algae blooms

[salty-ron]

hi im haveing a problem with algae. my tank is new about 2 mounths old. i have a 72 gal. bow front with a 20 gal sump. ran the tank with cured rock for about a month.introduced a couple of coarls no problem.intoduced 2 clown fish and a couple more coarls with in a day started getting brown yellow spots on the sand and rock and air bubbles releasing from the sand.did a 7 gal water changeand it got worse. installed a phos reactor a bout a week ago and still not slowing down.fish are doing fine lost 2 coarls though.not sure what to do looking for advise from the pros out there as im just a begginer. thanks for any help you can give me.


salty ron.................................. in port moody

[danny zubot]

If it can trap air bubbles it's most likely cyano bacteria. Which is all too often a normal part of new tank development. There's a ton of material out there to combat this plague, I usually suck it out when I change the water. Eventually, with good flow and water quality you will beat it.

[fencer]

Danny's right good flow and water quality. You might also control how much you are feedng your tank as well.

[Salmon King]

You can also try some products sold at your lps.I did worked great.Cyno usally caused by excess phosphates.(too much food) so slow down on feeding will help.Cant remember that slime remover product

[BC564]

I started a 72 gal bow front approx. 3 months ago and went through the same thing plus had hair algae and cyano. I used algae magic on the hair algae and a few days later added a phosban reactor. It cleared it up and have not had hair algae or brownish algae since... My tank is bare bottom so I suck up the deitrius weekly and do a 5 gallon water change at the same time. I like doing the 5 gallon weekly as opposed to 20 monthly both for ease and for fresh salt water added in smaller amounts. I had a pretty small cleaner crew when I started it up and have since added lots to the crew.

Also what kind of skimmer do you have and has it been pulling lots out of your water?

[digital-audiophile]

You can use something like chemiclean to get rid of it but it is just a quick fix, not a long term solution.

In my experience the only thing that gets rid of cyano is time.

[Canuckgod420]

I see people posting that they got stuff from there lps.....whats lps?

[digital-audiophile]

It should be LFS.

LFS = Local Fish Store

[Joe Reefer]

I think they mean LFS. LFS=Local Fish Store

[Okguy]

Unfortunately anything you add to your tank will only be a band-aid fix. It will temporarily solve your problem but it will not address the underlying issue that caused the problem.

What has caused the corals to die and now the algae bloom is your tank is still cycling. It may have appeared to be stable when you added your first corals because corals have a relatively low bioload. But once you added the fish, the cycle began again.

Here is a link to the best description I found on a tank cycling. For some reason I can link to it so I've pasted it in...


cycle

People seem to think that a tank sitting for a "xx" weeks/month magically makes everything in the tank 'cycled' and that's that. I constantly hear about people buying an 'established' tank from someone - and as such, thinking that their tank now has the benefits of the previous owners time invested. This is not the way it works!

Every time you change anything that alters the balance in the tank - the tank needs to 'cycle' ~ as in stabilize again. "Cycled" only means that the tank is able to process the waste generated by the bioload in the tank. Add a fish (or anything that eats/excretes) - tank needs to 'cycle'. Add more live rock - tank needs to 'cycle'. Change the water volume or biological media volume - "tank needs to cycle". Move the tank - the system needs to 'cycle'.... Each of these 'cycles' takes about 4-6 weeks. This occurs as the bacteria populations adjust to the increased levels of ammonia and nitrite produced by each new fish. People add or change a few things on their tank at once - and then can't figure out WHAT caused problems... Make ONE change - wait 4-6 weeks...check to ensure all levels are proper and stable. Make another change, and so on.

Here's a little bit of info on the 'cycle' ~

The term "cycling" is actually a bit of a misnomer, IMHO . In our hobby, it usually refers to a state where the aerobic component of the filtration system has "matured" to such an extent that there are enough aerobic bacteria present in the system to convert the ammonia/um generated by the tank's bioload into nitrite, and the further conversion of the nitrite into nitrate. In actual fact, this only completes of the first phase of the actual nitrogen cycle .

Until a few years ago, that was as far as the process could go, resulting in a slowly increasing level of nitrate, which could only be reduced by partial water changes. Thanks to the "discovery" of live rock, and later of live sand, the "cycle" can now be completed by anoxic bacteria living in these substances, further converting the nitrate into inert nitrogen gas.

In hobbyist’s terms, a new system is considered to be "cycling" when there are still detectable levels of ammonia/um and/or nitrite in the water. A system is considered to have "cycled" when these levels drop to zero, and the nitrate level starts to increase.

The important thing to remember is that a tank does not "cycle" only once. The system will reach equilibrium, where there is enough aerobic bacteria living in the filtration media (live rock) to maintain an undetectable level of ammonia and nitrite with a given bioload. Any increase in the bio-load, such as when a new fish is added to the tank, will upset this equilibrium, by "flooding" the system with more ammonia/um than the bacteria can digest. Obviously, with more "food" available for these bacteria, they will multiply (assuming that food was the limiting factor), and in time the system will reach a new equilibrium, able to handle this increased bioload. This does take time, though, and in the meantime the increased level of ammonia and/or nitrite could be poisoning all the fish.

During this initial 'cycle'; you're building the foundation that your entire system will be built on. Just like you wouldn't want to build a house on a poorly built concrete foundation; same hold true with a marine tank. You need to ensure that you have enough live rock (1.5-2lbs/gallon of tank) + a properly set-up sandbed (be it a DSB or a SSB - each requires different amounts and grain sizes as well as difference maintenance) + a skimmer (to actually export all the unwanted DOC 's) and more.

Remember - this isn't just a pretty picture; it's building an ecosystem that needs to support life...and the lives of the animals you're trying to keep depend on you and your dedication to learn the proper ways; thus permitting the animals to hopefully Thrive opposed to simply survive.


I've read several posts lately of people moving & upgrading their tanks and they are confused why their tanks are crashing since they are already 'established'. I think this link explains why perfectly...

It's too early for you to have corals in the tank. The Clowns should be hardy enough to survive the cycle. In 4 to 6 months the tank will be ready again to have corals (if you have the proper lighting). I know it's not that fun this way, but slow down, take your time and enjoy the process of your tank maturing...

Also hanging out on site like this one will help you along during the waiting process .

Good luck!

Kevin