My Worst Nightmare Came True

[fishfreak1242]

I just got back from a road trip down south and came to see my tank only to find out that I have the biggest algae bloom that I have ever experienced. I walked into my fish room and I couldn't even look into the glass. So now I have been freaking out for the past hour trying to get everything in tip top shape so that I can fight this. I would get a pic, but my camera is broken so I can't at the moment. So let me give you the rundown of my tank. Its a 55 gal FOWLR (been trying to turn it into a reef), it has been up for about 7 months now. All of my fish seem to be ok. I have 80 lbs of LR and about 30 lbs LS. I have relatively hardy fish and shrimp in my tank (Clownfish, PJ cardinal, Sixline Wrasse, Firefish, cleaner shrimp, and Fire Shrimp). I have about 700 gph of flow going through it. I will get my parameters up in a sec. Here is my list of things that I plan on doing:
1. Shutting off lights completely for the next 3-4 days
2. Buying a Koralia 3 to increase flow
3. Buying a Phosphate test kit
4. Increase CUC (I only have a few snails and not many hermits)
5. Increase water change schedule to 5 gal change weekly
How does this sound? I have changed all of my filter pads and scraped most of the algae off the glass. It appears to be a mix of cyno bacteria and green algae (I have never experienced either before, but that is what it looks like from pics I have seen). Also I have been using RO water for the 3 months. If anyone has ANY suggestions at all on how I can battle this, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[rebelprettyboy]

What kind of lights u runnin and did u just leave them on the whole time u were gone or something?

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by rebelprettyboy
http:///forum/post/2673813
What kind of lights u runnin and did u just leave them on the whole time u were gone or something?
2x175w MH and 2x55 Actinic T-5s. I had them on timers. I'm pretty sure that they turned on and off correctly, but I could be wrong. Just got my test results back:
Nitrate,Nitrite,Amonia-0
pH-8.4
Sal.-1.024

 

[spanko]

Do you have any Caulerpa in the tank? Increase water change to at least 10 gallon per week. I would probably go 10 gallons every 4 days until the tank clears. Heavy wet skimming. Run carbon and change it every other day. Change filter material (floss) every other day. Siphon the cyano out at every water change and stir the area underneath it gently, but just that area. Before water change take a turkey baster and blow all of the rockwork to get any detritus suspended.
Don't freak out, you can handle the.

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2673829
Do you have any Caulerpa in the tank? Increase water change to at least 10 gallon per week. I would probably go 10 gallons every 4 days until the tank clears. Heavy wet skimming. Run carbon and change it every other day. Change filter material (floss) every other day. Siphon the cyano out at every water change and stir the area underneath it gently, but just that area. Before water change take a turkey baster and blow all of the rockwork to get any detritus suspended.
Don't freak out, you can handle the.
If what you mean by caulerpa is plants, yes I have a 20 gal sump with some chaeto in it. But I had to turn off my sump temporary because I had a lot of algae in my overflow so I have to clean that out. I will try to do as many water changes as I can next week. Thanks for the advice.

 

[mr_x]

i would do all of the above but the cleanup crew. cleanup crews are overrated. water changes are your friends!
btw- i'd shut the lights off for a week. it's not going to hurt anything if you have no photosynthetic animals in the tank yet.

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2673839
i would do all of the above but the cleanup crew. cleanup crews are overrated. water changes are your friends!
btw- i'd shut the lights off for a week. it's not going to hurt anything if you have no photosynthetic animals in the tank yet.
thanks. Ill do that. Anyone else have a suggestion?

 

[emtguy]

like you're avatar but with obama its like getting jimmy carter back but worse!
carry on, aint trying to hi-jack the thread.
turning lights off will help.

 

[peterpaul]

I would get more flow in your tank. Check if you are over feeding your fish which can increase phospate levels. Just do a couple more water changes. Also turbo snails might help

 

[nano reefer]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2673839
i would do all of the above but the cleanup crew. cleanup crews are overrated. water changes are your friends!
yes they are, but lets not forget the mystical power of the Mexican Turbo Snail. i watched mine clear a 4 by 4 area of hair algae in less than 30 mins when i had an outbreak.

 

[kellenr]

Originally Posted by fishfreak1242
http:///forum/post/2673821
...I'm pretty sure that they turned on and off correctly, but I could be wrong...
YIKES! Maybe should of made sure the timers were working correctly for a day or two before leaving.
I'd scrape whatever you can off the glass then turkey baster blast the LR, it'll get tons off! Then do a large water change, like 40%-50% trying to suck out as much of the 'floating' algae you scraped as possible. Lights off for like 4+ days for sure. Followed by like 10% WC's each week for 3-4 weeks.
If its Cyano, you'll see a red stringy like algae that will have small bubbles on it. You can use a product called Chemi-Clean Red Slime Remover to treat if you'd like. Will definitely speed up the process.
...I agree clean up crews are overrated, you need hands-on.

 

[mr_x]

Originally Posted by Nano Reefer
http:///forum/post/2674084
yes they are, but lets not forget the mystical power of the Mexican Turbo Snail. i watched mine clear a 4 by 4 area of hair algae in less than 30 mins when i had an outbreak.
it was algae though, not cyano, right? it cleared the 4" area, then took a big dump in the water column, to feed the algae that was left

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by KellenR
http:///forum/post/2674155
YIKES! Maybe should of made sure the timers were working correctly for a day or two before leaving.
I'd scrape whatever you can off the glass then turkey baster blast the LR, it'll get tons off! Then do a large water change, like 40%-50% trying to suck out as much of the 'floating' algae you scraped as possible. Lights off for like 4+ days for sure. Followed by like 10% WC's each week for 3-4 weeks.
If its Cyano, you'll see a red stringy like algae that will have small bubbles on it. You can use a product called Chemi-Clean Red Slime Remover to treat if you'd like. Will definitely speed up the process.
...I agree clean up crews are overrated, you need hands-on.
I would have checked but I figured out that I was leaving the day before, so I didn't have the time to check. I'm pretty sure that it is cyno because there are a lot of bubble and it is red and stringy. I will try out the Chemi-clean stuff today or tomorrow.

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2674203
it was algae though, not cyano, right? it cleared the 4" area, then took a big dump in the water column, to feed the algae that was left

It was more like a mixture of the 2. I have some kind of green algae and cyano.

 

[brenda5826]

Originally Posted by Nano Reefer
http:///forum/post/2674084
yes they are, but lets not forget the mystical power of the Mexican Turbo Snail. i watched mine clear a 4 by 4 area of hair algae in less than 30 mins when i had an outbreak.
1+

for the mexican turbo they are awesome i got four of them on
monday and by thursday my tank was sparkling clean

 

[uberlink]

I'd reduce your lighting schedule by a few hours a day until this rights itself. I wouldn't eliminate lighting for a week...it will mess up your fishes' eating. I'd focus on the water changes. You can pretty safely go with 20% a week, or about 10 gallons. Also consider planting some macroalgae in your system, like chaetomorpha. By growing desirable algae, you'll eliminate the nutrients that feed the undesirable algae.

 

[fishfreak1242]

Originally Posted by uberlink
http:///forum/post/2674290
I'd reduce your lighting schedule by a few hours a day until this rights itself. I wouldn't eliminate lighting for a week...it will mess up your fishes' eating. I'd focus on the water changes. You can pretty safely go with 20% a week, or about 10 gallons. Also consider planting some macroalgae in your system, like chaetomorpha. By growing desirable algae, you'll eliminate the nutrients that feed the undesirable algae.
Ok. How does 10 hours of light a day sound? I have had chaeto in my tank for about a month now.

 

[fishfreak1242]

I just changed from my old fluorescent hood to my new lighting about a week ago. Could this change have caused my sudden outbreak? Also, I was observing my tank this morning, and I found my beloved cleaner shrimp lying dead at the bottom of my tank. He was my favorite out of everything in the tank. I will miss Jacques.

 

[alohami]

Yes, the change in lighting is most likely the major culprit, at least for the algae. Even if you just put new bulbs in your old fixture it could have caused an algae bloom. I don't believe it would have caused the cyano though as that is usually a flow issue. Also, you mention having the lights on 10 hours a day which sounded like a reduction from your normal schedule. I'm wondering how long you currently have them running. Ten hours is more than enough normally, so I would seriously consider reducing it even further than that right now. Personally, I think around 6 would be plenty right now.

 

[mr_x]

if you have no corals yet, leave the lights off completely. there is no need for light if you don't have animals that require it.