Algae ID Help Please

[BristolEVO]

It looks like I may have two problems at once. Thiis started up about 10 days ago. Brown on the sand and green hairy algae with bubbles in it. The green bubbly really likes the snail shells. What can I do about these?

I do 20% water changes weekly. Run carbon and a chemipure blue nano packet. Will post updated params in a bit.

 

[305 Steve]

How old is your tank? I see you are going to post parameters soon that is good. it looks to be diatoms and hair algae so this is going to be related to a few things depending on your parameters and tank age and recent additions or changes.

 

[BristolEVO]

The tank is e months old. I went thru diatoms and then GHA a few weeks ago. It was pretty much gone. During the GHA outbreak I bought 2 new snails which turned out to be sick or carrying something. One day I noticed they were dead and the water clouding fast. Tried to aerate and did a couple emergency water changes but it was too late. My 2 clowns and diamond goby were all dead within 24 hours. I posted this in the disease forum and concensus is that the dying snails caused a bacteria bloom amd suffocated the fish. All corals and other inverts are still fine. This all happened about a week ago.

Haven't bought any new fish yet, waiting a while to make sure things have stabilized.

 

[305 Steve]

The tank is e months old. I went thru diatoms and then GHA a few weeks ago. It was pretty much gone. During the GHA outbreak I bought 2 new snails which turned out to be sick or carrying something. One day I noticed they were dead and the water clouding fast. Tried to aerate and did a couple emergency water changes but it was too late. My 2 clowns and diamond goby were all dead within 24 hours. I posted this in the disease forum and concensus is that the dying snails caused a bacteria bloom amd suffocated the fish. All corals and other inverts are still fine. This all happened about a week ago.

Haven't bought any new fish yet, waiting a while to make sure things have stabilized.

You may have offset the bacterial colonies in your tank with the bloom and then consequential large water changes. I do believe your tank is going through another ugly phase. stay consistent on your water changes like you have been and also it is worth taking a look at the existing phosphates and tds level of the water you are using for water changes and topping off! The picture will be alot clearer when you post your parameters!

 

[BristolEVO]

You may have offset the bacterial colonies in your tank with the bloom and then consequential large water changes. I do believe your tank is going through another ugly phase. stay consistent on your water changes like you have been and also it is worth taking a look at the existing phosphates and tds level of the water you are using for water changes and topping off! The picture will be alot clearer when you post your parameters!

Ok here all my params below and on the attached image:

pH: 8.31
TDS: 0001 ppm
Temp: 79.2
Salinity: 1.024

and...

 

[305 Steve]

what about your nitrite and ammonia? nitrate my be being bound up in the gha so could be reading low.

 

[BristolEVO]

Just tested those:

Ammonia: 0.02
Nitrite: 6 ppb

 

[BristleWormHater]

Just tested those:

Ammonia: 0.02
Nitrite: 6 ppb

He was asking for nitrate not nitrite, could you test that too?

 

[305 Steve]

Just tested those:

Ammonia: 0.02
Nitrite: 6 ppb

So your tank is currently going through another "cycle" you need to not dose anything or add any treatments. Stop doing water changes until that ammonia and nitrite convert completely into nitrate and you see your parameters level out for 5 consistent days (high nitrate is fine).

 

[305 Steve]

He was asking for nitrate not nitrite, could you test that too?

I was asking for nitrite as he already posted his nitrate, I was suspicious that his biome reset or weakened and is needing more time to establish. I think the best solution here is time and letting the bacteria and the nitrates accumulate and ferment to establish a large healthy colony. I think the less OP interferes at this stage the better.

 

[305 Steve]

as for the bloom, you can focus your efforts on manual removal (without scrubbing the rocks) when the ammonia and nitrites show 0 for a few consecutive days then i think you can add a few emerald crabs and a good amount of snails/hermits to manage the outbreak. Sea hares do amazing but also will starve after they clear your tank of algae so have to be careful or have a plan to donate it back to lfs. Handle all this stuff after your params are back to normal for now let nature do its thing and sit back and enjoy the show.

 

[BristolEVO]

Thanks everyone! I'm not dosing anything and haven't in a couple weeks now.

Since I have no fish at the moment, should I be adding a bit of food to keep the cycle going or just let it sit? And no water changes for now?

 

[305 Steve]

Thanks everyone! I'm not dosing anything and haven't in a couple weeks now.

Since I have no fish at the moment, should I be adding a bit of food to keep the cycle going or just let it sit? And no water changes for now?

dont worry about feeding as it already has ammonia to convert for now. no water changes for now as it will stunt the bacteria, they will flourish in high nutrients and eventually outcompete any added ammonia source!

 

[BristolEVO]

dont worry about feeding as it already has ammonia to convert for now. no water changes for now as it will stunt the bacteria, they will flourish in high nutrients and eventually outcompete any added ammonia source!

Great, thank you!