Newbie 75 gallon

[Dash]

I’m glad I went with the BRS starter package. Easy to mix and the gallon jugs for storing the additives are very handy. Hassle free, so it made it easy to get into the routine of dosing. I wonder if JL sell similar jugs & dispensers?

[DKoKoMan]

You can usually find 1 gallon jugs at Walmart etc. You can usually find different shapes that may work better with for your specific needs. I currently use the Rubbermaid 1 gallon clear containers.

[Llorgon]

I ended up getting some cereal containers at Walmart. Works great so far!

As for the tank, it's doing ok. I am battling some algae. Hoping someone here can help me figure out what's causing it. Below is a picture of what I am dealing with.

My params are
Temp: 80
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.3
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphates: 0
Alkalinity: 8.2
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1410

I have a protein skimmer running, chaeto in the sump with a light that comes on opposite to the display tank lights, feed once a day 1/4 cube of mysis or some pellets.

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[Llorgon]

Been battling dinos recently. Just finished a 3 day blackout, but a bit of a dent in the dinos, but not much.


Corals are pretty unhappy. My big sps has gone from green to white, plating montipora is losing tissue, tyree toadstoll and forest fire digi have zero polyp extension...


Checked my parameters nothing seems out of the ordinary.


Frustration and discouragement is currently high...

[Frogger]

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.

This is one of the things that makes keeping reef tanks aka sps tanks to be considered very difficult. Stick with it, it takes time, patience and proper tank maintenance to beat this one.

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by Frogger

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.

This is one of the things that makes keeping reef tanks aka sps tanks to be considered very difficult. Stick with it, it takes time, patience and proper tank maintenance to beat this one.

I know you are right, but right now it's very frustrating.


It kind of looks like the tank may be crashing. None of the corals are looking good, some are bleached and have lost tissue. All are closed up, no polyp extension. Fish still look ok.


Where am I going wrong on my maintenance?


My parameters as of last night seem to all be in the normal range. I know my nitrate and phosphate should be a bit higher. Extra feeding hasn't helped yet. As of last night my params were:

Temp: 79
Salinity: 1.025
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Alkalinity: 8.4
Calcium: 430
Magnesium: 1410


Right now my maintenance is: Dosing alk everyday, dosing cal every other day, testing alk and cal every other day, feeding twice a day(morning, night), blowing off rocks with turkey baster each night, weekly 10 gal water change.

Where am I going wrong?

[Frogger]

Unfortunately it is not working. From what I have read water changes and trying to attain a clean tank doesn't work for dinos.

Water changes and blowing off the rocks having low phosphates and low nitrates appears to be not working for you.

Adding more fish, as you have seen is a problem in itself. You need to quarantine for at least a month assuming everything goes well. I have been trying to add more fish for over 6 months to my tank unsuccessfully can't get them past the quarantine stage/ type of fish I want not available when I want it.

Over feeding can help dirty up your water, stop blowing off the rocks if you are not exporting the dinos as you are just moving them around and spreading them.

Like I said before what worked for me is a micron filter helps remove smaller suspended particles and a UV sterilizer on a low flow rate to kill any dinos after I have blown off the rocks.

INNOVATIVE MARINE AUQASHIELD UV STERILIZER (9 WATT) is around 60 bucks.

I have some KNO3 and Potassium Phosphate you can have for free if you wants some. You know where I live.

You need to have measurable amounts of phosphate and nitrate.

[Llorgon]

Thought I would revive this thread.

In October my nitrates and phosphates hit zero and I developed dinoflagellates. I ended up with a couple different types. The ones growing on the rocks was taken care of by UV sterilizer, but the dinos in the sand weren't effected by it.

To combat the dinos I kept my nitrates and phosphates high to get other algae to out compete it.

The results have been crazy amounts of gha!

Today I took a few of the rocks out and scrubbed them to remove the gha. Lost a bunch of pods and brittle stars. Even a couple of really big ones. But I got most of the gha off the rocks.

Some before and after shots.

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[gregzz4]

I went through something similar back in 2012 when I started my tank with mostly dry rock. Although mine wasn't nearly as bad as your's, I was able to clean it all out in the tank.
I had a canister filter available so installed it on the front of the tank and scrubbed everything with a nylon nail brush. I used a turkey baster to flush the rocks during this process until nothing came off the rocks.
Worked very well for me and pretty much removed all the algae.

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I went through something similar back in 2012 when I started my tank with mostly dry rock. Although mine wasn't nearly as bad as your's, I was able to clean it all out in the tank.
I had a canister filter available so installed it on the front of the tank and scrubbed everything with a nylon nail brush. I used a turkey baster to flush the rocks during this process until nothing came off the rocks.
Worked very well for me and pretty much removed all the algae.

I might have to look for a canister filter. I have been scrubbing the rocks and using the python hose to suck out all the algae. It's been working ok so far.