Anemone Death

[sesheru95]

Hi,
In one of my tanks I had two o. clowns some other fish and corals. I bought a carpet for it and after 2 days or so it was going downhill. I noticed since it was almost inside out the tank was getting a tint of green and I knew it wasn't from algae as there wasn't any growth at all. But anyways the anemone looked pretty bad on day 5 so i gave it one more day and the next day the tank was SO green I couldn't see through it at all, so I took the anemone out, smelled it ( BAD ) and it looked very bad as well, then disposed of it. I immediately checked ammonia and other params 0 nothing changed which was very odd to me. Then I waited out about a day more and still very green so I did a 30% water change and it cleared up a bit, then a 20% the following day then 10% the next day. The water gradually cleared with each WC but when I leave it for half a day with 3 extra filters on full blast it doesn't seem to clear up. Nothing is dead as I can see but I just really want to get my clear water again can anyone give me any other suggestions on how to do so and tell me if you need anymore info. THANKS ALOT!

[PaxRoma]

is the anemone green? Most likely is that the green come from the zooxanthellae being expelled from the anemone before it dies.

[sesheru95]

Yea it was green . I thought that the zooxanthellae came out like large chunks like poo. But that would make sense.

[briankmarsh1980]

You might try running carbon

[sesheru95]

im running a bit but i'll try to run some more.

[Toddrtrex]

If any zoax came out of the anemone it wouldn't be green, it would be a golden brownish color. The color of the anemone doesn't matter. So, IMO, the green you are seeing is NOT coming from the anemone. There are excess nutrients in your tank (( which are either because the anemone died, or was part of the cause of the anemones death )), which is causing a floating algae bloom.

What are your water parameters? (( with numbers ))
Are you using RO/DI water? If yes, what is the TDS?
What size tank?
How long has it been set up?
What all do you have in the tank?

[sesheru95]

Ok Just tested now. Params:
Temp- 80, Nitrate/Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Ph 8.2, SG 1.024 ( I know a bit low )

Not using RO/DI at the moment but looking to invest in soon.

Size 55 gallons regular

Set up for 7 months

Reef tank LPS,Softies, 5 Mexican turbo snails, 8 hermit crabs, 2 o. clowns, three stripe damsel, fire fish goby.

Additional Info
Basically Ive went through a bit of red slime and green algae before ( months before this ) and got out of it within a week or 2 but my params and tank started to stabilize until this. The water seems to be a bit smelly, which I heard is from an anemone death but my params are near perfect?!?! other than that and the whole "green water" everything seems healthy and normal. Thanks

[sesheru95]

Oh yea and this may help but the anemone was a haddoni carpet.

[Toddrtrex]

The tap water isn't helping, and could very well be fueling the algae bloom.

What lights do you have?

[sesheru95]

I have a 4 bulb t-5 HO fixture that was recently bought new with new bulbs within the last 2 months or so the other 5 months were under NO lighting.

[bues0022]

I'm with Todd on this one. Phosphates from tap water could be fueling your algae bloom. Your other numbers look good though, and even if you tried testing for phosphates you probably wouldn't see much, the algae is consuming it before you can test it.

Does your T5 unit have individual reflectors or a single reflector for all 4 bulbs?

You also mentioned putting on three extra filters....what is your setup? sump? bioballs? HOB filters with biowheel? canister filters? filter socks?

[sesheru95]

Yes it has individual reflectors. Wow I bet the big water changes with tap water inst helping at all >.<

[bues0022]

eh, big water changes with tap water is at the very least reducing the ammonia from the nem death. But, it might not be helping your green water situation. There's a few LFS not far from you, get some RO/DI water and see if that helps.

[sesheru95]

Yea I'll try that Thanks alot : ) so with RO/DI water do you just mix salt regularly as you would with tap? and other than the RO/DI water is there anything else I can do to get rid of the algae?

[bues0022]

You also mentioned putting on three extra filters....what is your setup? sump? bioballs? HOB filters with biowheel? canister filters? filter socks?

It's tough to expand on what to do if we don't know how your system is running. Can you post up some pictures too?

[briankmarsh1980]

ummmm......... Tap Water!!! whoa that was not a good idea. I would never use tap water again, I would suggest getting your own ro/di unit

[sesheru95]

Sorry didn't catch that filter question anyways I have a HOB skimmer (not sure what brand or gallons amount but its pretty big) then I have 3 extra simple filters 2 underwater in tank with carbon, sponges ect. and one small HOB filter with filter pads, sponges carbon ect. My main real filtration is my skimmer That I think is a coralife and its fairly bigger than normal 55 gallon skimmers so I think its rated some where in the 75-90 gallon range. My camera isn't working at the moment but here is a tank picture that has the thick green water like mine, almost identical. Thankshttp://onedersave.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/greenalgaesweb.jpg

[briankmarsh1980]

that doesn't help much... LS?LR? a real pic would help as well.

but tap water will give you crazy algae

[briankmarsh1980]

If your water is cloudy and green in color, you have an algae bloom. You should cut back the number of hours the lights are on to no more than eight hours a day. You should buy an algacide treatment. Like Algae Destroyer by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Use the algacide until the problem goes away, doing 50% water changes twice a week in between treatments. Do not use algacides on a permanent basis! That will eventually kill your fish.

[bues0022]

DON"T USE CHEMICALS! Chemicals would be the absolute LAST thing I would ever do in a tank, and then only in a hospital tank as a treatment. We don't pour these things into the ocean (purposefully), do don't put them in your tank. This can be overcome by normal husbandry methods. Nothing happens fast in this hobby, and a quickfix like algae destroyer may kill much more than the algae.

Do a few good sized water changes with RO/DI, cut the photoperiod down, tell us more about your filtration (not just some coralife thing, exact models, specs, details!), and this will be resolved shortly.

[Toddrtrex]

I strongly agree --- do not use any chemicals. Good husbandry will take care of this issue -- time is your friend.

[briankmarsh1980]

obviously its controversial... but it works, just learned what causes it... (TAP WATER) and don't use tap water ever again. problem solved

[Sangogo]

obviously its controversial... but it works, just learned what causes it... (TAP WATER) and don't use tap water ever again. problem solved

Tap water isn't the only thing that causes an algae bloom though. And there are plenty of people who use tap water who don't have algae bloom, because they compensate through other practices (plus, tap water varies from region to region). So I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet.

[briankmarsh1980]

Tap water isn't the only thing that causes an algae bloom though. And there are plenty of people who use tap water who don't have algae bloom, because they compensate through other practices (plus, tap water varies from region to region). So I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet.

that is true, so I should't, there could be other variables

[sesheru95]

Wow, lol ok a bit of controversial views im not sure the brands and specs as I got them used at the LFS with out boxes and papers ect. but let me see if I can find a brand for the skimmer as everything else is fairly small and minuscule ( old 30gallon filters I had just used them as a supplement filtration now). anyways I think this is my skimmer model, looks closest and sized around the same as mine http://www.marineandreef.com/Coralife_65_Skimmer_Coralife_Super_Skimmer_65_p/res33000.htm I have about 50 lbs of LR and about 3-4 inches of LS not sure the lbs. Thanks