Algae blooms and dieing coral.

[rmoore89]

Thank you everybody. The lights were less than 3 months old. There was no sunlight hitting the tank. I was using Cora-vite and Tech-I in that tank, but I'm not sure if that could have been the problem? I've been working a lot lately and haven't had the chance to come on to get more advice. Instead of me battling this algae bloom I purchased Chemipure and a 20g tank. I rinsed off all my live rock and all my inverts and put them all along with my corals into the 20g. The 20 has now been up and running for 2 days with only 2 mexican turbo snail deaths, but they were both eaten in a couple hours by my hermits. The actinics have been running 10 hour days and the days for 4 hours. The lunar LEDs are on about 5 hours, and this has been 2 days with crystal clear water. I got some new sand white live-argonite and put it in the new tank. When I had the 30g I took the water that came in the bag with the black sand out and then put the sand in the tank thinking the water in the bag was bad for the tank. The 20g seems to be nicer to handle and looks better with the 32lbs of rock. I think I might try the 30g after some of my zoas grow up and I get a better understanding of the saltwater world. I appreciate everything everybody has done to try and help me. This leaves me with one last question. Should I use the Cora-vite and Tech-I in the new 20g? I got 8 zoa and my friend had given me one xenia. Any help, thank you in advance.

 

[luvmyreef]

Well, it seems you have found the problem! When discussing the fact that algae feeds off excess nutrients, etc in a tank, you failed to mention that you added cora-vite, etc. You stated you only added small amts of flake food. And You stated that you only had zoas, and those do not need to be fed...And why are you using tech- I? No need to add supplements to your tank if it is not stocked with lots of corals, etc that consume these more freq. than a tank without them. Keeping up with water changes would be best. With that being said, stop using these.

 

[rmoore89]

Ya I had forgotten about it until now, sorry about that everybody. The LFS guy told me I should use tech-i since I had 8 zoas in a 30g but now I have 8 in a 20g. I haven't used them yet in the 20g and I don't think I will as long as I change a couple gallons every week. He just told me the zoas would soak up the iodine and I needed to add, figured he runs the store so he shoulda known what he was talkin about.

Thank you all. The 30g is on the shelf for a little while until I can get the hang of this saltwater tank thing down. I lost 2 snails and a peppermint shrimp in the move, but a store owes me a fire shrimp and I might buy some more crabs and small snails. I was also curious if a wrasse would be beneficial? Since the LFS kinda hurt me with the Tech-I, I'd rather ask here ^^. He says they eat small "red bugs" and other nuisances in the tank. If not then I might get a small pair of clownfish because I've been without any real fish movement in a tank since I had my first clown die and I decided I would wait.

 

[shrimpy brains]

Well, mystery solved! An important rule of thumb in this hobby is: Don't add anything unless you test for it!
Also, do your own research(even if that is just asking here) before adding things to your tank! Unfortunately, most lfs are more interested in selling you stuff than being helpful! Also, this hobby has become filled with "supplements." Most of them are not needed. If you do regular water changes, you're elements will be replaced.
As far as the fish are concerned, it's up to you and what you want. Your stocklist will be limited by your tank size. Maybe 3 or 4 small fish would be good. Look at on line stores or get a book and decide what you like. Some sites now have a nano fish section which should help you decide. Also, keep a close eye on your parameters as you might get a mini cycle due to the tank change. Good luck!