saltwater makeover - someone help

[murcos]

I am so frustrated I am ready to give in the towel. Maybe someone can help me???

Let me give a little background info. I upgraded my tank almost a year ago from a 30 to a 60 gallon aquarium. Things were great. I got a new tank and some more live rock from someone off craiglist, and stupidly used his rock. Well, about a month or more after, I had aptasia covering my tank. I have tried every method around but it has been a fight every step and they just keep coming back. Around this same time my ozone maker broke, and I had an outbreak of algaes keep reappearing in my tank. The fish are all doing well, as are the corals, but things just look gross in there.

Here is what I would like to do. I would like to go in (do a good sized water change) and take out all or most of the rock. I want to use some from my LFS and replace it with new clean stuff. I want to take out all the fish etc while I do this, and clean the sides of the tank, the sand, etc.
What would be an okay process to do this? Can I simply add new cured rock? will this screw things up? Someone please give me guidance before I give up. I miss my beautiful tank and want it back.

Please, a little advice....thanks

 

[roka64]

Aiptasia can be wiped out using Joe's juice, at least I have heard quite a few folks love the stuff. I would try this first. Peppermint shrimp will eat it as well, at least the smaller ones, but this is no guarantee. If you can, do the juice and add the shrimp, between the two, you can probably clear it up rather quickly.
As for the algae, what kind is it?
How often/how much and what do you feed?
How long do you run your lights?
How old/what kind of lights are they?
How often/how much of a PWC do you do?
Let's start here before you tear down your tank.

 

[murcos]

I have tried Joe's juice, as well as some other brands of Aptasia killers, tried shrimp, hot water, etc etc etc. They are getting the best of me.

I have been controlling my lights and run them for shorter periods now. I have a set of three, lunar, itinic, and daytime lights. I feed every other day-ish, sometimes every day, but only what they are eating. No leftovers. I have been doing PWCes about every week or two, about 1/3 the tank. No luck there. I have been treating the tank with arythromyacin, and it still comes back. Sometimes it is green algae, sometimes it is the red velvet algae (I can't remember what its called).

Any suggestions?? I would really like to do a big cleanup. Is there a way to do this?

 

[roka64]

Any chance you could update "my info" with your critters/tank size/equipment?
What are you using for filtration?
Can you get a pic of the algae?
What about a clean up crew?
By arythromyacin do you mean Erythromycin? It looks like some sort of antibiotics...right? If that is the case, cyano might be effected by it, since it is a bacteria, but other algae might not.

 

[murcos]

Ok, here are is the new info....
I told you about lighting. 60 gallons.

Protein skimmer
two power heads (with filters attached)
carbon biowheel filter
uv sterolizer
um... i think that's all

Fish - blue tang
six line wrasse
clown
cardinal
lawnmower blenny
there is one more little guy in there, but my mind is blank. sorry, late night

cleanup
about 10-15 snails
about 10 + hermits
purple lobster

sea anenome
purple tube anenome
toadstool coral
pulsing xianias
some mushroom polyps

and a ton of aptasia

thats about it I think. yes, the erythromyacin was for the cyno, but not the other algae.
hope this helps a little more!

 

[roka64]

Ok, your biowheel is probably producing a lot of nitrAtes. I would toss it in a bucket of SW, with a heater maybe a ph if you have one (keep it handy, just in case). The filters on your phs, have you cleaned them, they are probably producing nitrAtes as well. See if that helps on the algae.
Back to the lights:
How old are the bulbs?
What are your water testing results? Sorry I should have asked that first.

 

[murcos]

my testing results are all in the normal range. I have been on top of them since this whole ordeal began.
The lights are about a year old I guess.
I put new filters on the power heads about every other week. I also change the filter on the biowheel about one time a month. What should I do with the biowheel once I put it in SW with PHs? Can you expand on this some more?

Would it hurt things if I switched out some of the rock? Would it be bad for the fish to set them aside for an hour while I did this? What would be the best way to do this if I wanted to?

This is helpful, thanks!

 

[quixand]

Murcos " normal " numbers don't really mean too much. What may seem normal to you may send up a red flag for someone else.

Post your numbers so we can get a better feel for the water condition.

 

[murcos]

ah, ok....my salinity is at .020, pH 8.2, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, ammonia 0

 

[roka64]

What should I do with the biowheel once I put it in SW with PHs? Can you expand on this some more?

I meant just keep it "alive" in case you need to put it back in (I like to be safe). If you are changing it every month, that might not be the cause of your problem. I think you could probably get away with tossing it and possibly replacing it with some LR rubble.
You might want to look into replacing your bulbs, after they age, the spectrum will change promoting possible algae blooms.

Would it hurt things if I switched out some of the rock? Would it be bad for the fish to set them aside for an hour while I did this? What would be the best way to do this if I wanted to?

If you take out the old rock you can replace it with cured LR, or base rock, uncured might cause a cycle, but if you don't get rid of the algae, it will grow back on the new rock. I don't think it will hurt the fish to move the rock. I did it when I removed my CC substrate.
I would suggest having some premixed water in the event of any spikes. Moving the sand might cause a spike in possibly ammonia, with the PWC ready you can fix that rather quickly.

 

[murcos]

Should I take out the fish while I do the rockwork, or try and leave them in?

 

[roka64]

I left mine in and I really managed to stir up a lot of sand but everyone was fine. I would leave them something to hide in. If you have a QT, you can probably put them in there, to be safe. If not, I would do half of the tank at a time.

 

[rubikcube]

Do you test for phosphate?

 

[roka64]

From your explination, I would look to replace the bulbs (seeing as this just started happening). I think that is your biggest problem, on the algae blooms. It sounds like you are keeping on top of everything else. I would test your source water/tank water for phosphates as rubikcube is suggesting.

 

[MarineFlake]

You did not mention hair algae specifically so I will assume we are talking cyano and aptasia. My advice:
- Do not waste $$ on more LR. You run the risk that you will simply propogate the issue to your new LR. Since LR isn't cheap I suspect you wouldn't want to run that risk.
- As mentioned more LR will cause some type of cycle, small or large, certainly not good for your critters.
- quadruple the number of snails in your tank and use either turbos or astrea. (I prefer astrea) They won't help with aptasia and cyano but will help clean your LR and glass of excess...waste shall we say.
- triple the number of hermits and use scarlets. Same idea as the snails but with some sand turn over benefits.
- add 4 or more pep shrimp. I'll prolly take some knocks for this, but I have used them in the past to help rid my 30G of aptasia issues. They are inexpensive and if they don't make it very long then your not out a lot of $$. Certainly a lot less than buying new LR..If they aren't eating the aptasia, its most likely because they are getting food elsewhere leading me to my next point.
- Stop feeding so much. I have about the same fish load in my 75G and feed only twice a week. (With nori available every other day for the grazers) Quality not quantity. Yes your fish will beg every time you get near the tank but just as with a dog, cat or other animal, overfeeding doesn't make them healthier. If your fish start to look sunken in the belly area you have cut back too much. Otherwise stay on a strict schedule.
- if your feeding flake food, cut WAY back. Big potential source of NO4 which would/could contribute to cyano. Depends on ash content and some other things but consider consulting with your LFS (if you trust them) to find out what they recommend. I use frozen Formula I and II and augment only with flakes/nori.
- Consider your source water..(RO/DI, tap, distilled?? You didn't say) as a potential source of NO4 and/or Silicates both of which are believed to feed algea.
- Salt brands as of recent have been called into question regarding their contribution to cyano and other algeas, consider a switch to something else.
- Stay on the WC program, never heard of too many WCs (Unless your source water is the problem)
- Im not personally a believer in using shorter photo periods to punish your corals for the growth of algea. Aptasia can grow in darn near darkness. As you can tell it hasn't really helped your sitch, so consider bringing your lighting back to full cycle. Regardless of algea you want healthy corals/fish. Again still cheaper than new LR would be replacing the bulbs. I didn't catch what kind of lights but all lights with the exception of MH should be replaced about every 6 months as a very general rule. MH goes about a year if I recall correctly. I'll leave that to the lighting experts..
- Dump the bio wheel all together.
- Increase water flow to be 15 to 20 times the tank volume and eliminate 'dead spots'.
- crank up that skimmer and replace filters, don't clean them.

Again, these are my pieces of advice. Manual removal of larger aptasia and scraping/removal of cyano not with standing..

Peace.