What I have:
Biocube32 LED, stock lights. Running since January.
Light schedule-
Day 12-8, Rise/Set 11-9, Moon 9-11. This is an increase as of yesterday.
Previous lights were Day 1-6, Rise/Set 12-7, and moon 11-10.
I figure if everything looks like poop anyway, I might as well be able to see the fish/corals/crabs.
I bought a dual power head wave system to increase flow (purchased 9/1), a Tunze nano ATO (purchased in April), and a media reactor running Rowaphos (I put Rowaphos in small mesh bags since May, got the reactor 9/1), that is switched out every 4 weeks. I use an In-Tank media basket and normally keep a carbon sponge with In-Tank filter floss on top. I switch the carbon sponge every week and the floss 2-3 times per week. I took out the carbon sponge and have been using just filter floss as of 10/16.
I do a water change of 5gal every Wednesday, though yesterday I did 7gal because I ran chemiclean Mon-Wed. due to green/teal and reddish slime-looking algae (very small amounts). I had a lot of red cyano around June? But used chemiclean then and it all went away.
Critters:
2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 tuxedo urchin (small), 1 emerald crab, 4 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, 1 orange leg hermit, 1 striped leg hermit, 1 polka dot hermit, 1 astrea snail (had 3, 2 died), at least 3 cerith snails, at least 8 dwarf cerith snails, at least 3 nassarius snails, at least 3 zig zag periwinkle snails, and I had 2 nerites but I haven't seen them in months so :::shrug:::.
I had a feather duster worm I got in March and it died Aug. 5th after looking totally fine the whole time, feathers-wise. It dropped it's feathers and was dead 2-3 days later. I was super sad, I love feathery worms. I have since learned about phytoplankton, so hope that will work next time I get more. I put in 20-30ml of plankton from Algae barn every day (split o 10-15ml 2x/day).
I had a bubble tip anemone that I got 9/15 but it died 10/30 after 2 weeks of hiding in the rocks. Prior to that it was out, stuck to the rock, pulled into a ball at night, and looked normal. I am sad about it.
Corals: 6 zoa frags (growing great), 2 birdsnest frags, 3 mushrooms, 1 toadstool leather, 1 Christmas favia, and 1 war coral (freebie).
I also have a big wad of gracilaria, hoping that it would out-compete the unwanted algae, I got it in May. It makes a great GHA frame, ftr.
I switched to mostly frozen food and alternate between mysis and brine. Very rarely, like maybe once every 7-10 days, I will drop a few pellets in 2-3 at a time (so that the fish eat them all). I used to alternate frozen/pellets but stopped after the GHA started. I use 1/4 or a little more of a cube per day (I do put a few mysis into my pea puffer tank, too), down from 1/2 a cube. I also usually spot-feed Reef Roids before water changes, but did not this week.
The blue leg hermits, the polka-dot hermit, the lawnmower blenny, and the tuxedo urchin were unplanned. All purchased due to the GHA. I also stopped using my LFS RODI in my ATO because my TDS meter read it at 7. I started buying bottled water, I tested all the water at my grocery store and buy the cheapest that reads at 0.
To try to get rid of the GHA, I used a toothbrush to scrub the rocks, carefully avoiding corals, and pulling tufts out manually. I would also pull out rocks 1 at a time and use peroxide rinses (being careful to avoid coral), with a toothbrush scrub. The algae would decrease significantly, but would always come back after a couple weeks. This made my emerald crab really grumpy (surprised it didn't die as it fell in the peroxide/water mix bucket once, but :::shrug::: ), but I stopped when I got the nem.
Last month I finally bought Vibrant. The first week I dosed 3ml + a few drops. I forgot to take out the carbon sponge until I did my water change and 2nd dose the 2nd week (10/16). By this point the GHA was coming off rather easily, but underneath was shorter, more difficult to pull algae that I think may be turf algae? I read that for turf algae or really bad outbreaks that you should dose Vibrant 2x/wk. So I started dosing Saturdays in addition to Wednesdays after water changes (so far 3ml plus a bit, every Wed/Sat including yesterday). By 10/26 it appeared that most of the GHA was gone, but what I think is turf algae is going strong, has increased even. Not phased *at all*. Also, all of the empty shells in the sand for the crabs (don't want snail murderers), still have GHA all over them. I plan to keep using it 2x/wk, but I don't know when I should be seeing a decrease instead of increase of algae growth.
At the same time as all that, my Alk, Cal, and Mag were higher using the Coral Pro. The only other thing I could think of was my LFS and the RODI water, maybe their salt mix wasn't so hot? So I decided to mix my own salt, not Coral pro due to the high Alk/Cal/Mag. I have done 3 water changes with it and now my alk is 10.9 so I don't even know with that, now. :::facepalm::: I wonder if the Alk or Mag was an issue for the nem. I'm not going to get another one until I can sort this cluster.
I cannot find dwarf blue-spotted sea hares in stock anywhere. I do not think my tank could handle the regular 8-12" ones. My tank cannot fit tangs or a foxface. My plan was to buy a few more blue leg hermits and another emerald crab or two, and toss them in. Maybe get a fuzzy chiton. Other than that, I'm out of ideas. I have checked all the boxes for the things to do to get rid of algae and I don't know what else to do.
In the first photo you can see the nem in the middle. This was Day 1 of Vibrant, in "sunset" lights, 10/9/19.
In the second photo, taken today 11/7/19, the nem is gone and the algae is ridiculous. GHA mostly gone, green film on glass gone, less brown in the sand- but that turf algae is THICK, there is more of it, and it's bright green.
Here are my tests since the end of August. I use Salifert tests, except ammonia/nitrite are API. I don't always test for those 2. My goal is to test 2x/mo or more. I do salinity tests weekly and check the temp whenever I'm looking in the tank, I just don't write up a whole chart for those. My Alk increase is baffling to me- is the Vibrant impacting it?
Biocube32 LED, stock lights. Running since January.
Light schedule-
Day 12-8, Rise/Set 11-9, Moon 9-11. This is an increase as of yesterday.
Previous lights were Day 1-6, Rise/Set 12-7, and moon 11-10.
I figure if everything looks like poop anyway, I might as well be able to see the fish/corals/crabs.
I bought a dual power head wave system to increase flow (purchased 9/1), a Tunze nano ATO (purchased in April), and a media reactor running Rowaphos (I put Rowaphos in small mesh bags since May, got the reactor 9/1), that is switched out every 4 weeks. I use an In-Tank media basket and normally keep a carbon sponge with In-Tank filter floss on top. I switch the carbon sponge every week and the floss 2-3 times per week. I took out the carbon sponge and have been using just filter floss as of 10/16.
I do a water change of 5gal every Wednesday, though yesterday I did 7gal because I ran chemiclean Mon-Wed. due to green/teal and reddish slime-looking algae (very small amounts). I had a lot of red cyano around June? But used chemiclean then and it all went away.
Critters:
2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 tuxedo urchin (small), 1 emerald crab, 4 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, 1 orange leg hermit, 1 striped leg hermit, 1 polka dot hermit, 1 astrea snail (had 3, 2 died), at least 3 cerith snails, at least 8 dwarf cerith snails, at least 3 nassarius snails, at least 3 zig zag periwinkle snails, and I had 2 nerites but I haven't seen them in months so :::shrug:::.
I had a feather duster worm I got in March and it died Aug. 5th after looking totally fine the whole time, feathers-wise. It dropped it's feathers and was dead 2-3 days later. I was super sad, I love feathery worms. I have since learned about phytoplankton, so hope that will work next time I get more. I put in 20-30ml of plankton from Algae barn every day (split o 10-15ml 2x/day).
I had a bubble tip anemone that I got 9/15 but it died 10/30 after 2 weeks of hiding in the rocks. Prior to that it was out, stuck to the rock, pulled into a ball at night, and looked normal. I am sad about it.
Corals: 6 zoa frags (growing great), 2 birdsnest frags, 3 mushrooms, 1 toadstool leather, 1 Christmas favia, and 1 war coral (freebie).
I also have a big wad of gracilaria, hoping that it would out-compete the unwanted algae, I got it in May. It makes a great GHA frame, ftr.
I switched to mostly frozen food and alternate between mysis and brine. Very rarely, like maybe once every 7-10 days, I will drop a few pellets in 2-3 at a time (so that the fish eat them all). I used to alternate frozen/pellets but stopped after the GHA started. I use 1/4 or a little more of a cube per day (I do put a few mysis into my pea puffer tank, too), down from 1/2 a cube. I also usually spot-feed Reef Roids before water changes, but did not this week.
The blue leg hermits, the polka-dot hermit, the lawnmower blenny, and the tuxedo urchin were unplanned. All purchased due to the GHA. I also stopped using my LFS RODI in my ATO because my TDS meter read it at 7. I started buying bottled water, I tested all the water at my grocery store and buy the cheapest that reads at 0.
To try to get rid of the GHA, I used a toothbrush to scrub the rocks, carefully avoiding corals, and pulling tufts out manually. I would also pull out rocks 1 at a time and use peroxide rinses (being careful to avoid coral), with a toothbrush scrub. The algae would decrease significantly, but would always come back after a couple weeks. This made my emerald crab really grumpy (surprised it didn't die as it fell in the peroxide/water mix bucket once, but :::shrug::: ), but I stopped when I got the nem.
Last month I finally bought Vibrant. The first week I dosed 3ml + a few drops. I forgot to take out the carbon sponge until I did my water change and 2nd dose the 2nd week (10/16). By this point the GHA was coming off rather easily, but underneath was shorter, more difficult to pull algae that I think may be turf algae? I read that for turf algae or really bad outbreaks that you should dose Vibrant 2x/wk. So I started dosing Saturdays in addition to Wednesdays after water changes (so far 3ml plus a bit, every Wed/Sat including yesterday). By 10/26 it appeared that most of the GHA was gone, but what I think is turf algae is going strong, has increased even. Not phased *at all*. Also, all of the empty shells in the sand for the crabs (don't want snail murderers), still have GHA all over them. I plan to keep using it 2x/wk, but I don't know when I should be seeing a decrease instead of increase of algae growth.
At the same time as all that, my Alk, Cal, and Mag were higher using the Coral Pro. The only other thing I could think of was my LFS and the RODI water, maybe their salt mix wasn't so hot? So I decided to mix my own salt, not Coral pro due to the high Alk/Cal/Mag. I have done 3 water changes with it and now my alk is 10.9 so I don't even know with that, now. :::facepalm::: I wonder if the Alk or Mag was an issue for the nem. I'm not going to get another one until I can sort this cluster.
I cannot find dwarf blue-spotted sea hares in stock anywhere. I do not think my tank could handle the regular 8-12" ones. My tank cannot fit tangs or a foxface. My plan was to buy a few more blue leg hermits and another emerald crab or two, and toss them in. Maybe get a fuzzy chiton. Other than that, I'm out of ideas. I have checked all the boxes for the things to do to get rid of algae and I don't know what else to do.
In the first photo you can see the nem in the middle. This was Day 1 of Vibrant, in "sunset" lights, 10/9/19.
In the second photo, taken today 11/7/19, the nem is gone and the algae is ridiculous. GHA mostly gone, green film on glass gone, less brown in the sand- but that turf algae is THICK, there is more of it, and it's bright green.
Here are my tests since the end of August. I use Salifert tests, except ammonia/nitrite are API. I don't always test for those 2. My goal is to test 2x/mo or more. I do salinity tests weekly and check the temp whenever I'm looking in the tank, I just don't write up a whole chart for those. My Alk increase is baffling to me- is the Vibrant impacting it?
| Date | Additive | Type/Qt. | Water Change % | Temp °F | Specific Gravity | Ph | Alk dKH | NH3 Ammonia (API) | NO2 Nitrite (API) | NO3 Nitrate | PO4 Phosphate | I Iodine | Ca Calcium | Mg Magnesium |
| 8/12/2019 | 15% | 78.0° | 1.024 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 | 0.03 | 380 | 1200 | |||
| 9/17/2019 | 15% | 78.0° | 1.026 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 5.00 | 0.03 | 430 | 1410 | |||||
| 10/2/2019 | 15% | 78.0° | 1.026 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 0.03 | 470 | 1410 | |||
| 10/9/2019 | 15% | 78.0° | 1.026 | 8.2 | 9.6 | 5.00 | 0.03 | 450 | 1323 | |||||
| 10/16/2019 | 15% | 80.0° | 1.026 | 8.0 | 9.9 | 10.00 | 0.03 | 450 | 1380 | |||||
| 11/72019 | 20% | 78.0° | 1.026 | 8.2 | 10.9 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 0.03 | 430 | 1260 |
