Please Help: Green Algae Overtake + Zoanthid Problems

[Kryos]

Size of tank: 20g
Age of tank: 4 weeks
Sump: N/A
Skimmer: CPR Bak Pak 2 Skimmer + Biological Filter
nitrate: Unknown
ammonia: Unknown
temperature: 25 degrees Celcius
Water source: tap
Salinity: 1.023-1.024
Alkalinity: unknown
Lights : Nova Extreme 2x24W 10k Daylight + 2x24W 460nm Actinics
Calcium: unknown
Magnesium unknown
Dosing: None

I'm sorry for not having the parameters for my water, but I never bought any since my friend who has had a SW tank for about 4 years now helped me start it and he said I probably won't need it(too late to go out and buy some). He's also away on vacation and I can't reach him...>.<.

Lighting Schedule:
7am - all Lights on
7pm - Daylights Off
11pm - Actinics off

Livestock:
Fish:
2x True Percula Clowns
2x Indigo Chromis
1x Yellow Tail Damselfish
Cleanup:
1x Turbo Snail
1x Astrea Snail
2x Cerith Snails
1x Cleaner Shrimp
2x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
Coral:
1x Cladiella leather coral (Colt Coral?)
1x Orange Center Zoanthid Colony
1x Green Mushrooms Colony
0.5x Clove/Palm tree Colony? (it's on the underside of the green mushrooms)


Problem1:
My tank is getting covered in this green algae every day I come home from work. All my livestock seemed to be healthy and eating so I thought it wasn't much of a problem until today that I noticed....

Problem2:
I noticed that the smaller Zoanthid Polyps disappeared (Larger ones still there and are open). Also, about 4 of them look like they're swollen in the center disk and do not react or close when I brush them with tweezers (I read that this is because they over extended themselves for light), Are they dead? Recoverable? Also, it seems that one other polyp, As I was positioning the colony at a higher place, fell off (sign of sickness? I'd expect them to not fall off so easily), is it the end for that one? or will it reattach itself over time if I find a way to anchor it to the rest of the colony?


My Approach:
Just did a water change a couple days ago in hopes that it helps, it did not. so now I'm resorting to physically scrub it off everyday.

No idea what to do with the zoanthids except move them up as I read that they are extending for more light. Though they've been in the tank for 2 weeks and have never been like this before

If anyone can help me find the cause or gimme a solution, it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

Pics:
Last week:


This Week, when I get home from work everyday:


Zoanthids Before:
(those tiny polyps on the right, Completely gone now...>.< please help)


Zoanthids Today:

[L33t Reefer]

You said that this is only 4 weeks into your whole operation, and you've alredy added 5 fish and multiple corals. It seems liike you're playing with fire to me. Your tank seems like its still cycling and its just hiting the ammonia or nitrate spike. You cant avoid this and if I'm right it will kill pretty much all your livestock. Or I could be completely wrong. Theres that too. But im pretty sure im not.
If you actually had any sort of testing equipment, even the cheap strips, then it would be much easier to diagnose.

[JR719]

IMO, too early to add any livestock. your still running the cycle and your tank will go thru many spikes during this time. I do not recommend using tap water, I cannot stress this enough, use RO/DI. That will cut down on your problems. It's still too early to tell.

[funkejj]

First and foremost is go get test kits as soon as you can. I have had zoos look like that and end up fine. But get test kits. Also shorten you light cycle. let your actinics run for 8 hours and the others run for 6. Lights do not need to be on for 16 hours a day.

[Kryos]

Thanks for all the help everyone, it sounds convincing... again, I apologize for being a total noob here, since this is my first ever aquarium...>.<

I was told by the Store Clerk and my friend: "If you're cycling with cured live rock, just let the system run with no lights for about 2 weeks, and if it doesn't smell rancid, then you can go ahead with placing livestock in". So after 2 weeks of running the tank with nothing in it but live rock, my friend migrated some of the his livestock(which makes up the majority of the livestock currently in my tank) over since he wanted to redo a portion of his tank.

As for the tap water, my friend said he's been using tap water for years now with no problems. But if it helps in whatever way, I'll try it... so how do I get this RO/DI water?

Is there anything I can do now to reduce the damage as the tank finishing the cycle?

[dublo8]

Not much you can really do right now. Just sit it out and hope for the best. Even though you had cured live rock. Die off from the trip home and it sitting out for a little bit of time is enough to have your ammonia spike. Dont worry about your friend go get some basic saltwater test kits. High range ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If your not already run some carbon in a hang on back filter. If your friend has a tank he should have known better than to start putting livestock in there. You added way to much way to fast. Get some carbon and those test kits. As far as the algae goes , it's part of the tank cycle. Hopefully, if everything survives the cycle then the algae will start to go away. You may not have any problems at all either. so who knows. Petco has API test kits that will work for now. good luck.

[JR719]

What dublo8 says..... OR, spend loads of cash on a UV or ozone. Something I did not catch the first time was your lighting. Your lights are on too long. My MH on 6 hours, Actinics 10 hours (too long). Is your tank near a window? If so, shield it from the sun. That will algae up your tank quick.

[kass03]

I agree with to much to fast especially when you never tested the water to see if you had a cycle.

You can also bring a sample of water to the LFS to have it tested. Some charge a minimal fee and some dont.

kass

[papa_dog]

I agree with everyone else. I am still quite new as well (1 year) but this is some of what I noticed or would suggest:

- Tank is likely still cycling (or just finished), so should only be sparsely stocked
- light period is way too long (mine is 8 hours for daylights and 10.5 for actinics and that might be pushing it)
- block direct sunlight from the tank (I notice the difference in the algae on my glass when its sunny compared to overcast)
- manual removal of the hair algae will help keep it in check for now (while you are battling it)
- you definitely need your own test kits - the basics (PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate) is good enough for now, but you have to know what is or isn't going on in your tank
- try feeding the fish every other day for a while
- Keep up with regular water changes
- you might try setting your skimmer a bit more wet to take out more

I personally think the bio load on the tank is way too high. I don't know too much about nano's yet, but 5 fish in even a mature 20g tank seems like a huge bioload to me (I am currently setting up a 24 g Nano and the plan is for it to be for 2 O. Clowns and maybe one other fish down the road - possibly a Goby or Blenny, but that may even be too much). Basically, I think that in a newly cycled tank, one or two fish would be the limit of a 20.

You said most of the livestock came from your friend, however if any of the fish came from a LFS (Local Fish Store) you might try returning them for credit and/or some LFS's will hold fish for customers temporarily. I think you need to quickly reduce the bioload - I personally don't think you will have much luck beating the hair algae in your tank without removing at least 2 or 3 fish (at least for now - someone more experienced will likely chime in and give you a better idea what kind of bioload a 20g can support when mature).

I would also say you've found one of the best places on the net to get information. I've found one of the biggest keys to success in this hobby is information and there is a huge amount on this site and some very experienced hobbyists. So keep reading and keep asking questions as the more you learn, the better chance you will have of success.

Good luck and hopefully this helps out a bit.

Cheers,
K.

[papa_dog]

By the way, you mentioned that it was cycled live rock, but you didn't mention how much of it you have. From what I have read, you want to have about 1 - 2 lbs per gallon (I personally have about 30 lbs in my 24g Nano and about 200 lbs in my 120g main display - yes this hobby is quite addictive). The way I understand it is basically the more live rock you have, the more biological filtration you have.

Cheers,
K.

[Sk8r]

you're getting some good advice here, but I'm a bit hopeful you're already through the worst, now that that algae's starting up: it's actually a *good* sign, because it turns up at the end of the cycle. I'd suggest a bottle of Prime or Amquel be on hand---not to use unless you see ammonia on your nitrate/ammonia test strips...which you also need to get ASAP. The coral is actually less problem in there than the fish. Corals ARE filters. Fish are poo-producers and will scarf up food and produce more poo endlessly. I'd slow down the feeding to absolute minimum---say 10 smallish flakes a day: the food you put in has nowhere to go, ultimately, but that sandbed, which is still a very, very baby sandbed. Fish can get by on no food for 2 weeks easier than they can get by 2 hours in bad water.
And thank you for the thorough job on reporting: it gives us all some concrete info and gets you some relevant answers.
Photoperiod, not more than 8 hours.
Food, no more than 10 half-a-penny sized flakes daily for the next couple of weeks, and if you do ever see ammonia on the test strips (go out today to any pet store and get some) stop feeding altogether for 3 days, change out 3 gallons of water, and use the Prime until your test reads completely no-ammonia. Ammonia is poison to marine life, and develops naturally from rotten poo and food, if you don't have enough bacteria to convert it to nitrogen gas.
Just go very, very light, and start getting those tests. Salifert and Elos are good brands. You'll need the alkalinity tests before another month goes by.
To answer your original question, it's called 'film algae' and you will also see 'hair algae' soon: both feed on phosphates, which come in via the live rock, bound to it, and also come in via tapwater---which is why ro/di filtered water is better. Don't worry about the algae. Your microlife will feed on it, and hopefully your water will go on improving.

[Kryos]

Hey everyone, Thanks again for all the advice.

So... it's been 2 weeks now and I thought it would be time for an update.
It turns out that my LFS tests water for free, so in the end, I didn't get any test kits(which turned out to be quite expensive...~$20-$30 each.)

So the day after I posted here, I went to the LFS and got my water tested, here were the results with Salifert Test kits:
SG: 1.023
Alk: 9ish
Phosphates: little to none (< 0.03)
Nitrates: ~10-15ppm
Magnesium: ~1260

Not too bad... Nitrates were a bit high and Specific Gravity and magnesium were a bit low.. I bought some Prime as suggested to get rid of some of the nitrates. Also had something called "Purple Up" which my friend gave me and apparently it adds Calcium, Magnesium among other stuff.. so I added a bit of that too.. I also bought a couple more Rocks and placed it in for more denitrifying bacteria to grow on.

So my next task was to reduce the bio load as suggested. I got my friend to take back his 2 Indigo Chromis as he was almost done with his tank renovations.

Light hours were also reduced to:
3pm: Actinics
4pm: daylights
10pm: daylights off
11pm: Actinics Off

The following week, the tank did well, the algae bloom gradually got better. This week was even better, no algae bloom at all, everyday I got home it was just as clear as I left it.

The zoanthids were slowly recovering as well, They're reopening (though still not every polyp) and I'm beginning to see small buds from the base of some polyps. ^ ^ I would provide a picture, but the tank is still cloudy from when I tried to catch the damselfish. But about 50% of them are open at the moment of typing.

So today I went the the LFS to Return the Damselfish that I had bought. (I bought the Damsel and 2 clowns) I probably didn't have to return the damsel, but I felt that it would be too aggressive if I ever added new fish.

While I was there, I also got my water tested again and here are the results:
SG: 1.025
Alk: 9.1
Phosphates: again little to none (< 0.03)
Nitrates < 5ppm
Magnesium 1320ish

So Once again, thanks everyone for your help.. the Advice given was really helpful. It seems that the tank is now pretty stable. I'm gonna leave it running like this for the next 6-12 months and see how it goes. If the coral grow well, I'll consider getting some other more colorful ones.

Here's a picture of the tank as of today when I got home: