What’s going on in my tank?

[slwilloughby1]

Hi! I was hoping to get some help. I am having some growth in my tank. The first pictures are pre chemiclean treatment, the second set is after and I had the lights turned off. Any idea what’s going on? I treated with chemiclean and turned the lights off - after 24 hours this is what it looks like (green and still the brown algae on the bottom and a dead fish). I just did a water 15-20% change today.

The brown algae is kind of stringy

Levels:
PH: 8
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0

 

[cdemoss01]

Hi! I was hoping to get some help. I am having some growth in my tank. The first pictures are pre chemiclean treatment, the second set is after and I had the lights turned off. Any idea what’s going on? I treated with chemiclean and turned the lights off - after 24 hours this is what it looks like (green and still the brown algae on the bottom and a dead fish). I just did a water 15-20% change today.

The brown algae is kind of stringy

Levels:
PH: 8
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0

#reefsquad

 

[nereefpat]

Welcome to R2R!

The brown stringy stuff could be Dinoflagellates. A microscope would confirm. Do some searching of images and see if that matches.

Chemi Clean is an antibiotic used to kill cyanobacteria.

 

[slwilloughby1]

Welcome to R2R!

The brown stringy stuff could be Dinoflagellates. A microscope would confirm. Do some searching of images and see if that matches.

Chemi Clean is an antibiotic used to kill cyanobacteria.

Definitely looks about right, any idea how to treat it?

 

[slwilloughby1]

Definitely looks about right, any idea how to treat it?

Should all my levels be 0?

 

[shakacuz]

how new is your tank? did you measure phosphate? what size tank? how many fish are in it?

 

[slwilloughby1]

how new is your tank? did you measure phosphate? what size tank? how many fish are in it?

It’s pretty new it just finished cycling and I had 4 fish, but one just died. It’s a 30 gallon tank. I don’t have anything to measure phosphates right now

 

[nereefpat]

Definitely looks about right, any idea how to treat it?

If it's Dinos, then it will take some effort. There are some methods that help, and it depends on species of Dino. Raising temp, raising testable levels of nitrate and phosphate, UV, siphoning but not changing water. But it depends on species of Dino.

 

[slwilloughby1]

If it's Dinos, then it will take some effort. There are some methods that help, and it depends on species of Dino. Raising temp, raising testable levels of nitrate and phosphate, UV, siphoning but not changing water. But it depends on species of Dino.

Hi! I was hoping to get some help. I am having some growth in my tank. The first pictures are pre chemiclean treatment, the second set is after and I had the lights turned off. Any idea what’s going on? I treated with chemiclean and turned the lights off - after 24 hours this is what it looks like (green and still the brown algae on the bottom and a dead fish). I just did a water 15-20% change today.

The brown algae is kind of stringy

Levels:
PH: 8
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0

“If both phosphate and nitrates are testing at zero, this is likely contributing to the problem. While not proven, repeated anecdotal evidence points to zero nutrients in the water either cause or trigger dinos” any idea if this could be it?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would say the tank needs more rock and more flow, at least another powerhead pointed at the water surface. The surface should not be flat like that.

The tank looks fairly new, looks like normal maturing phase of the tank. It takes time and more biodiversity (which is why you need more rock), it can take months up to a year or even more for the tank to stabilize.

Do you know the phosphate level? You will need a good test kit (not API) to track phosphate.

 

[slwilloughby1]

I would say the tank needs more rock and more flow, at least another powerhead pointed at the water surface. The surface should not be flat like that.

The tank looks fairly new, looks like normal maturing phase of the tank. It takes time and more biodiversity (which is why you need more rock), it can take months up to a year or even more for the tank to stabilize.

Do you know the phosphate level? You will need a good test kit (not API) to track phosphate.

I have quite a bit of live rock in it and two wave pumps, one on each side

 

[jda]

If you just set this tank up, you are going to need to just let this work. Stop testing and just let the tank develop an ecosystem and run it's course with the uglies - this will take some time and anything that you do to interfere can delay progress or even make things worse. Have a loved one hide your nitrate and phosphate test kits for a while.

Dead fish should come out.

Those could be diatoms. Hard to tell. Diatoms, cyano and soem dinos are rites of passage as a tank matures. Some stick around if you used sterile things like dry/dead/manmade rock since they can move in faster and claim territory than other things.

 

[slwilloughby1]

If you just set this tank up, you are going to need to just let this work. Stop testing and just let the tank develop an ecosystem and run it's course with the uglies - this will take some time and anything that you do to interfere can delay progress or even make things worse. Have a loved one hide your nitrate and phosphate test kits for a while.

Dead fish should come out.

Those could be diatoms. Hard to tell. Diatoms, cyano and soem dinos are rites of passage as a tank matures. Some stick around if you used sterile things like dry/dead/manmade rock since they can move in faster and claim territory than other things.

Appreciate it! It’s not that new but new with fish. I’ve had it up and running for a few months with just crabs and snails

 

[Idech]

Appreciate it! It’s not that new but new with fish. I’ve had it up and running for a few months with just crabs and snails

A few months is still very new. Saltwater tanks take a long time to mature.