At a loss with my tank. need help.

[knutcracker]

knowledgeable reefland.com,

I am at a loss. For the past 8 months, i have been fighting either a type of cyanobacteria or an extremely persistent maroon/brownish algae (pictures attached). It is not so much that the problem has taken over the tank and killed everything, but that the past 8 months have been so tedious and frustrating (and back breaking) that i feel like quitting. Nothing I did rooted out the problem. All I did was to slow it down and see the cycle repeat itself almost weekly. Imagine that for 8 months!

My 4 year old tank is 26g with 50lb of high quality live rocks. I light it with 2x65 watt PC's and have a CPR bakpak, a small Eheim and two powerheads for flow and filtration. During this period, I have one fish and a few LPS and softies.

Originally (8 months ago), i thought it was normal algae, so i stepped up water changes. Once, i did 50%, wait 3 days and did another 50%. It came back. Since the algae/cyano is sometimes slimy and leave bubbles attached, i thought it might be cyano, so i dosed Boyd's chemi-clean. It came back. So, I thought it is algae and returned to aggressive water changes. After every WC, the first indication, usually 2 days later, would be a layer of maroon/brownish grainy (almost little pecks) covering on the substrate. It would grow fast and if I leave the tank unstirred for a while, a layer of film of the same color would cover the LR's.

3 months ago, I moved. i was so sick of seeing the maroon/brown crush coral bed, i threw it out and replaced it with a 1 inch sand bed. The aggressive WC continued. My LFS suggested that it IS cyano, so I dosed Ultra Life's Red Slime Remover. At one point, when it got back, I took out half of the LF and toothbrushed them. I have changed the light because i thought it might be a wavelength feeding into the algae, I changed substrate and filter pads in my Eheim.

At this point, I don't know what to do. It makes me want to quit.

My guess is that: 1) it is cyano, but one that i haven't found the right medication for or 2) my aggressive WC's and brushing and my move over the past 8 months have killed off enough beneficial bacteria and/or resetted my tank in such as a way that nothing is competing with the algae.

[knutcracker]

sorry, i forgot, THANKS GUYS!!!

[reseter5]

your posphates... your water may be high in them.. that will also contribute to the red slime algae.. if it is red slime algae there is a great remover of it for sale but you will still need to get your posphates down...

[knutcracker]

i have thought of phosphates before, so I used rowaphos for about a month. I have bee using RO/DI water and just bought a kent marine RO/DI unit . . . unless there are phosphates attached to my rocks or something . . . i don't know what the problem is

[prow]

phosphates come from many sources. in many forms. most phos comes from over feeding or feeding things with high levels already present. like flake foods or other dried foods. frozen too, if your not pre rinsing it could be adding a lot. also die off from your live rock will also release phos. some salt mixes add phos aswell.

from the pics, IMO you might have more than one issue. IC bubble algae, green hair, cyno and dilatoms. i would have never done some of the things you did. I think you wiped out your bio-filter. when you chemically treated your tank to kill the cyano you eliminated your tanks ability to process nitrogenous wastes. it also caused a release of toxic substances from the killing the slim cyno algae. not surprising things are getting worse. keep in mind if you use chemicals for algae control the algae would have been back in days to weeks anyway even if it went away for a while as you are not addressing the cause/source of the algae problem, "nurients" now if it were me i would start over. sorry i know you did not want to hear that but i really do believe you wipe out you bio filtration anyway.

[knutcracker]

thanks for your opinion. i suspected that i wiped out my bio filtration as well. is there a way to get it back? i.e. to re-seed the rocks or the sand? it should be a shame to restart . ..

[knutcracker]

i might have wiped off my nitrifying bacteria. but then why are my corals (LPS and softies) doing so well?

and if I need wipe them off, how can re-seed them? it is possible?

[knutcracker]

also, my nitrate has been around 5 ppm for the past 4 months. if i have indeed wiped out my bio filtration, how does it stay at this level?

[prow]

humm, ok first you can recover the rock, but it will take longer than just getting new rock. you could just let it sit and the bac will come back. many water changes and keeping the lights off aswell as keep water parameters good ph, temp, salinity, phos nitrate ammonia ectt......

second for your nitrates; producing nitrates is but one one part of the nitrogen cycle. that part might be ok for fish only tanks but not good enough for a reef. here is a good read to get you started in understanding. after reading please post any thoughts or concerns. pay attention to the denitrifcation part of this cylce. Nitrogen Cycle

[knutcracker]

prow, thanks for all your input thus far.

i am not doubting that some of my bio filtration has been killed off, but the question is how much? because my nitrate has remained at a decent level of 5 ppm for the last 4 months. in addition, my corals (LPS and softies) are doing very well. perhaps that have gotten used to the water.

more importantly, how long will this re-seeding period take? do i need to buy new rocks? how often do i feed the tank and what do i feed? (i have no fish right now) how often do i do WC's?

Thanks.

[prow]

prow, thanks for all your input thus far.

no prob

i am not doubting that some of my bio filtration has been killed off, but the question is how much? because my nitrate has remained at a decent level of 5 ppm for the last 4 months. in addition, my corals (LPS and softies) are doing very well. perhaps that have gotten used to the water.

couple things here. having nitrates does not mean you have your bio filtration. having no nitrates after cycling would mean you have filtration. nitrification is only half. the other half is denitrification. where nitrate is converted back to a nitrogenous gas and the elements with in the cell are released back into the system to be used again. corals can adapt to high levels of nitrate for a short time but it will catch up to them. not that your levelc are all that high. what test kit are you using by the way? your bac is going to have to compete with all the algae. the algae will die off and feed itself. might be why you see nitrates. the algae is reabsorbing the nutrients before the bac. so how long will it take to establish your bio, who knows, depends on how long the battle with the algae goes on. careful here your system can reach a balance with the algae, then you may need to cook the rock.

more importantly, how long will this re-seeding period take? do i need to buy new rocks? how often do i feed the tank and what do i feed? (i have no fish right now) how often do i do WC's?

dont feed anything. if dont want to get new rock at least recure it. i would still do water changes 30% at least once a week till nitrates and the algae are undetectable. no lights either. you want your anaerobic bac to establish. the algae needs light and produces O2 aswell as aborb nutrients. all these things hinder you anaerobic bacteria from growing. it still will but its faster if you eleminate competion to allow it to establish. reseeding, na no need. just patients. the biggest worry if you use this rock is if the chemicals used to kill the cyno was absobed by the rock, or better said how much was absorb. untill the chemical is 100% gone your rock may slowly leach out. or even worse it just may never allow things to grown on it in that area.