Trying to save my tank :(

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

Hi everyone! I've had my tank for almost two years now with no major issues until about 3 weeks ago. I started out using Kent Marine (reef salt mix) and have been since the beginning. Three weeks ago, I decided to try out a different brand of salt (Coralife) since the store I purchase everything for my tank from didn't have any Kent in stock. I asked if it would cause any issues and was told it would not. Went home, did the water change using the new salt mix and everything was okay until the next morning. The lights came on and I started noticing a thin, brown layer of junk all over everything and my corals did not look happy. I had the water tested and everything was in normal range. What's weird about this is when the lights go out at night, the brown junk disappears. When the lights come on in the morning, everything looks "okay"....until about mid-day. That's when the brown stuff starts to collect again and my corals, anemones and mushrooms start to shrink up. I'm at a loss and don't know what to do. I've done water changes weekly for the past 3 weeks trying to see if that would help but that's been a no-go. I'm getting ready to change out the lights on the tank because that's due but do you think the lights have anything to do with what's going on?

I've attached a before (when lights come on in the morning) and an after pic (at night before lights go out).

My tank is a 28g nano cube.

Any thoughts or ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!

Thank you!
-LSL

 

[steve&mari]

You should post water parameters so people can help more effectively. I'd change lights if they're due for it n see if it helps any. What filtration system are you using also more details the better.

 

[beaslbob]

Sound like you have some algae/cyano problems. Try cutting down the light duration and feeding.
Hopefully it will correct itself.

my .02

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

Ah yes. Thank you. I'll be honest, I was not able to write down the numbers from the water test a couple days ago because they were so busy and because I was told everything was "within range" however, I do remember the following:

Alkalinity - 3.0
pH - 7.8
Nitrate - was not detected
I'll be taking in another sample this evening and will be sure to write down everything that I need before I leave this time.

Temp. remains steady at 76 degrees
Salinity is always kept between 1.023 - 1.024

My nano cube has the built in 3-stage wet/dry filtration system. I keep the nano cube sponge in the first (top) section, 100 ml bag purigen in the middle section and ROWAphos in the 3rd section (bottom)...

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

Thank you, beaslbob. I was reading up on that as well and that's what I was afraid of. What are your thoughts on using the different salt mix? Do you think that has anything to do with it?

 

[steve&mari]

Old bulbs can cause algae issues.

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

Yea, like you said Steve...I should go ahead and change out the bulbs and see what happens. Maybe it was just a coincidence that I happened to change the salt mix and the timing of the lights to be changed happened at the same time. I was thinking it was the salt but from what I understand, the salt should not be an issue.

Thank you.

 

[beaslbob]

Thank you, beaslbob. I was reading up on that as well and that's what I was afraid of. What are your thoughts on using the different salt mix? Do you think that has anything to do with it?

Could be.
Brown algae is more like diatoms or softer algae. If diatoms could be you have some silicates added. In that case should be temporary. Of course killing the lights and suspending feeding will allow it to die off.
Could be you also have the start of dark cyano which will probably turn to a dark purple over time. In that case the nutrients may have become "unbalanced" over time like too few nitrates. Cyano can get nitrogen from nitrogen gas vrs nitrates and will bloom in a low nitrate environment. Again killing the lights and stopping feeding will allow it to die off and return nutrients including nitrates for the corraline, corals, and macro algaes.
But then I really am not an expert as I don't do water changes. My old 55g used 3 bags of salt in the 9 years it was running for instance. Nitrates and phosphates were unmeasureable. Tank was balanced out with a macro algae refugium.

 

[787will]

I don't know if it was a typo but you said you Alk is at 3.0? if that is correct that is extremely low!

 

[Keith_0011]

I took care of an exhibit for about a year that had a similar problem. After morning gravel wash, sparkly clean; after lunch, covered in a brown layer of algae. Come to find out it had it had migrating algae that moved under that gravel at night and came to the surface to feed on lights during the day. Only corals were gorgonians so it did not bother those too much, just unsightly. Unfortunately there was no cure for my situation and we rode it out till it broke, about 3 months it up and disappeared.

I hope your situation is better or able to be controlled.

 

[NeverlosT]

it sounds like a dinoflagellate problem. They become more pronounced during the day under your lights. Your pH is a bit low and that would encourage them. Unsure what could have caused the introduction but that doesnt matter as much as what you do about them.

The good news is that IF dinoflagellates are your issue (please do some research, compare pictures), you can simply turn off ALL lights, and cover the tank so that NO ambient light finds its way in. Leave the tank blacked out for three days, you can feed the fish and such during this time if you'd like. Run carbon during this period as dying dynos release toxins.

I have had two Dino blooms and knocked them out in this fashion. Dinos coat everything, bug SPS to death, and will kill your snails as well. Luckily, they are not too hard to be rid of.

Anyhow, that is JUST my 2cents, please research and perhaps it will help.

 

[Daytonareefing]

Right after a water change it sounds like it may be the RO filters need to be changed or add a DI filter if you don't have one. If you can check the TDS of your RO water that would tell you. Salt normally does not cause that problem.

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

I don't know if it was a typo but you said you Alk is at 3.0? if that is correct that is extremely low!

Yikes! Thanks for watching out. Yes, it was a typo...Alk is 6 which is still low from what I've been reading...

 

[WetWhistle]

I would slowly bump that alk up to 8 or 9. Take a few days to do it.

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

I would slowly bump that alk up to 8 or 9. Take a few days to do it.

I would slowly bump that alk up to 8 or 9. Take a few days to do it.

I've added that to my to do list. From what I've been reading, Kalkwasser is the best way to do it. Thoughts on that?

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

Thank you all for taking time to respond! The majority of the information I've read online and on here point to trying out the blackout so that's what I'll do first as well as raise the Alk to where it should be.

Right after a water change it sounds like it may be the RO filters need to be changed or add a DI filter if you don't have one. If you can check the TDS of your RO water that would tell you. Salt normally does not cause that problem.

I'll look into the DI filter as well. I've been getting my RO water from the fish store so it's possible that they've been a bit lazy in changing out the filters. I would much rather have some sort of filter at home to avoid that problem moving forward.

 

[Oscaror]

thi doesn't have as much to do with the algae issues but ALK 3.0?!

 

[LovingSaltwaterLife]

thi doesn't have as much to do with the algae issues but ALK 3.0?!

That was a typo. It was supposed to read 6...not that that's any better.

 

[reef208]

I've added that to my to do list. From what I've been reading, Kalkwasser is the best way to do it. Thoughts on that?

Well, first to start out you would want to very slowly (like over the course of several days) add a little bit of alkalinity booster, such as Seachem reef buffer (not reef builder, but reef buffer) diluted in top off water. Then once you get the alk/pH back in range, you could potentially use kalkwasser. You would probably want to test your calcium too though, as if you don't really need calcium, then you could just use seachem reef builder (notice this is different than what I said before as reef builder is for maintenance of alk, not raising).

Whatever you do, go very slowly and I'd say even go half of what the instructions say to account for the smaller thank. Test alkalinity/pH a few minutes after you add anything and have a couple gallons of new saltwater ready for an emergency water change in case anything goes wrong.

 

[reef208]

Algae is caused by the following:
1. Overstocking/Overfeeding - more nutrients are coming into the tank than are being broken down
2. Poor circulation which allows nutrients to deposit in dead spots. AIO cube tanks are notorious for algae growth on the sand bed/rock due to the stock circulation being weak.
3. Bulbs can contribute, but the bulbs would be irrelevant if the first two issues were addressed.

Here's what I would do:
1. How often are you doing water changes? Perhaps increase the frequency. You need to export more nutrients, but you also have to make sure the new water you use isn't introducing nutrients, which goes into...
2. Have the water you are using for top off and water changes tested to ensure it is not full of nitrates and phosphates
3. Feed flake food sparingly as in excess it is essentially food for the algae, make sure you are not going too crazy on the frozen either
4. Make sure there is good circulation in the bottom region of the tank. Not so much that you make a sand storm, but enough to prevent debris from settling on the sand. Maybe add a small powerhead to the lower region of the tank if needed.
5. Change the light bulbs