Algae Problem.....and others (1 Viewer)

[malira]

The problem started 5 to 6 months ago with an Alk spike. I kept my alk at about 8.5 and I took my eye off the numbers and it went to over 11 before I caught it. I started having sps die off, which meant I needed less alk so it took time too bring it under control but by that time I had lost about 12 frags/mini colonies. Some survived but it took about 3 months to even things out. It has cut my kalk use by 1/3.

I started getting turf algae so I started using Vibrant about 3 weeks ago. It did wonders in my 10 gallon but in my son's 90 has proved harder. The turf algae is not going away and now I have GHA. About a week ago I cleaned the sump of any remaining chaeto, detritus, sand, and other crud. I now have a clean sump, which I like, but the GHA has moved in. I am dosing 20 mls of vibrant 2 to 3 times a week, the tank has 125 gallons total.

the sps are still slowly dyeing. they are either paling out or looking hard. The only sps that are growing are the frogskin and tri-color valadia.

I've started doing 25 to 30 gallon water changes every 4 days.

I started using Aquaforest reef salt about a month ago.

Alk 8.3 to 8.6
No3 3 to 10
mag 1380
cal 400 to 410

 

[Clownfish Chris]

It took about two months on my tank. Keep dosing vibrant.

 

[malira]

Thanks. Now if I can just my sps back on track.

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[steveb]

If you think the turf or HA are bryopsis you might consider using fluconazole..

Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum


pulled from FAQ post on link above..


Bryopsis Cure FAQ's Sheet

****This treatment seems to work best in well lit areas of the tank. Some people are noticing quicker results by adding light to the shaded areas of their tank.*****

Q: Will Fluconazole kill Bryopsis?
A: YES. As of 2/2/17 Fluconazole is completely killing all Bryopsis. There have been no reports of it NOT working.

Q: How does Fluconazole work?
A: Fluconazole blocks the enzymatic pathway for the production of ergosterol. Ergosterol is essential for maintaining the cell wall integrity of plants. Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in cell membranes of fungi and protozoa, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill anything else in my system?
A: So far Fluconazole has not killed anything other than bryopsis and GHA. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING else is unaffected.

 

[PSXerholic]

Malira, Chris, Steve,

It's hard to say but I assume I know what might be goin on....... ;-)


With my full respect to this product, but keep the Vibrant cleaner off the tank for now. Dosing it multiple times a week is no good in your case.
Well, to my theory..........

Dosing the Vibrant or any other bacteria liquids, such as MB7, AF bacteria, Waste away etc. will cause MG and Potassium consumption going through the roof !!!!
I stopped Vibrant since it dropped Potassium from 420 to below 380 in a few days only and I have CARX and dose Potassium same time already!!!! Not cool!!! Reason is some bacteria strains use up lots of potassium in their process of waste break down.

You explain all symptoms of xtreme low potassium (there are plenty of other reason for those symptoms) and my gut feeling is mostly right.
Since you are not far away from me, come and bring water and I will check your potassium quick.
The Salifert Potassium test is super easy and quick to be used ;-)

I just had an advanced reefer with similar symptoms, he bought some corals and mentioned all his issues, and I told him to measure Potassium, so he did, .....................results was 320......no wonder sh*t was dying left and right ;-)

-Andre

 

[Paul Buie]

Malira, Chris, Steve,

It's hard to say but I assume I know what might be goin on....... ;-)


With my full respect to this product, but keep the Vibrant cleaner off the tank for now. Dosing it multiple times a week is no good in your case.
Well, to my theory..........

Dosing the Vibrant or any other bacteria liquids, such as MB7, AF bacteria, Waste away etc. will cause MG and Potassium consumption going through the roof !!!!
I stopped Vibrant since it dropped Potassium from 420 to below 380 in a few days only and I have CARX and dose Potassium same time already!!!! Not cool!!! Reason is some bacteria strains use up lots of potassium in their process of waste break down.

You explain all symptoms of xtreme low potassium (there are plenty of other reason for those symptoms) and my gut feeling is mostly right.
Since you are not far away from me, come and bring water and I will check your potassium quick.
The Salifert Potassium test is super easy and quick to be used ;-)

I just had an advanced reefer with similar symptoms, he bought some corals and mentioned all his issues, and I told him to measure Potassium, so he did, .....................results was 320......no wonder sh*t was dying left and right ;-)

-Andre

I didn't do any testing, but I'm with Andre. This stuff seemed to throw may tank ever so slightly out of balance. I'm not sure why, but after dosing once a week for 2 weeks I quit using it. Best thing it did was bring on a little Cyano which made me re-evaluate my in tank water movement. I fixed that and Cyano went away. Maybe a lower dosage would have been better for me. The stuff works, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't for me.....

 

[steveb]

curious... I will check my potassium this evening..

 

[PSXerholic]

curious... I will check my potassium this evening..

I used the Red sea potassium test before, and never was really happy with it.
Everthting has to be spot on clean, difficult color change etc.


Use the Salifert Potassium test !!!! Not that precise, but good for what we want to know !!!
And my blue colors has proven it was good to listen to this test ;-)

-Andre

 

[steveb]

yeah I have the salifert kit.. I am doubtful I have potassium issue since I dose KNO3 but one never knows w/out empirical data..

 

[PSXerholic]

yeah I have the salifert kit.. I am doubtful I have potassium issue since I dose KNO3 but one never knows w/out empirical data..

Yeah, don't measure after dosing potassium nitrate. Have a day between dosing and measuring Potassium. AND clean the glass vial, must look brand new !!!!!!

Anyways, if the level is significant off, you will notice it even after dosing.

-Andre

 

[malira]

Malira, Chris, Steve,

It's hard to say but I assume I know what might be goin on....... ;-)


With my full respect to this product, but keep the Vibrant cleaner off the tank for now. Dosing it multiple times a week is no good in your case.
Well, to my theory..........

Dosing the Vibrant or any other bacteria liquids, such as MB7, AF bacteria, Waste away etc. will cause MG and Potassium consumption going through the roof !!!!
I stopped Vibrant since it dropped Potassium from 420 to below 380 in a few days only and I have CARX and dose Potassium same time already!!!! Not cool!!! Reason is some bacteria strains use up lots of potassium in their process of waste break down.

You explain all symptoms of xtreme low potassium (there are plenty of other reason for those symptoms) and my gut feeling is mostly right.
Since you are not far away from me, come and bring water and I will check your potassium quick.
The Salifert Potassium test is super easy and quick to be used ;-)

I just had an advanced reefer with similar symptoms, he bought some corals and mentioned all his issues, and I told him to measure Potassium, so he did, .....................results was 320......no wonder sh*t was dying left and right ;-)

-Andre

Thanks Andre, I will take you up on your offer. I need some help.

I had an issue with my Nitrate test and grey clumps. After 3 brand new test kits did the exact same thing I think I had/have something in my water. That's why I'm doing the big (for me) water changes close together.

I will stop until I get my water situation under control. I started using a little phosguard. I thought it would help with the GHA. I just started it Wednesday.

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[malira]

Malira, Chris, Steve,

It's hard to say but I assume I know what might be goin on....... ;-)


With my full respect to this product, but keep the Vibrant cleaner off the tank for now. Dosing it multiple times a week is no good in your case.
Well, to my theory..........

Dosing the Vibrant or any other bacteria liquids, such as MB7, AF bacteria, Waste away etc. will cause MG and Potassium consumption going through the roof !!!!
I stopped Vibrant since it dropped Potassium from 420 to below 380 in a few days only and I have CARX and dose Potassium same time already!!!! Not cool!!! Reason is some bacteria strains use up lots of potassium in their process of waste break down.

You explain all symptoms of xtreme low potassium (there are plenty of other reason for those symptoms) and my gut feeling is mostly right.
Since you are not far away from me, come and bring water and I will check your potassium quick.
The Salifert Potassium test is super easy and quick to be used ;-)

I just had an advanced reefer with similar symptoms, he bought some corals and mentioned all his issues, and I told him to measure Potassium, so he did, .....................results was 320......no wonder sh*t was dying left and right ;-)

-Andre

Ok this is what I'm fighting.

Photo bomb

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[PSXerholic]

Holy sh*t, you better have me testing that water asap!
Also I'm looking at the pictures from the cell only at the minute.

sure it's not a mix of algae, fungus or bacteria???

Andre

 

[dragon99]

Malira, Chris, Steve,

It's hard to say but I assume I know what might be goin on....... ;-)


With my full respect to this product, but keep the Vibrant cleaner off the tank for now. Dosing it multiple times a week is no good in your case.
Well, to my theory..........

Dosing the Vibrant or any other bacteria liquids, such as MB7, AF bacteria, Waste away etc. will cause MG and Potassium consumption going through the roof !!!!
I stopped Vibrant since it dropped Potassium from 420 to below 380 in a few days only and I have CARX and dose Potassium same time already!!!! Not cool!!! Reason is some bacteria strains use up lots of potassium in their process of waste break down.

You explain all symptoms of xtreme low potassium (there are plenty of other reason for those symptoms) and my gut feeling is mostly right.
Since you are not far away from me, come and bring water and I will check your potassium quick.
The Salifert Potassium test is super easy and quick to be used ;-)

I just had an advanced reefer with similar symptoms, he bought some corals and mentioned all his issues, and I told him to measure Potassium, so he did, .....................results was 320......no wonder sh*t was dying left and right ;-)

-Andre

Andre, you are a wealth of knowledge

I used Vibrant on my algae, but was still struggling with some SPS. My last Triton test (~6weeks into Vibrant) came back with lowish K, 362. I dosed a bit, did some water changes and thought nothing more it. However, even with the algae gone and my params stable the last month, my SPS are still struggling.

I checked potassium last night (for other reasons than my SPS). So using Red Sea i get that it's down to 332. Well I guess I'm lucky any SPS are still alive...

Love Vibrant for what it did to my algae, but I had no idea potassium could be an issue. Apologies for the slight derail, back to your problem.

 

[malira]

Holy sh*t, you better have me testing that water asap!
Also I'm looking at the pictures from the cell only at the minute.

sure it's not a mix of algae, fungus or bacteria???

Andre

Planning on it.

I'll pm.

Thanks Andre

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[RR-MAN]

Removing of microfauna (good organisms) possibly which created an imbalance as a result algae/pale corals-my guess


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[malira]

Removing of microfauna (good organisms) possibly which created an imbalance as a result algae/pale corals-my guess


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What do you mean "removing of microfauna?"


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[PSXerholic]

Andre, you are a wealth of knowledge

I used Vibrant on my algae, but was still struggling with some SPS. My last Triton test (~6weeks into Vibrant) came back with lowish K, 362. I dosed a bit, did some water changes and thought nothing more it. However, even with the algae gone and my params stable the last month, my SPS are still struggling.

I checked potassium last night (for other reasons than my SPS). So using Red Sea i get that it's down to 332. Well I guess I'm lucky any SPS are still alive...

Love Vibrant for what it did to my algae, but I had no idea potassium could be an issue. Apologies for the slight derail, back to your problem.

Awesome !!!! Great I could help. Probably some others are having their K kits out right now ;-) lol
But Malira has some serious stuff going on.

-Andre

 

[PSXerholic]

What do you mean "removing of microfauna?"


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Malira,
will text you in a minute.
Good for tomorrow some time and bring a bucket of water ;-)

Can you in the meantime shoot some more pictures of the tank system and filter system etc.?
So I do get a better picture.

I guess you keep fighting one thing after the next, getting tired and exhausted of that continous fight !!!!
Sometimes a solid "push the brakes" and slowly move on can bring things back to normal.

-Andre

 

[malira]

Malira,
will text you in a minute.
Good for tomorrow some time and bring a bucket of water ;-)

Can you in the meantime shoot some more pictures of the tank system and filter system etc.?
So I do get a better picture.

I guess you keep fighting one thing after the next, getting tired and exhausted of that continous fight !!!!
Sometimes a solid "push the brakes" and slowly move on can bring things back to normal.

-Andre

Here are more pics.

ATO, Chords, skimmer and return pump

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