Desperate For Help

Discussion in 'Algae' started by YellowBelly, Jul 27, 2015.

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  1. YellowBelly

    YellowBelly Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Yes, CA is 420, MG is 1380. I believe the live rock is the culprit fueling the algae. The corals are starving from me trying to lower my nutrients. A large consensus on other forums is the live rock is leaching dead material from a poor cleaning prior to adding it in my tank.
     
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  3. YellowBelly

    YellowBelly Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    The algae I did manage to scrub did not grow back yet thankfully but I plan to perform a 30 gallon water change tomorrow.
     
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  4. FaceOfDeceit

    FaceOfDeceit Hockey Beard

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    I do not think it is bryopsis. What bothers me is you used Pukani rock. This is a great looking, porous rock, but filled with dead organics! I believe it to be your rocks. You will continue to get low nutrient levels because the algae is feeding off of it. Your pale SPS tell me not enough nutrients, and they are starving.
     
  5. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    im interested because im going through a very similar thing. to my knowledge however i thought nitrates could not bind to live rock and hence "leach" out. the results suggest that if indeed nutrients are being released out by the rock the algae seems to be eating it fast. eventually when the battarey depletes the algae should start dieing off no?....
     
  6. YellowBelly

    YellowBelly Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    In theory that is what should happen. Once the rocks are void of nutrients the algae should die off but by me trying to control the nutrient level in the water column I am starving my corals like FaceOfDeceit stated. I am removing my GFO and carbon from the tank and started dosing KZ Amino Acids. A buddy of mine recommended Pohl's Xtra which I will borrow from him tonight. In the meantime I will stop dosing ZEOSTART3 because I don't want to lower my nutrients anymore.
     
  7. ivanbosk

    ivanbosk Feather Duster

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    unfortunately in a zero environment i would recommend not using any live rock/re-purposed rock and go straight to the man made versions of live rock...too much to go wrong with old live rock...
     
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  9. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Algae might be out competing everything else including corals for what available nutrients there are. This is the reason you do not see elevated N/P values.

    The original die off and left over organic matter initiated the algae bloom, the algae took hold and became the prime utilizer of all available nutrients, which in turn promoted more algae growth, use of more nutrients....and so. You then have the double edged sword of stressing the corals in a effort to intervene and treat the algae issue.
     
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  10. YellowBelly

    YellowBelly Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Do you think adding amino acids and increasing feeding will help the corals or only fuel the algae further? I will continue to scrub the algae off the rocks, I haven't seen growth after the initial rock scrubbing.
     
  11. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    If it were me, I would for now discontinue any supplements other than those products intended to manage water chemistry ie buffer. When I see algae problems or dino start to set in the first thing I do is cut back on dosing amino acids and other zeo products, and acropora power and everything else. I give the system a couple days and wait and watch.

    Wait and see what the algae does. You could conceivably get an invert that would mow it down and keep the algae in check like an Urchin, Chiton (reef cleaners) or Abalone. All of those inverts are PITA in sps tanks though, once they get the algae issue under control I generally rehome them. Since you have manually removed the majority of the algae an urchin might be able to keep the algae manageable until it burns it self out.

    In the end I have saved some acropora and lost others when dealing with algae issues and dino. Once you get past this hurdle I am confident you'll dial in another great system.
     
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  12. Vinnyboombatz

    Vinnyboombatz Giant Squid

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    If his seahare won't touch the stuff it is most likely bryopsis which is a gha.I have seen many different forms of gha the o.p.s pic is a typical growth pattern of bryopsis as it is not as long and flowing . Normal gha tends to grow in a mat not in clumps.Why not try to raise mag??If I was desperate I would at least try it.JM2C
    I know some of you may cringe but I had great success using this to rid my tank of bryopsis and other forms of gha.
    http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4098
    However my systems had no crabs,shrimp,or sps present.I also used less then the reccomended dosage.(i used about 1/2)
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2015