many algaes

[mjs]

A few months ago I had a CO2 disruption on my calcium reactor. It flooded the tank w CO2, and disrupted the entire system. Eventually, it killed off my corals(8), only 2 fish (out of 10) and all the snails and inverts. The tank then broke out in horrible red algae. I arrested the red algae with major water changes (R/O).

Its been about 6 weeks now that the tank water is back to normal, except i have all kinds of different algaes growing that I never had before.

There are "clumps" of very furlike green algae, about an inch long. Lots of them. There are little "ferns" growing. There are small red "polyps", about 1/2 inch long and thin. And what looks to be something resembling a mushroon coral (but its not).

I have been doing 20 gallon water changes weekly. this weekend i went to a 30 gallon change. Nitrates remain relatively low...10- 15. I checked the chemistry of the water change water, its 0 nitrates.

Nothing helps. Whats happening??

75 gallon w 10 gallon sump. temp 81, salt 1.0245, am 0, na 10-15, ph 8.1- 8.3, oxy 8, phos 0, cal 500.

 

[NaH2O]

Sorry to hear about the CO2 problem. I suspect your tank is going through algae blooms similar to that of a new tank. The die off you experienced probably fueled this, so your water changes will help. Can you list out more about your system? I see your current stats, can you also include whether or not you're skimming, substrate, amount of rock, and the current inhabitants? When you perform your water changes, do you blast the live rock off to free up detritus? Hang in there, and hopefully we can get you through this.

Here is a link to an Algae Identification Page. It might help to determine what you have growing. Can you post any pics? That may help, too.

 

[mjs]

There is about 80 lbs of live rock w about 1 inch of crushed coral substrate. I have a large skimmer in the sump which is operating effectively. There are 2 10000k ushio halogens and 2 blue act. bulbs (which for over a year tended to great coral growths).

In the tank are 2 clowns, a 6 line wrasse, foxface, rabbitfish, fire angel and 2 small fish. there are are new pair of coral banded shrimp and a few nasarius snails, all the turbos died, also a few small hermits left.

i do blast the rock, but not much comes off. I havent scraped it as i was hesitant to spread the algae. There is good coraline everywhere on the rock

Any suggestions??

 

[mjs]

I also went to your suggested link. Great spot.
I identified the following....
Cyanobacteria- Blue green algae worst problem
Bryopsis- just a few
Cailerpa serrulata- one growth
Bubble Ventricana- lots, big and small
Labophora variegata

 

[dnjan]

I would guess that while your fish continued to produce detritus, the seriously-decimated sandbed fauna were not able to process it. Result - accumulation of nutrients in the sandbed which are gradually being released back into the water column. Since you have a crushed-coral substrate, I would vacuum about a quarter of the substrate each week for four weeks. Not just surface vaccuum, but full depth (using one of those gravel-cleaning siphons). After that time, add a new sandbed fauna kit (inland aquatics) to replenish your sandbed fauna.

 

[NaH2O]

mjs - glad you found the link helpful. A couple of things, Bryopsis (the fern-like growth) can be difficult to get rid of. Are you able to remove the rocks at all? Caulerpa serrulata is also difficult to get rid of if there is a lot of growth. I had a piece that I kept manually removing and finally it went away. Some hobbysits chisel the piece of rock off where its growing. There are little runners along the stalk that can regrow new plants, if they aren't removed. Bubble algae is best to try and remove out of the tank, so the spores aren't released into the water. Emerald crabs can sometimes be of service, but some don't touch it. Lobophora is another that I have in my tank. I try and peel it off when I can, but it seems to have stopped growing as my tank matured. Cyano can be a great exporter of nutrients....you can let it grow and siphon it up. Poor water flow/circulation can also contribute to spots of cyano, so try and position good flow to dead spot areas.

Here is something for you to try. Take a water sample from your crushed coral substrate, and conduct a nitrate test on it. You can also do the same with a phosphate test. Also, check nitrates from a water sample out of the live rocks. See if you can find where your problem is. I wonder if the crushed coral is part of the source. How old are the bulbs? How often (and what) are the fish being fed?

 

[mjs]

okay. perhaps a combo of both dnjan and nah20 ideas will work. I will try to remove as many rocks as possible, clean off as much algae as I can from them as well as test the coral and rock water for trace. I have used the vacuum on the bed at times, but not for a few weeks, so i will try to clean up as much as posible. The bulbs are only a few months old, so they should be ok. The food is the same combo I have used for over a year. I never new of the sandbed fauna kit, but will try. Also, i will keep up the water changes.

Thanks. Will post again results

 

[jake65]

how bad is bubble algae? I have some on one of my base rocks and don't really want to take it out because its it has LR piled on and around it. Any other suggestions besides emerald crabs?

 

[NaH2O]

Jake - here is an article you might find helpful: 'Bubble' Algae: Selected Descriptions, Controls, and Comments.

 

[jake65]

thanx Nikki...good info and technics in there!

 

[reedman]

The only thing that ate my bubble algae was a Foxface Lo. He has cleaned my tank of bubble algae. I tried the emerald crabs...they were neat for a while then dissapeared (don't know where to).

The other way I have seen to remove the bubble aglae is with a piece of rigid airline tubing hooked to some regular tubing and syphon the bubbles out. This allows you to scrape and break the bubbles without releasing spores into the water column.