck]

 

[Jekyl]

Lots of scrubbing and a bigger CuC. Water changes to get nitrate around 10 or 15. Use a toothbrush at the end of your vacuum while changing the watet.

 

[Jekyl]

Deleted

 

[Reef_puck]

Are the nitrates the reason the corals do not open much?

larger water changes or stick with 10g (25%) ?

 

[Jekyl]

Are the nitrates the reason the corals do not open much?

larger water changes or stick with 10g (25%) ?

The algae is the concern. It takes up the same nutrients as the coral. Hense the phosphate being 0. Getting rid of the algae will cure that, water changes will bring rest of parameters in order.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 40g Aquatop reef tank. I set this up in December of 2021 and tank was doing good until the past 2 months but it’s getting bad and wondering if recoverable?

livestock
2 small Ocelllaris clown fish a a purple fish
2 red legged hermit crabs
6 astrea snails
frogspawn, Zoas, small green nepthea, ricordea and Galaxia. almost all are from frags

i ungraded the stock lights to a radio XR15 blue and a eco tech MP10. auto top off. Stock return pump and skimmer.

10 gallon water changes every month.

I have been very careful not to over feed. I add a pinch or Omega Marine flakes most days and usually 3 days a week I feed a quarter of a cube of frozen mysis.

for the past 2 months the corals do not open much. A month ago a large bubble algae outbreak started and is still there. I added an emerald crab that has started to make a dent there. There has been a green algae on the glass that requires hard scrubbing to remove. Now the dreaded green hair algae is starting. I also see some sort of white film on the surface. I have the return pump aimed towards the surface to move it around but i do notice not allot of flow going towards to overflow. Skimmer production is very low and I have it lowered down ( highest water level) and can’t adjust it more.

tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and they all show zero.

if there is hair algae that means most likely phosphates are present.

any ideas on recovery process? Do not want to pull the LR to scrub the tank. If that is the case I may just tear the whole thing down. There is no sump so don’t know what options there are for a refugium, phosban reactor or a different skimmer.

thoughs before these corals die off?

Change in lighting seems to be the issue in part as you want to start low or inacclimation mode until you restore normal/typical light settings.
You may need to use a PAR meter to determine where new light is emitting needs and what needs to be tweaked. Assure PH is not eleveated also. I tend to feed non SPS coral mysis shrimp opposed to powdered /plankon foods will elevate phosphate

 

[SaJon]

Got the Salifert test kits.


Nitrate - 25
Alk - 7.3
Cal - 400
mag - 1080
Phos - 0


Now Nitrate appears high - Besides doing a larger water change would a real skimmer help here? Other options?

Alk and Mag are a little low - need to worry?

Hey. Stabilizing your Magnesium will help stabilize your Alkalinity Magnesium is very important in a reef tank. Just like our bodies, if Magnesium gets out of wack so do other things. You Got This !!!

 

[SaJon]

Hey. Stabilizing your Magnesium will help stabilize your Alkalinity Magnesium is very important in a reef tank. Just like our bodies, if Magnesium gets out of wack so do other things. You Got This !!!

 

[Fishy888]

I was hoping it hadn't started yet but it looks like Jurassic Park opened up in your system. There are dinos in and on the sand especially but also in the rocks. Get phosphates up a bit and hopefully green algae will come in. You need more phosphates and when the green algae (or chaeto if you have any) will start sucking up both