Help with soft coral, algae and black worms…

AquaBert · Oct 24, 2022

Hi all, need help, I’m a newbie…

i have a 5 gallon tank as a 1st endeavor. Yes I know lol, only thing that fit my desk.

Tank is ~ 4 months old
I was sold on getting “easy” Discosoma & glove polyps 2 months ago.
Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphorus all close to zero.
Temp at 77

I cycled the tank for about 6 weeks w/Dr Tim’s. Then added 2 beginners corals. Skipped brown stage completely. Just have some slime and maybe hair algae and another algae that looks like a branching tree. (See pics)

1) I have these little black worms (see pic) that seem to be everywhere. I think they came in on the snails. What are they? Are they harmful?

2) I sprayed peroxide on the rocks, kinda helped with the green slime growing on them. What do I do to get ride of the recurring slime? I do weekly water changes. I feed only once a week and nothing major.

3) I think turning off the light cycle will kill the algae completely…but I have 2 light dependent corals in there. What do I do? I used Dr Tim’s clean and MICROBACTER clean, once a week.

4) what are the black dots on the rocks? Coralline?

those tiny black worms tho…they are in sand, on rock on glass, floating in water lol. what the heck are they?!

Thanks!!!

davidcalgary29 · Oct 24, 2022

The only thing you need is patience.

Your tank is going through the "ugly" phase...and it's really not that ugly at all. Green hair algae will likely subside in time as your tank matures. In the meantime, it wouldn't be a bad thing to add some macroalgae; many species are quite lovely.

You'll need to take pics of those worms in white light, as I can't see what they are.

SebastianM · Oct 24, 2022

In my experience, that looks like your tank is entering its “ugly stage”, I know you mentioned that it’s been 6 weeks since “cycling”, but every tank progresses differently and 2 months is still young. As for the “slime algae” and having your nurtients (nitrites, nitrates, phosphates) so close to zero and so little bio load (I don’t see any fish) you can potentially be creating an environment for Dinoflagellate bacteria to thrive, it’s a photosynthetic bacteria that out competes beneficial bacteria and can take over tanks. Don’t be shy to feed a little bit more, twice a week, and maybe do a biweekly water change of 2 gallons? Also don’t be afraid to turn off the lights/shorten photo period if need be. While battling Dinos in my soft/LPS dominant frag tank I had the lights out for 4-5 days and the tank wrapped in cardboard to further block any light and all of my coral bounced back fine. As for the worms, I haven’t seen those yet, but I’m sure “Flatworm Exit” by salifert can handle them, just remember to change the water a couple days after the treatment. (A coral banded shrimp tends to go after bristle worms and anything that can fit in its claws. Might be a nice choice for the 5 gallon as they’re relatively reef safe and inexpensive)