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View Full Version : Explosion of yellow algae in saltwater aquarium. What can I do?


awexis
07/05/2014, 06:24 PM
So I recently converted my freshwater aquarium into a saltwater one. I have a 29g biocube. I used already cured rock and added 10lbs of live sand when I first set it up. The rock had some purple coralline algae growing on it when I purchased it. Only a few of the rocks were completely covered. After the first week I noticed the coralline was spreading and I added a few small hermit crabs and snails. I tested my water early this week and found 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but high nitrate. I did two five gallon water changes and the nitrates went down slightly. There was a tiny bit of yellow algae which I assumed was because of the high nitrate which I was slowly removing. I was not home this past night and I accidentally left the light on all night. I came home this morning to find a disaster. The yellow algae spread like wild fire across the entire tank and some even covered the coralline algae. I ran to the pet store and all they had left was one box of water (5 gallons). While I was there I also bought 20 more lbs of sand to make a deeper bed (hopefully it will help foster anaerobic bacteria). I did a water change the second I got home and added the sand. The lady at the pet store said they would have more water in on Monday. I also thought about removing the bioballs which can cause a huge problem with nitrates. I was planning on added a media rack sometime anything. Is there anything else I can/should do? I was heartbroken when I saw it covering my coralline.

dmh41532
07/05/2014, 07:50 PM
first, can you post a picture of the algae. you say that nitrate was high...how high? keeping the light on all night was likely big contributor, giving the algae fuel to grow, along with the nutrients. Personally, I don't think a deeper sand bed will benefit the tank. You should test for phosphate, if you haven't done so already. You mentioned that you use sea water in a bottle...what is the nitrate and phosphate reading?

raybyrne67
07/05/2014, 10:59 PM
dinoflagellates are a common type of algae that can proliferate in an aquarium. Here is a good article on how to get rid of it. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-i-beat-dinoflagellates-and-the-lessons-i-learned

awexis
07/07/2014, 11:12 AM
The nitrate was reading 80 ppm when I tested it. I've been purchasing Petco's real ocean water. It had gotten very good reviews online so I trusted it. I tested it to find that it was showing 0 nitrates, so not the problem. My LFS does not sell RO/DI water. They only have pre-mixed saltwater so either way I was buying it in a box. I used water from there to actually start the tank. Petco's water is significantly cheaper for all these water changes. I did a 50% water change over the past 3 days. I also removed half of the bioballs. The yellow/brown algae started to clear up and the nitrates are sitting at 10ppm now. Now there's a ton of hair algae. I suppose I can't win. I'm thinking it's a phosphate and nitrate problem like you had said. I bought the saltwater master test kit which did not include a phosphate test unfortunately. I meant to get one but didn't think I would have this huge of a problem early on. I'm going to replace the rest of the bioballs with a media rack sometime this week. I'll be adding Seachem's phosphate and nitrate remover to that which will hopefully help. I'm not sure what else I can really do. Here's a picture of it when it was at its worst.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/359x640q90/820/lvxz.jpg

mbingha
07/07/2014, 11:19 AM
Slow down and take a deep breath. With only a cuc in your tank there's no need to make major adjustments. Most all new tanks go through this, it's still cycling. You say you buy boxed water, what do you use for top off?

Shaummy
07/07/2014, 11:20 AM
Does the alage seem brown/powdery? It could be a diatom bloom which is very common on new/maturing tanks.

How long has this tank been running? If it is diatoms...it will run it's course.

awexis
07/07/2014, 11:36 AM
It's been running for a little over three weeks. I feel awful for the hermit crabs because I keep changing all this water on them. My ammonia and nitrite were there and gone but the nitrate just kept rising. The die off from the rock probably when through the cycle caused the nitrate. I just didn't imagine it would be this high. I haven't had to use any top off water yet. The salinity has stayed fine. Most likely because I've been doing such a ridiculous amount of water changes and the fact that it hasn't been running very long. They also sell filtered freshwater at Petco which I was going to use whenever it was needed. I'm thinking now that I should have just bought my own ro/di unit and saved myself some headaches.

mbingha
07/07/2014, 11:39 AM
Yup still cycling. Stop the water changes as that slows the cycling process down. Let it run its course for another 3 weeks or so before you do another water change. Long term an rodi unit will pay for itself, not to mention never hauling jugs home.

awexis
07/07/2014, 12:05 PM
I've read so many mixed opinions on nitrate removal that I honestly wasn't sure what to do. Some say to get a decent sand bed and the anaerobic bacteria will eventually form and it will take care of a lot of it, while others say that that bacteria is too hard to grow and water changes are the only way to take care of nitrate. I should just go back to having a betta fish. Lol.

m0nkie
07/07/2014, 12:39 PM
to really help you out, you need to post details. not just "for awhile" "a few month" "really high" etc.. When did you start the cycle?

my tank finished cycling last month.. I put a CUC inside already. 80% of my rocks look like yours. Yellow with some hair looking algae growing. My snails are happily eating them. Nitrate kept raising to 50+ so I've been doing water changes.

awexis
07/07/2014, 01:17 PM
Excuse me, there's no need to be rude. I said it's been running for 3 weeks and I said the nitrates were at 80 ppm if you read the rest of the posts. I also said they are now at 10 ppm after the water change and removal of the bioballs. I said how much water I've been changing as well, which was a ridiculous amount. When I put the cuc in there clearly I tested the water to see that there was 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate after a little over a week. Therefore I stated how long it took for it to cycle. I started the cycle when I set up the aquarium 3 weeks ago. Then the nitrate rose to 80 ppm. Because the rock was cured and in an aquarium when I purchased it from a friend it cycled quickly. All your questions were already answered.

Lucky Lefty
07/07/2014, 04:15 PM
Not sure if he was being rude.. At least i didnt read it that way.. Either way, lets all relax and try and come to a conclusion here.

My $.02, only because your asking, is that you shouldnt panic, hard i know trust me.

Rodi unit is probably one of the most, if not THE most important part and life saver when it comes to this hobby, get one immediately. No exageration, make that your very next purchase. Youll be very happy you did.

As far as nitrates. No one has mentioned what the level of nitrates is "really high". Its a hard number to find from my research. Ive heard most say 80-100ppm. Have had some say dont start sweating till you hit 200ppm, and i think most of us are slighlty fighting OCD, and WANT to change at 40ppm. Actually i think on here, most will say change water on a regular basis, regardless of what your parameters are, even if they havent gone up.

Im personally trying the "natural and patient" route, meaning only regular water changes, and not adding any additives or chemicals to the tank. then again my experience is minimal at this point.

Good Luck.