diatoms?

ipokay86 · 07/25/2016, 10:20 PM

ok what is up with my tank I do water changes weekly and this is just not going away! This tank is 3 years old and just all the sudden...this happened!

farfromsea · 07/25/2016, 10:55 PM

What are your nitrate levels?

ipokay86 · 07/25/2016, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farfromsea

What are your nitrate levels?

Nitrates are 0 nitrites 0 ammonia .25

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farfromsea · 07/25/2016, 11:26 PM

Why is your ammonia 0.25? Are you using API tests sometimes those show falsely high ammonia readings.

Is your sump dirty and gross? I would:
(1) clean the sump out
(2) brush off any grossness on powerheads
(3) induce a 3-day blackout period to try to clear up the algae

Can you blow the algae off with a baster or is it gross slimey and stuck?

ipokay86 · 07/25/2016, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipokay86

Nitrates are 0 nitrites 0 ammonia .25

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We use API testing kits but up until the 'brown breakout', we had never had a reading above zero on the same API ammonia tests. We cannot vacuum it off of the sand or the rock. When we try to vacuum off the rock, it just stays stuck to the rock and waving in the water like human hair that is mostly light brown with the occasional green patch and between a sixteenth of an inch to an eighth of an inch long. If we try to vacuum it off the sand, it gets sucked up but is so heavy that it just floats around in the vacuum in clumps and then falls back out of the vacuum head into the tank back onto the sand.

The only reason you can even see sand is because the sand is flipped over during vacuuming to reveal the clean layer underneath. We don't have a sump. We have a Jebo canister filter. The only things in the filter are sponges, bio-ball-media, and carbon. Every 10 days we do a 20% water change that includes cleaning it off of the glass and using sterile toothbrushes to scrub it off of the rocks in buckets. We tried to use Phosguard to help with phosphates but that has barely slowed it down despite replacing it daily. No matter what we do, it comes back just as aggressively.

The only thing that somewhat worked was going on vacation. We cleaned the tank and left for 7 days leaving all of the aquarium lights off all day. When we returned, it had still grown back but at only about 25% of the growth speed it usually does. We have a normal aquarium LED light that we keep only at 30% power during the day as to not encourage growth. The only thing I can think of that has changed from our old aquarium having light brown dirty sand before changes to our new aquarium having extreme growth is the type of water and UV sterilizer. We used sink water with dechlorinator and a UV sterilizer on the first tank with no problem, but the new tank is getting shower/tub water with the same dechlorinator and no UV sterilizer. Other than that, nothing has changed. Our first tank was no problem but this one has been a nightmare. We even used the same filter in both tanks that we cleaned and repurposed.

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Coralfuture · 07/26/2016, 12:59 AM

Whether its city water or well water the bath water and drinking water are almost always the same (99.99%) its that .01% well water homes that bypass some of their water filtration on the bath and toiletry water. I doubt that the source is doing anything but I would recommend to try and get an RO/DI system(the cheap ones will do) and try your water changes through that to eliminate any possible phosphates in the tap water. Good luck with this or other suggestions people may give you.

farfromsea · 07/26/2016, 02:52 AM

You obviously have some high nutrient problem in the tank because of all of the algae, although it shows 0 since they are sucking it all up, but you know that already.

Unfortunately, canister filtration is known for harboring nutrients. However, some report success with these through monthly cleaning of the filter media. How does your filter media look?

Have you considered a hang-on-the-back protein skimmer? That can help reduce some of the nutrition issues.

It sounds like you have either hair algae or some nasty dinoflagellates. Hard for me to tell from the pictures.

Are those structures that look like coral some sort of fake coral statue in the tank? Not sure what those are made of but do you think they could be leaching phosphates? Maybe remove them from the tank for now.

Is this a FOWLR tank?

If the problem is dinoflagellates then people report them as being difficult to remove and that water changes actually make their situation worse. I would experiment with not doing water changes for a while and see if anything improves... Either way you definitely need to start using RODI water instead of water from your bathtub or sink or anything in the house. In my city, they put chloramine in the water which is not good for the tank so if I were to get an RODI filtration system I would need to have an extra filtration step on the system. Make sure you call your city and find out.

I still think a blackout period is worth trying even though you said it came back after the last 7-day blackout you did.

Scrub the rocks, clean/change the canister media, add HOB skimmer, 3 day blackout, try to feed the fish a little less without complete starvation.

How long is your photoperiod? When you resume light after the blackout you should definitely

Also if you believe there is actually ammonia in the water I would go out and get some Prime and dump it in the water to prevent damage to the fish. Since they aren't acting distressed or dropping dead I'm skeptical there is actually ammonia in the water.

zeemofree · 07/26/2016, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farfromsea

You obviously have some high nutrient problem in the tank because of all of the algae, although it shows 0 since they are sucking it all up, but you know that already. Unfortunately, canister filtration is known for harboring nutrients. However, some report success with these through monthly cleaning of the filter media. How does your filter media look? Have you considered a hang-on-the-back protein skimmer? That can help reduce some of the nutrition issues. It sounds like you have either hair algae or some nasty dinoflagellates. Hard for me to tell from the pictures. Are those structures that look like coral some sort of fake coral statue in the tank? Not sure what those are made of but do you think they could be leaching phosphates? Maybe remove them from the tank for now. Is this a FOWLR tank? If the problem is dinoflagellates then people report them as being difficult to remove and that water changes actually make their situation worse. I would experiment with not doing water changes for a while and see if anything improves... Either way you definitely need to start using RODI water instead of water from your bathtub or sink or anything in the house. In my city, they put chloramine in the water which is not good for the tank so if I were to get an RODI filtration system I would need to have an extra filtration step on the system. Make sure you call your city and find out. I still think a blackout period is worth trying even though you said it came back after the last 7-day blackout you did. Scrub the rocks, clean/change the canister media, add HOB skimmer, 3 day blackout, try to feed the fish a little less without complete starvation. How long is your photoperiod? When you resume light after the blackout you should definitely Also if you believe there is actually ammonia in the water I would go out and get some Prime and dump it in the water to prevent damage to the fish. Since they aren't acting distressed or dropping dead I'm skeptical there is actually ammonia in the water.

List everything you have going on here , bet it's all wrong

farfromsea · 07/26/2016, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeemofree

List everything you have going on here , bet it's all wrong

Not my tank

ipokay86 · 07/26/2016, 11:54 PM

Fowlr 90 gallon aquarium, 230 gallon-per-hour Jebo canister filter, standard LED controllable light, fake coral inserts. The coral inserts had a piece break off that exposed the inside material but it was made by a fish shop so I don't know if exposed fake coral insert ingredients exposed to the water would make diatoms or algae grow.

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farfromsea · 07/27/2016, 02:30 AM

If you added the fake coral recently I mean yeah maybe it could be leaching phosphates. I think the main issue here though is inadequate nutrient export that had been building up over time and was like a ticking time bomb.

Let us know what you end up deciding to try to fix/improve your current filtration system

Reeferfourlife · 07/27/2016, 02:55 AM

Do you have other power heads inside the tank? Having only the canister flow is not enough. I would take out the rocks and clean them. Also get a better test kit. Try Red Sea or Salifert. Api kit is inaccurate.

Shivsreef · 07/27/2016, 03:33 AM

Get a sea hare

07/27/2016, 03:33 AM	#13
Shivsreef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 319	Get a sea hare __________________ Shiv

07/25/2016, 10:55 PM	#2
farfromsea Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 549	What are your nitrate levels?

07/25/2016, 11:26 PM	#4
farfromsea Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 549	Why is your ammonia 0.25? Are you using API tests sometimes those show falsely high ammonia readings. Is your sump dirty and gross? I would: (1) clean the sump out (2) brush off any grossness on powerheads (3) induce a 3-day blackout period to try to clear up the algae Can you blow the algae off with a baster or is it gross slimey and stuck?

07/26/2016, 12:59 AM	#6
Coralfuture Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 76	Whether its city water or well water the bath water and drinking water are almost always the same (99.99%) its that .01% well water homes that bypass some of their water filtration on the bath and toiletry water. I doubt that the source is doing anything but I would recommend to try and get an RO/DI system(the cheap ones will do) and try your water changes through that to eliminate any possible phosphates in the tap water. Good luck with this or other suggestions people may give you.

07/26/2016, 02:52 AM	#7
farfromsea Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 549	You obviously have some high nutrient problem in the tank because of all of the algae, although it shows 0 since they are sucking it all up, but you know that already. Unfortunately, canister filtration is known for harboring nutrients. However, some report success with these through monthly cleaning of the filter media. How does your filter media look? Have you considered a hang-on-the-back protein skimmer? That can help reduce some of the nutrition issues. It sounds like you have either hair algae or some nasty dinoflagellates. Hard for me to tell from the pictures. Are those structures that look like coral some sort of fake coral statue in the tank? Not sure what those are made of but do you think they could be leaching phosphates? Maybe remove them from the tank for now. Is this a FOWLR tank? If the problem is dinoflagellates then people report them as being difficult to remove and that water changes actually make their situation worse. I would experiment with not doing water changes for a while and see if anything improves... Either way you definitely need to start using RODI water instead of water from your bathtub or sink or anything in the house. In my city, they put chloramine in the water which is not good for the tank so if I were to get an RODI filtration system I would need to have an extra filtration step on the system. Make sure you call your city and find out. I still think a blackout period is worth trying even though you said it came back after the last 7-day blackout you did. Scrub the rocks, clean/change the canister media, add HOB skimmer, 3 day blackout, try to feed the fish a little less without complete starvation. How long is your photoperiod? When you resume light after the blackout you should definitely Also if you believe there is actually ammonia in the water I would go out and get some Prime and dump it in the water to prevent damage to the fish. Since they aren't acting distressed or dropping dead I'm skeptical there is actually ammonia in the water.

07/26/2016, 11:54 PM	#10
ipokay86 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 17	Fowlr 90 gallon aquarium, 230 gallon-per-hour Jebo canister filter, standard LED controllable light, fake coral inserts. The coral inserts had a piece break off that exposed the inside material but it was made by a fish shop so I don't know if exposed fake coral insert ingredients exposed to the water would make diatoms or algae grow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

07/27/2016, 02:30 AM	#11
farfromsea Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 549	If you added the fake coral recently I mean yeah maybe it could be leaching phosphates. I think the main issue here though is inadequate nutrient export that had been building up over time and was like a ticking time bomb. Let us know what you end up deciding to try to fix/improve your current filtration system

07/27/2016, 02:55 AM	#12
Reeferfourlife Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: So Cal Posts: 102	Do you have other power heads inside the tank? Having only the canister flow is not enough. I would take out the rocks and clean them. Also get a better test kit. Try Red Sea or Salifert. Api kit is inaccurate.