Urgent Everything Slowly Dying...

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by BNR34RB26DETT, Dec 19, 2015.

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  1. BNR34RB26DETT

    BNR34RB26DETT Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    86
    All corals in my tank has closed up and i cannot figure out whats killing my corals. It seems that water change is making it worth and brown algea has started growing.My bubble tip anenomies have died.
    I am using RODI 3 stage system which i have been using for a little over a year.
    I took my water to a local fish store to be tested with no issues.

    Is there anything else i should be checking out?

    Water Parameters
    Salinity: 1.025
    Temperature: 80
    Nitrate: 0
    Nitrite: 0
    Alkalinity: 200
    Ph: 8

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  3. Piano10

    Piano10 Aiptasia Anemone

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    You need to test: nitrates, phosphates, calcium, and magnesium.

    The brown algae looks like dinoflagellates from that pic.

    What is your filteration system, lighting schedule, and maintenance routine?

    If its dino, there is some aggressive maintenance required to get rid of them because dino's become toxic.

    Look online for dinoflagellate pics, see if it looks like what you have.
     
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  4. Piano10

    Piano10 Aiptasia Anemone

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    Is the algae slimy and stringy? Or more hairy?
    Does it get worse with lights on?

    One thing I have learned: make sure you clean all filteration monthly. I clean out the powerheads, my hob filter&pump, any tubes/hoses because detritus builds in those and not only impairs the flow in the tank but aids in nutrient buildup=high nitrates=algae.

    During water changes I always blow stuff off the rocks prior to syphoning, then I syphon the water while vacuuming my sandbed lightly.

    I also cut my lighting to only 9 hrs and allow no outdoor light to hit my tank.

    Feed fish every other day and only small amounts.

    This helped me control the algae issues I was having
     
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  5. April Hope

    April Hope Fire Shrimp

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    Aug 15, 2015
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    Location:
    Kansas
    Any chance there is a short in the wiring of your blower/wave maker?
     
  6. Vinnyboombatz

    Vinnyboombatz Giant Squid

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    Definitely looks like Dino and maybe Calothrix.You need to up your maintenance i.e. more frequent wc's, better chemical filtration, to remove nutrients.I wouldn't add anything else until the tank clears.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2015
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  7. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    Looks like Dino to me. I've beaten it back three times. Each time I turned the lights off and wrapped the tank up for four days with absolutely no light. I then did a week without the wrap but no light and another two weeks slowly bringing only blue up. It worked three of the four times I tried it.

    That said what you really need is to identify what you have. Here's a pic I took with a classroom microscope and my iPhone.

    image.jpeg

    Turns out this is a particularly nasty type whose name I forget. An identification is invaluable if you need to seek further advice.

    The stuff sucks. Good luck - no half measures!
     
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  9. scajeo

    scajeo Sea Dragon

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    I've been looking into a microscope. Do you know what type or what power you were using?
     
  10. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    I vaguely remember this being at 500x. I could be just guessing though, it's been a while.
     
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  11. Jim Bonds

    Jim Bonds Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2015
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    So here's the thing, when you have that much algae, you'll see much less nitrates than what your tank is actually producing because the algae is eating it up. Everything needs nitrates for nutrition. 0 nitrates will starve things in your tank. So if you truely had 0 nitrates, you'd have killed all of your algae and all of your corals.

    An algae bloom of that magnitude is evidence of an extremely high nutrient system. Don't trust the tests. The phosphates and nitrates in your system are being used up by the algae. At this point, you should assume you have an ammonia problem as well.

    For all intents and purposes, you should consider diatoms and dinoflagellates the same thing. For a deeper explanation please see http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/dinos vs diatoms.html. The point here is that a dinoflagellate issue would look similar to a diatom bloom (both are phytoplankton, not algae). What you have is most definitely an algae bloom.

    I would recommend the following actions:

    1. Physically remove as much of the algae from the rocks as possible
    2. Change your carbon and GFO
      • If you aren't using these you need to start
    3. Do a series of large water changes
      • 20-30% every couple of days for the next week to two weeks
    4. Reduce feedings
      • Looks like you only have three fish so you should only be feeding a small pinch
    I have a couple of questions for you. What is your filtration setup? How often do you clean mechanical filtration? Do you use media and if so what kind and how often do you replace it? How often do you perform water changes and what percentage of water do you replace? How often do you feed the fish, how much, and what? Do you feed your corals, and if so, how much and what?

    As a sidebar, the percentage of nutrition corals get from heterotrophic feeding is minimal. The vast majority of nutrition comes from the symbiotic relationship the corals maintain with the zooxanthellae, or photosynthetic algae living in their cells. The point to take from this is that most people who target or broadcast feed their corals tend to over do it and pollute the water column which only serves to exacerbate algae problems.
     
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  12. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    I think I understand what you're trying to say. They are in fact both little, phitosynthesizing, and live in the ocean. It's worth pointing out though that there are some major differences. Dino can be ten times or more the size of diatoms. Dino is also not necessarily photosynthesizing. Finally Dino can, thanks to its flagella, move actively. One way to identify some species is just to shut all flow in the aquarium down. A few minutes later you'll see clouds of barely distinguishable critters.

    Their defense mechanisms are very different however and from the point of view of an aquarium, this makes all the difference. Diatoms use silica to form an armor. Since this armor doesn't redo solve easily, they will use up the available silica in a week or two and vanish on their own.

    Dino will not. Left unresolved, Dino can kill corals, snails, and fish. That isn't true of all species but it is true of the owners that cause us stress.

    While your general husbandry tips are quite sound, if these are dinoflagellates, and it looks initially like they are, more action is needed. Some people even suggest water changes make the issue worse (not a phenomenon I've seen or experienced).
     
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