My sand is looking pretty gnarly so I think it’s time to add a small clean up crew.
I just placed an order with LiveAquaria for:
5 Super Tongan Nassarius Snails
5 Mexican Turbo Snails
1 Fighting Conch
1 Red and Black Sea Star
and 1 Small Flame Angelfish
The price was really good on the Angelfish. I hope he isn’t a nipper but I figure it’s better to introduce him months before I add any clams.
My algae scrubber had it’s third cleaning this week and you can see the change over to the thicker green hair algae.
I tested the water parameters again and nitrates and nitrites dropped to an undetectable amount. Alk is still running a little high at 11.
I gradually raised the LED’s again towards my 50/50 goal and I bleached my SPS in a day. Seriously, SPS hates LEDs.
Fortunately, everything in the tank so far has been just test frags. I’m just hoping to get everything stable in time for the swap.
The new flame angel arrived yesterday along with the CUC. He has to be one of the smallest flame angels that I’ve ever seen. He was bullied for a few hours but everything calmed down after a day and he seems to have found his place in the social hierarchy of the tank.
The fighting conch is also a really small specimen. I was worried that I was going to end up with a 3-4" monster but he is smaller than the nassarius snails.
The star fish live aquaria sent wasn’t what was pictured. Some ashy red/orange starfish with black tips. Not the red and black spotted that I was looking for.
The salinity in the shipping bags read 1.014 - 1.018. And I don’t think it was that low due to temperature. Even after a 2 hour drip acclimation, I moved the nassarius snails from 1.014 to 1.026. They buried themselves immediately but I doubt they’re going to live. That’s a big salinity shift for an invert.
“I gradually raised the LED’s again towards my 50/50 goal and I bleached my SPS in a day. Seriously, SPS hates LEDs.”
OH NO! LOL
I don’t really have any good news to report this week. Nothing looks happy in the tank, except for the fish. I’ve got some long cyano looking brown algae forming in the system. I think the rocks may be leeching some nasty stuff into the water. I’m not confident at all in the Salnity measurements I’ve gotten and I’m taking some action this week to try and get a better reading.
I’ve been calibrating my refractometer with RODI water. I know that’s not the best method but you figure it’s at least in the ballpark of +/- 0.002. The corals reacted terribly the week that I moved the salinity up to 1.026 and I’ve been wondering if the ridiculously low salinity readings I got from the LiveAquaria shipment are an indication that my calibration is way off for some reason. I found my old calibration solution but it’s gotta be 2 years old and I simply don’t trust the accuracy of it. I just ordered calibration solution from two different sources, the pinpoint and the two little fishes seawater stuff. I also ordered a floating hydrometer and needle hydrometer. I figure between the 2 different solutions, a refractometer and two hydrometers, I’ve gotta have my bases covered and I’ll be able to tell exactly where my salinity is once and for all.
The algae scrubber is doing great but it’s not outpacing the growth of algae in the display just yet. I added a media bag with some phosguard to try and drop any phosphates that have been leeching out of the dry rock. I’m just hoping that I can get everything dialed in before the fragswap.
Start looking at the algea and make sure it’s not an outbreak of dinoflagellates. If that’s the case I would start looking toward Brightwell Microbacter 7. Thats option1, option 2 is lights off and cover the tank for 3days. Or start reading on peroxide dosing. Because if it is dinos it’s not an algea but a bacteria and water changes make it worse.
[quote=“beadlocked450r, post:225, topic:7613”]
Start looking at the algea and make sure it’s not an outbreak of dinoflagellates. If that’s the case I would start looking toward Brightwell Microbacter 7. Thats option1, option 2 is lights off and cover the tank for 3days. Or start reading on peroxide dosing. Because if it is dinos it’s not an algea but a bacteria and water changes make it worse.[/quote]
I just looked at pictures of dinoflagellates online and although what I’m seeing is similar, mine has more of a stringy, hair algae look to it. It appears to be growing in longer strands, some 6-8" long and flowing in the current. It produces airbubbles at night so I think it’s safe to say it’s either dinoflagellates or some brown strain of cyano.
I’ll take some pics when I get home in an hour. Hopefully you can steer me in the right direction. Either way, I’m thinking I’m going to be blacking out the tank for a few days. Would I need to black out the sump and algae scrubber as well?
I’m not sure which way works the best. I think if it was me I would start reading on the peroxide dosing. Alot of people have given up when they get dinos. As it will take over and destroy a tank
[quote=“beadlocked450r, post:227, topic:7613”]
I’m not sure which way works the best. I think if it was me I would start reading on the peroxide dosing. Alot of people have given up when they get dinos. As it will take over and destroy a tank[/quote]
Yeah, it’s getting worse by the day. But I’m not ready to call it quits just yet. I think I just need to get ahead of it. And I’m going to look into chemical treatment depending on what you guys think this is.
What is the consensus on what this is?
An infestation in the aquarium of Reef Central member Old Salty that may be dinoflagellates.
An infestation in the aquarium of Reef Central member Rays that may be dinoflagellates.
It would be real helpful if you posted all your parameter readings.
Temp
Salinity
Alk
PH
Calcium
Nitrates
Phosphates
Nitrites
Magnesium
Just my opinion, I would get rid of those ceramic nitrate collectors in your drain compartment of your sump
and what are you using for flow in the tank?
Nitrates are not the big cause of dino’s…I had a tank that was covered wall to wall with brown dinoflagellates and read zero nitrates…Silicates are a cause and phosphates add to it…
the algae scrubber will eventually outcompete for these nutrients and win the battle…but that will be a long process and require patience…the size of your screen has alot to do with it also…when I ran scrubbers in the 80’s & 90’s I always used twice as much scrubbing capacity than rated for…why ? it puts out “fires” and reacts to things (bio overloads) quicker… Don’t give up ! the battle can be won…
[quote=“houndsbayman, post:229, topic:7613”]
An infestation in the aquarium of Reef Central member Old Salty that may be dinoflagellates.
An infestation in the aquarium of Reef Central member Rays that may be dinoflagellates.[/quote]
I can say for sure that the items pictured are not what my tank is suffering from. There is no green tint to the outbreak and it’s doesn’t appear in strands or filaments. It’s brown, slimy, it makes a mat that flows in the current, parts of it float upwards in strands and it forms airbubbles. It also looks very red under the blue light at night. It’s worse during the day and all but disappears overnight. I’m pretty sure it’s dino, cyano or a combination of the two.
I did some research last night and this seems to be pretty common with new tanks with rock that wasn’t fully cured. I’m confident that once the food source is depleted, the algae scrubber will outcompete it and the problem should resolve itself.
That being said, I understand it can be toxic. So I’m going to try a few things to get ahead of it. I’m blacking out the tank for a few days. I ordered the red slime remover but I’m only going to resort to that if the blackout doesn’t seem to work.
[quote=“houndsbayman, post:230, topic:7613”]
It would be real helpful if you posted all your parameter readings.
Temp
Salinity
Alk
PH
Calcium
Nitrates
Phosphates
Nitrites
Magnesium
Just my opinion, I would get rid of those ceramic nitrate collectors in your drain compartment of your sump
and what are you using for flow in the tank?[/quote]
I’ll get you updated parameters after work today. I’m testing weekly and so far everything looks good with the exception of my DKH being a little high at 11. I added a little too much baking soda a few weeks ago. The nitrates and nitrites went from having a small presence to undetectable but I think it’s because the dino is eating them up as quickly as they are being produced. My magnesium test kit is several years old and I don’t trust the reagents to be accurate so that is the only parameter that I’m still uncertain of. I recalibrated my refractometer again last night with RODI water and if the unit is functioning correctly, I’m steady at 1.026. I’ll recalibrate that one and run further tests in a few days when my calibration solution and hydrometers arrive. I’m holding off on making any changes until then.
[quote=“hottuna, post:231, topic:7613”]
Nitrates are not the big cause of dino’s…I had a tank that was covered wall to wall with brown dinoflagellates and read zero nitrates…Silicates are a cause and phosphates add to it…
the algae scrubber will eventually outcompete for these nutrients and win the battle…but that will be a long process and require patience…the size of your screen has alot to do with it also…when I ran scrubbers in the 80’s & 90’s I always used twice as much scrubbing capacity than rated for…why ? it puts out “fires” and reacts to things (bio overloads) quicker… Don’t give up ! the battle can be won…[/quote]
This is pretty much how I feel right now. I know I’ll eventually get ahead of it. I’m concerned though that the dino’s can be toxic to my flameangel and coral beauty who are picking at them constantly. That’s the only reason I want to get ahead of the situation with a blackout and possibly chemical treatment.
your best friend until u get a handle on it is a siphon hose & bucket…as well as less light than normal…in the DT.
[quote=“hottuna, post:235, topic:7613”]
your best friend until u get a handle on it is a siphon hose & bucket…as well as less light than normal…in the DT.[/quote]
Sounds like a plan.
If a tank is covered with algae, the reason a test for nitrates will show a zero reading, is because the algae is using up all the nitrates in the water column, thus leaving the test to come up ZERO nitrates. They are still present, just being used up.
Just my :TWOCENTS
^-- This. The tests all just show available levels in the water column. If you can, I suggest pulling everything out into a stable tank. I think you went a little fast adding things to the tank. With how bad that rock was for you, I would have let that tank cycle for two months minimum.
[quote=“hottuna, post:231, topic:7613”]
Nitrates are not the big cause of dino’s…I had a tank that was covered wall to wall with brown dinoflagellates and read zero nitrates…Silicates are a cause and phosphates add to it…
the algae scrubber will eventually outcompete for these nutrients and win the battle…but that will be a long process and require patience…the size of your screen has alot to do with it also…when I ran scrubbers in the 80’s & 90’s I always used twice as much scrubbing capacity than rated for…why ? it puts out “fires” and reacts to things (bio overloads) quicker… Don’t give up ! the battle can be won…[/quote]
I agree with over-scrubbing ^^
I think you should just wait it out. You may have just added stuff too fast. If you start chasing levels you could throw everything out of wack. I’d give it a couple weeks to a month and if the problem remains then do something. This just looks like new tank uglys to me.
Don’t forget to scrape your scrubber too. If you don’t it will only add to the problem.
[quote=“bnelson, post:239, topic:7613”]
[quote=“hottuna, post:231, topic:7613”]
Nitrates are not the big cause of dino’s…I had a tank that was covered wall to wall with brown dinoflagellates and read zero nitrates…Silicates are a cause and phosphates add to it…
the algae scrubber will eventually outcompete for these nutrients and win the battle…but that will be a long process and require patience…the size of your screen has alot to do with it also…when I ran scrubbers in the 80’s & 90’s I always used twice as much scrubbing capacity than rated for…why ? it puts out “fires” and reacts to things (bio overloads) quicker… Don’t give up ! the battle can be won…[/quote]
I agree with over-scrubbing ^^
I think you should just wait it out. You may have just added stuff too fast. If you start chasing levels you could throw everything out of wack. I’d give it a couple weeks to a month and if the problem remains then do something. This just looks like new tank uglys to me.
Don’t forget to scrape your scrubber too. If you don’t it will only add to the problem.[/quote]
The scrubber gets a scraping every Sunday and it’s definitely doing it’s job now. I’m pulling a ton of crap off it weekly.
I guess I did go a little fast. I’ve been working on this build for almost six months now so it didn’t feel rushed at the time. I waited a month before introducing livestock and the tank has been running a month since then. The rock was were I goofed. I should have cured it for months, not a couple weeks.
I’m sure it will recover just fine. Probably not in time for the frag swap but we’ll see. I might need some of you to hold some frags for me. lol