Algae and Deaths

[thesuthern1]

My 12gal nano was recently overcome with green algae and cyano. I moved the tank and cleaned off both with a brush. Before I moved it I had lost a six line wrasse, damsel, snail, emerald crab, and hermit crabs over a 6 month period(since setup). I tested before I moved it and the results were:
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
ammo-0
ph-8.2
calcium-450
alk-2.5 to 3
phosphates- .01
I used all but about 3 to 4 gallons of the same water. I have about 20 lbs of lr with some star polyps. The star polyps are coming out, but so is the algae. I leave the lights on for only 8 hours and I'm not feeding anything.
I bought an ocellaris clown and some snails on Tuesday after setting back up on Sunday, within six hours the clown and all the snails were dead. I am waiting on a new test kit to check parameters now. Any thoughts? TIA

 

[jackdp]

Please don't buy anymore livestock. It sounds like you need to let your tank sit empty while you pickup a copy of "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. Read the book, re-read the book and read lots of posts on this forum.
I can't comment on why your first series of deaths occurred. The more recent deaths of your Ocellaris and snails were most likely the result of ammonia and nitrites. If your tore the tank completely down and set it back up, most likely, it needed to re-cycle before any live animals were put in it. Post many more details about your setup, lighitng, filtration, etc and people can help get you on the right track.

 

[bigsky]

there is no salt in you test results or copper, salt good copper bad

 

[HoopsGuru]

The star polyps would most likely not be alive if there was copper in the tank.

My guess is that the water is of very poor quality in the tank, from all the other deaths and other events leading to the current death and algae problems. Improve the water quality through changes and improved overall husbandry (nutrient export, water movement, etc.).

 

[thesuthern1]

I am working away from home thus the reason for the move(to my motel). I use RO water, and usually top off about a gallon a week, and I will be doing 15% water changes weekly now. I forgot my test kit, but my new one will be here within a couple of days. The star polyps were covered with algae before the move, but since I cleaned the algae they have been coming out more and more each day. I thought I was ok to put snails and fish because of the health of the star polyps.

 

[thesuthern1]

OK I let my tank sit for a month. I did 15% water changes each week with RO/DI water. My nitrates are 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 0 ph 8.2 and SPG 1.025. My tank is a 12 gallon JBJ nano cube with 24watt pc. I have a hydor rotating water deflector on the output of the pump to disrupt the surface of the water. I decided to try again so I bought 6 astrea snails, and a chromis. again after acclimation within a couple of hours all are dead. I just changed my bulb because it was about 6-8 months old. Star polyps still come out, but the algae is starting to overtake them. Can anyone help me.

 

[Guest]

Did you use tap water to start the tank? What about top offs? I see you wrote that you are now using RO/DI. Sounds good, but remember they are only as good as the membrane in the unit at the time. Depending on your financial situation, a TDS meter might be in order. Personally, for a tank that size, I'd use distilled. If you have cyano and lots of hair algae, then you have high phosphates. Doesn't matter what your test shows. Doubt that would kill anything though - that goes back to your water quality. Since you have some livestock, I'd remove them to a temp container, replace 100% of your water (rinsing any media with new SW not the old stuff), and then after about 3-4 hours replace them. Be sure to feed very little over the next six weeks. This will give your friendly bacteria time to grow and allow you to be able to QT any fish you might want to add. Good luck!

KG