Algae Disaster

[cjken3063]

I have been doing Salt Water for 15+ years and I have never seen a tank issue like I am experiencing.

My Salt Water tank - non reef has been set up for about 10 years (and moved 3 times). About 6 months ago it cracked and I had to replace the tank. This is where the issue started.

I kept about 70 percent of the water and the wet dry never stopped. Since this has happned, my nitrates are normal, but my nitrites are very high. I have Algae that is growing over everything. I recently flipped over the coral and in 4 days it is covered green. The algae on my glass is so thick that in 5 days, I can't see the fish.

I do water changes about once a month and have used the nitrite reducer but that has not worked at all and seemed to make it worse.


The fish are healthy and eating, and I have have a sea slug still alive. Recently I lost the algae eating slugs that during this time had tripled in size.

I am at a loss and look forward to any support you can yield

[CalDiver]

did you attempt to move any sand or gravel?

[demonsp]

How much LS and LR is in there? What do you use for flow?

[madadi]

sounds like its recycling. keep up with the water changes because high nitrates and probably even ammonia are present now and they are toxic. hope everything pulls trough. the algae will eventually go away.

most important thing is to keep doing water changes so everything stays alive.

[ScarabRa]

Originally posted by CalDiver
did you attempt to move any sand or gravel?

He replaced the tank itself, so he removed all gravel, and Live rock from the tank, and swapped it to a new tank.

My questions:
a) did you distirb your "wet dry" filter.

b) Do you Have dead coral, meaning ones you "bleach" to keep white, or would you consider your rock "live rock".

c) Did you remove the sediment from your gravel/sand when you moved it? Or did you simply scoop it from one tank to the other "including" the sediment. (either gravel vac, or rince it in tank water?)

[ouuduy]

is this the green hair algae your experiencing ?

[Sk8r]

Best to have started with new sand, but what is now is. Do you have as many pounds of live rock in there as you do gallons? Could it run safely without your filter at all, ie, do you have really big fish, or can they get by on no-filter? If you could get a fuge started, with no filter at all, you could get on top of the problem in a few weeks of cheato lit 24/7. I think it's quite right you've got a minicycle going, and that filter imho is going to make it a little harder to get stabilized, but some water changes will help---an urchin might help, at least to get the phosphate [which you have in great abundance] into the water column where Phosban or a fuge can suck it out.

[MetalReef9]

...

[ud92785]

Do you use R/O and/or DI filtered water for top-off and water changes? Have you checked the output water from these filters to make sure they're still working OK?

I had a similar problem and finally tracked it down to my R/O filter had stopped working, which then exhausted my Di resin. So the water I was using to replace evaporation and for my water changes ended up being no cleaner than straight from the tap.

[cjken3063]

First I would like to thank all of you for responding. I will try to answer all the questions in one shot.

I use tap water that has been sitting for 24 hours with the salt stirred by a pump. I had been in this house for 3 years before the problems arose so it can't be the water.

I don't use anything on the bottom of the tank. I don't use Sand or crushed coral anymore it makes too much of a mess. Anything that was on the bottom of the tank was left.

It is not hair algae (have had that problem before and beat it). this is normal Algae that you would like, but multiply that times ten.

My Nitrates are low and fish are healthy. No cloudiness of the eyes. it is the Nitrites that are high which does not make any sense.

My wet/dry filter was not disturbed. I kept it alive during the trasfer from one tank to another.

I do not bleach my coral as I like the algae because I do like to keep tangs. The rock is live (or it was before the algae disaster) and it has the purple coraline algae on it. I have about 200 lbs of coral and I had a few soft corals and mushrooms until they were overtaken by the algae bloom.

Any other suggestions would be helpful. I got so desparate last night that I cleaned every pump and filter to see if anything was slowing the flow. I am doing water changes about once a week now and I am still not seeing any improvements

[steven_dean17]

Something changed or it never would have happened. The algae needed something to eat in order to grow. If you don't have sand, it would be the rock or the filter. And why not the water, your city never changes its filters/chemicals?(YUCK) I know when I move my rock it always stirs something up, but maybe your rock is different?

[demonsp]

Typical "Tap Water" response. Tap water takes time months or years to cause problems and by then you never blame the source. Look here

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/water4maruse.htm

Also a SB in the right amount and the correct CUC to maintain with proper water flow will convert nitrate into harmless nitrogen. Not eliminating but helping to control.

[Lrgclasper]

What is your pH? Sometimes with a large influx of organix matter you'll get a pH drop which can shock your bacteria. You might try adding some bacteria to "restart" your biofilter. Your nitrates likely are low because the nitrites are not being coverted at a high rate.

[ScarabRa]

Ok so we have 2 seperate issues.
a) Nitrite..

Originally posted by cjken3063
My Nitrates are low and fish are healthy. No cloudiness of the eyes. it is the Nitrites that are high which does not make any sense.

My wet/dry filter was not disturbed. I kept it alive during the trasfer from one tank to another.

Well it sounds like you experieced some sort of slight re-cycling.
Nitrite WILL come down on its own, but you can decrease this time by dosing, either Alchol or sugar (Which will cause a Positive bacterial bloom, greately accelerating the cycle time to get all the existing bacteria in the tank back on line and in higher numbers so to speak).


and
b) Bloom..

Originally posted by cjken3063
It is not hair algae (have had that problem before and beat it). this is normal Algae that you would like, but multiply that times ten.

Is it Bryopsis ??? That is the only stuff Ive seen that grows that fast, and is kind of an oddity. Once it gets in the tanks...WATCHOUT!! (Pic id below)


any other ideas guys?

[ricks]

Why do people never admit that tap water over time doesn't work. You need to understand you have to control every aspect of your system. One of the most important parts is WATER.

If you continue to use tap water and the problem goes away, or gets worse you will never know for sure. You sound pretty upset about the algae problems in your tank.

I would stop using TAP WATER...

Happy Reefing

[Lrgclasper]

I agree with Rick, I switched to RO water and after about a month the change in Algae growth was amazing- it basically just went away. Tap water has a lot of nasties like phosphates, and other chemicals used to aide in chlorination and to keep mineral deposits from building in pipes. In some cities floride is added, which may also have impacts on algae growth. Organic nutrients are also present-like the one time bear died in the lake where we get our water. Over time this stuff builds up in a closed system and each time you add water you just add to the problem. I used to work in lab that tested drinking water. One of the more interesting issues is that the levels of nutrients changes throughout the year, so it is difficult to predict how much of the crap your putting in your tank. Not to mention sometimes things go wrong at treatment plants and while the screwups may not be harmful to humans, our tanks often don't repspond well. Think about it, your relying on the city to provide you with water that needs to be of a quality above and beyond what humans need.

[DanInSD]

I am fighting bryopsis right now. It is demon-spawn, evil incarnate.

My tank is too small for a tang or blenny. I am relying on chemical filtration and water changes. Lots of water changes. I am changing about 20%/day and have been for weeks. The stuff is slowly receding. Naturally my water is "perfect" parameter-wise.

Heavy skimming is essential -- this started when my skimmer stopped working efficiently and nutrients built up in the water. When I replaced the skimmer it went crazy for about a week. By then it was Too Late.

Dan

[barber1575]

Most definitely water!!! You to buy water from LFS. I would drain tank and start over with water from store. Keep all fish in seperate tank till tank cycles. Never put tap water in tank.

I was using tap water in my tank for over a year. I could never figure out what my problems were. I wish I discovered this site when entering the hobby