crashing reef ???

steve24

steve24

Active Member
with spring and early summer i have been slacking on the tests for my tank.
i still do 10% WC every week. i have been battling hair algae for 5 months so my tank hasn`t been looking the best, but about a month ago my zoas weren`t opening the way they should (figured the hair algae was bothering them) then my shroom started shrivling up, frogspawn not opening and so on.
bluntly everything was looking like sh!t. just tested my water ...
temp ... 78.8
SG ... 1.025
Amm ... 0
trates ... 0
pH ... 8.1
Phos ... 0
Cal ... 350
Alk ... 9.6
please help, any thoughts, comments or cures

6 month old T5 bulbs also
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
i'd say the only thing out of place is calcium. hair algae is not going to make a frogspawn close as far as i know, but a less than optimum calcium level might slow the growth of a creature that needs calcium to form it's skeleton.
i don't know about the zoos and mushrooms.
 
steve24

steve24

Active Member
my reef has been up for 2 1/2 yrs now. i have used distilled water from day one...
this is what it USED to look like

and now i look at it and just wanna
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
i'm sorry.
lets think deeper.
go with the basics-
lighting
flow
water quality
temp
what changes have happened?
what additives have you added/failed to add?
 
steve24

steve24

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2652498
i'm sorry.
lets think deeper.
go with the basics-
lighting
flow
water quality
temp
what changes have happened?
what additives have you added/failed to add?
lighting... aquatinics TX5 daylights cut back to 6 hrs a day (hair algae) actinics on 12 hrs
almost 2000 GPH maxi jet, koralia, rio...skimmer and emperior 400 bio wheel filter
haven`t changed or added anything
don`t add additives other then weekly WC ...
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
how old are your bulbs? I know as the spectrum shifts it goes to a point where it is better for aglae growth and not coral growth.
just noticed you said 6 months on the bulbs what are the makers of the bulbs?
do you have a picture of what it looks like now that we can look at?
I am going to re-read the thread again to see if I missed anything too.
Mike
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
the cut back on lighting how long ago was this?
when you are talking about having hair algae how much are we talking about.
and the next is how much is the skimmer pulling out.
Mike
 
steve24

steve24

Active Member
here are my lights ...
three 10K and two actinic T5 bulbs all by UV
cut the daylight back from 8 1/2 to 6 hrs a day
gotta leave for work now... will check back this aftertoon
tanks EVERYONE
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
just a shot, but have you noticed any parasites? flat worms? not sure what would upset the FS and the zoos, but your params arent all that off.
as to the hair algae, any chance a clean up crew would help? sea hare? mexican turbos?
 
steve24

steve24

Active Member
Originally Posted by MichaelTX
http:///forum/post/2653229
the cut back on lighting how long ago was this?
when you are talking about having hair algae how much are we talking about.
and the next is how much is the skimmer pulling out.
Mike
i cut the light back like 7 months ago
alot of hair aglae, i`ve been pulling it and syphoning as mush as i can get each WC
enough that i empty the cup every other day
Originally Posted by GatorWPB
http:///forum/post/2653410
just a shot, but have you noticed any parasites? flat worms? not sure what would upset the FS and the zoos, but your params arent all that off.
as to the hair algae, any chance a clean up crew would help? sea hare? mexican turbos?
roughly 20 snails of different types
Fishy7
reef crystals from day one ...
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
what brand lights do you run.
I think part of you algae problem might be coming in from the distilled it will still have the contaminants in it but at lower levels through the distilling process. and it may actually be part of whats bothering the corals too.
it couls also be a temp swing as the others said have you watched at different times of the day to see where the temp is at different times.
also do the same with PH check morning afternoon and night to see if there is a PH swing in the tank.
Mike
 
knockout

knockout

Member
you said you've been using the same water since you started... so I don't think that is a problem (it may be the cause of your hair algae problem) but I have no experience with distilled water
I think temp is the more likely culprit, when temp started rising around here a month ago my temp went up to about 89 one day as I had turned the AC on yet, everything in the tank was closed for almost a week and it took a lot of RO ice blocks to get the temp down again... AC running full blast now everything opened again, also if you have any heaters in there make sure you unplug them, I never trust heaters...
good luck
 
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