Desperate

[Sebastien6]

We have a Biocube 32, and we mostly replaced everything in it. We change the pump for a more efficient model, we change the light with 2 AI blade to reduce the amount of white to 15%, have mostly blues and purple.

We added a skimmer, we changed the wave to an AI one also, and replace the filter system at the bac.

We do water change usually once every 2 weeks, but at some point, we gone and did it twice per week (with no improvement at all). We stopped using tap water 8 months ago and are using distilled water instead (no space to have a complex RODI system).

We looked at people post on various forum, youtube channel on reaf aquarium, and tried to follow at max all recommendations with no success at all.

And we are fighting with it since now a year with no success at all. We lost mostly all corals, and fish along the way. When we add cleaning team (hermit crab, snails, shrimp, and others) they mostly die in a month or two ☹.

The Toadstool Mushroom is our only coral still alive (zantia, Zoa and others did not survive). But it stays straight, continue to grow, without extending its tentacles for months now.

The only 2 fished that always survive are our two clown fish. They are tuff those once.

We just finish a 3 week treatment with peroxide hydrogen, doing frequent water changes. Not better than before we started.

We are testing water regularly and they most of the time have the same reading.

• Ph = 8.2
• Ammonia = 0 ppm
• Nitrate = 0.2 ppm
• Phosphate = 0 ppm
• temperature = 80F
• salt = 1.030

the only thing that grow in this tank as the speed of light are algae.

Any advice to move us out of this nightmare?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The pics are way too blue to see anything, can you turn down the blues and turn up the whites, it shows better.

What percentage are your lights on? Do you have any powerheads in the tank?

Your nitrate and phosphate are zero which is not good , but lets see better pics of the tank so we can see the algae.

 

[Tired]

0 nutrients will kill coral and beneficial algae, while allowing pest algae to thrive in the space the beneficial algae isn't in. Remove the skimmer, and don't do water changes until needed to remove excess nutrients or add in elements like calcium.

 

[Dan_P]

We have a Biocube 32, and we mostly replaced everything in it. We change the pump for a more efficient model, we change the light with 2 AI blade to reduce the amount of white to 15%, have mostly blues and purple.

We added a skimmer, we changed the wave to an AI one also, and replace the filter system at the bac.

We do water change usually once every 2 weeks, but at some point, we gone and did it twice per week (with no improvement at all). We stopped using tap water 8 months ago and are using distilled water instead (no space to have a complex RODI system).

We looked at people post on various forum, youtube channel on reaf aquarium, and tried to follow at max all recommendations with no success at all.

And we are fighting with it since now a year with no success at all. We lost mostly all corals, and fish along the way. When we add cleaning team (hermit crab, snails, shrimp, and others) they mostly die in a month or two ☹.

The Toadstool Mushroom is our only coral still alive (zantia, Zoa and others did not survive). But it stays straight, continue to grow, without extending its tentacles for months now.

The only 2 fished that always survive are our two clown fish. They are tuff those once.

We just finish a 3 week treatment with peroxide hydrogen, doing frequent water changes. Not better than before we started.

We are testing water regularly and they most of the time have the same reading.

• Ph = 8.2
• Ammonia = 0 ppm
• Nitrate = 0.2 ppm
• Phosphate = 0 ppm
• temperature = 80F
• salt = 1.030

the only thing that grow in this tank as the speed of light are algae.

Any advice to move us out of this nightmare?

Salinity is too high and nitrates and phosphates possibly too low. This wouldn’t explain why the inverts and fish died though.

Some of the deaths might be just bad luck. Incorrect acclimation, poor feeding, purchasing sick animals, copper poisoning from using tap water are other ways to fail.

 

[Sebastien6]

Thanks for answer so far. this is picture with only white lights, nero3 schedule and light schedule

 

[Sebastien6]

The pics are way too blue to see anything, can you turn down the blues and turn up the whites, it shows better.

What percentage are your lights on? Do you have any powerheads in the tank?

Your nitrate and phosphate are zero which is not good , but lets see better pics of the tank so we can see the algae.

ty, attached new pictures

 

[Dan_P]

Thanks for answer so far. this is picture with only white lights, nero3 schedule and light schedule

I see the nuisance organism growth. Looks quite advanced. Can’t tell if its algae, Chrysophytes, cyanobacteria or all of them. A close up might help.

 

[KrisReef]

Rip clean, toothbrush off the gross stuff then peroxide those rock.

Raise the powerhead to distrub the surface more.

If that doesn't work, I can't help you.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

wow lol. Honestly I would do a rip clean, its a lot of work but it can be done in a weekend and it brings your tank back to base line. @brandon429 has threads on rip cleans

 

[Sebastien6]

wow lol. Honestly I would do a rip clean, its a lot of work but it can be done in a weekend and it brings your tank back to base line. @brandon429 has threads on rip cleans

already did rip clean of it two times in 8 months. tooth brush, peroxide on rocks, and it was back like that after 1month

 

[Tired]

Cleanup crew dying quickly would suggest dinos. I'd fix your salinity (should be 1.025) and nutrients (absolute minimum 0.03ppm phosphate and 5ppm nitrate, preferably higher on both), and see if that accomplishes anything. If not, maybe get a small package of live ocean rock from KP Aquatics, Tampa Bay Saltwater, or the like, as biodiversity will help against a lot of different algae-type pests.

Where do you get your distilled water? Have you ever tested it with a TDS meter? You can get 'em for about $10, and they'll help you check if there's anything in the water other than water.

 

[Pod_01]

• Ph = 8.2
• Ammonia = 0 ppm
• Nitrate = 0.2 ppm
• Phosphate = 0 ppm
• temperature = 80F
• salt = 1.030

Salinity of 1.030 is 39.84 PSU, the target should be 1.0262 or 35 PSU.

Keeping PO4 at 0 will kill corals long before algae. Maybe if you keep that level for a year or two the algae might die out but corals will not grow.
Nitrate should be allowed to increase as well. My suggestion for PO4 is 0.03-0.1, NO3 1-5.

Not sure what corals died but for new tank you need to get the coral mass going to stabilize the tank and outcompete algae.
To get coral mass GSP is a good start and looks lot better vs. algae. It is pest but….

Another good coral to start with is devil hand leather. When all the polyps are out you know the water chemistry is good.

Also cheaper zoas/paly are good candidates to create coral mass and outcompete algae.

Cheaper usually means they grow easier in many tanks and are not demanding. Not that they are not nice.

Good luck,

 

[kevgib67]

Fellow Biocube 32g here. With such low phosphates and nitrates you are starving your corals. My advice is phosphate.05-.1 and nitrates 10-15. You have already been given advice on how to achieve this. Good luck, my tank has been up over 2 years and I’m always here to answer any questions. Click on my tank thread badge and follow what I’ve done if it makes sense to you.

 

[Sebastien6]

Sorry for the stupid question but howw do you increase PO and Nitrate? Never been able to have more than 0 phosphate.

 

[kevgib67]

Sorry for the stupid question but howw do you increase PO and Nitrate? Never been able to have more than 0 phosphate.

There are dosing products but just feed more, stop water changes until they increase and shut off or just remove the collection cup on your skimmer.

 

[Tired]

Remove the skimmer, and don't do water changes until needed to remove excess nutrients or add in elements like calcium.

Stop exporting nutrients, basically. Don't resume exporting them until it's actually needed. Dosing them might be a good idea for a situation this bad- you've probably got a decent amount of consumption going on with all that sludge growing.

 

[Katrina71]

Have you done a 3 day blackout? I would definitely try that after manually cleaning as suggested above. I mean, it's easy and free to try.

 

[Pod_01]

Sorry for the stupid question but howw do you increase PO and Nitrate? Never been able to have more than 0 phosphate.

One way is to use coral foods like Reef-Roids or Fauna Marin Coral Dust and there might be others. Just don’t over do it, you don’t want to swing PO4 up and down.

Another way is to feed the fish more often, for example I feed my fish 3 times a day. This makes them produce natural coral food and reduces aggression since they are happy.

To increase NO3 get snail and their waist will produce enough N for corals. Fish waist will help as well.

But first do ensure your salinity is at 35 PSU.

 

[Sebastien6]

Thanks everyone for you advices. We will give it a try and hope in a couple of month will have a nice picture of an healthy tank to show up to all of you.

Thanks a lot.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I agree with all the advice above.
In addition, just wanted to suggest you lower the temp a little. This is not the primary problem, but since most heaters/thermometers have a decent margin of error, your actual temp could be pushing 82-83 and this is problematic long term. Better to set the heater to 77 or 78 and give yourself some wiggle room.