tank looks like crap after water change

[kpatrick]

I had to drain my 60 gallon sump in order to move it and I filled it back up with new DI/RO water and salt. Here it is 3 weeks later and my 125g display tank looks like crap. I have patches of green hair algea starting plus a have a brown algae on my sand and rocks that looks like its sufficating my zoos. the brown algea looks like brown fuzz. The only thing I can think of is that the tank may be cycling due to the amount of new water but 60 gallons out of a total of 180 for the entire setup doesnt seem like too much water change at one time. The MH lights are less then 5 months, filtration is Max9.5 pulling out of sump into the display plus 6 maxijet 1200's in the back of tank shooting toward the front in "X" patterns plus the skimmer which is ASM -G2 (I think thats right).
parameters:
Alk is 8.2
Calcium 400
PH 8.2
salinity 1.021
not testing mag or iodine
Lights are on 6 hours, I have some macro algea in sump/fuge however it seems to be attracting more hair algea then it is starving it. tank is 5 years old :help: :help:

 

[jumpfrog]

I'm assuming you used the same salt mix as always. Did you give it a chance to aerate real good before the water change. 50% water change is pretty large with water that hasn't had a chance to reach equilibrium. Other than that I'd check for phosphates to see if perhaps they became elivated. Unless your sump was providing biological filtration, just moving it shouldn't have affected your nitrogen cycle. If it was (bio balls, floss, etc.) it could be you had a massive die off and now seeing a bloom.
Either way it should clear up on it's own. Just watch your animals and good luck!

 

[kpatrick]

no bio balls or anything else in the sump/fuge except for some macro algea but I kept it alive in a container. The water sat for 2 days before I turned the sump on again. I also thought about the phosphates so I added PHOSBAN and it didnt do anything.

 

[nm reef]

Hmmmm...I'd be more concerned about possible phosphate levels than I would be about the rather large water change.....most of my algae issues have revolved around excessive phosphates and/or nitrates.

 

[kpatrick]

Do you think any of this has to do with not testing iodine or magnesium?

 

[nomad]

I think your setup is going through a minicyle after being disturbed in the move. Just siphon/pick out the unwanted algaes every few days and pray for a short cycle. Hang in there!

 

[squidd]

drain my 60 gallon sump in order to move it and I filled it back up

no bio balls or anything else in the sump/fuge except for some macro algea but I kept it alive in a container

the tank may be cycling due to the amount of new water
Do/did you have any sand or substrate in the "fuge" area that the Macros were attached to...?
Was it disturbed in the move (or when you pulled the Macros out to put them in the container)...?
It's not the "new water" that's causing the mini cycle and algae bloom (your readings are probably "0s" because the micros are sucking malnutrients up)...it's the waste and deitrus released when the fuge was disturbed ...

 

[kpatrick]

there is no sand in the fuge, just some live rock and cheato. All the cheato fits into a 2 qt container so it really isnt much. It hasnt grown much in the sump and it actually looks like it has hair and other algea growing off of it so it doesnt seem to be doing its job.
When I moved the sump/fuge out from below the main tank I used a shop vac (clean attachment) and drained all the water out of the sump.
Squidd is there a solution if it was due to the sump being disturbed? Phosban didnt seem to work, skimmer isnt overly active. I will get a better test for Phosphates if need be. I havent had an algea problem this bad in a very long time.
Nomad, I have been picking the hair algea every few days but it seems to be spreading to different parts of the tank so in guessing the maxijets are causing it to spread. The brown fuzzy algea is everywhere and I can not pick off rock since every bit of rock and most of the sand is covered in the brown fuzz.

 

[squidd]

The brown fuzzy algea is everywhere and I can not pick off rock since every bit of rock and most of the sand is covered in the brown fuzz.
Brown fuzzy stuff sounds like Diatoms usually a sign of a large influx of Silicates to tank (W/C water)
I know you said RO/DI but this and the green Micro algae bloom makes me question the condition of filters/source water...

 

[kpatrick]

Squidd,
I used my TDS meter and it reads very low so it seems that the filters in the DI/RO unit are working. Di unit is hooked up to my homes water line. I am stumped :thinking:
Will it clear up on its own or should I be doing something?

 

[kpatrick]

Would it help if I ran carbon?

 

[squidd]

Running carbon can't hurt...
I'm leary of suggesting WCs till we figure out if thats; the contaminent or not...
You say "Low TDS"...Can you get it tested for silicates, phosphates and organic nitrogen...?

 

[kpatrick]

phosphates are reading "0".
can you buy test kits for silicates and organic nitrogen?
Could the R/O filters be good and that why the TDS reading is low but the D/I filter or membrane be bad?
I looked at the tank today and now not only is it a brown fuzz but the strands of algea are 1/3" long growing out of the fuzz and the fuzz is turning green and purple in areas. You would think after 5 years this wouldnt happen! I feel like a newbie

 

[nomad]

I really, really do feel for you because right I'm went through a mess due to going to visit my daughter in AL for a week over Thanksgiving. My daughter here overfeed my nano tank and I had hair algae and cyano all over, but I couldn't stop feeding the tank because I have 2 S. yashi.
A filter pad put in the path of water flow at some point can also be very helpful in clearing out diatoms; get the type that that can be cut to size and change it evey day.

 

[squidd]

can you buy test kits for silicates and organic nitrogen?
Yes, or your local water treatment company can do it for you...
Could the R/O filters be good and that why the TDS reading is low but the D/I filter or membrane be bad?
How "low" is low...???
Not saying it "is" the water or RO, but, I thought I had good water ("Has to Be") until I had it tested for everything...
Either you eliminate the "possibilty" or you find what you need to correct...

 

[kpatrick]

the TDS meter is reading 18. the tap water reads around 250 and the bad water coming out of the r/o unit is around 400.