Big Problem!

[5xevy]

Cheato is a macro (good) algae that will help lower your phosphates and nitrAtes. You say your levels are good but what exactly are they (especially Phosphates and NitrAtes). How many powerheads do you have in your tank? More circulation can help. Definately get more clean up crew, my hermits are chomping through my little flourish very quickly. I don't recommend you getting another tang as in my opinion your tank is not big enough (I have a 60gal with one Tang and she's outgrown that). I'd also test your water that your using before you put in you tank just to see what your levels are.

I agree with the above, do you test for phosphates? What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? Your town water may not be the best thing for your tank. Is there a way you can get a copy of exactly what's in your town water? That should be free. Also, some fish foods, including frozen ones, contain phosphates. What brand salt do you use?

You said when you clean it, it tends to pop back up again within a week or so. Do you clean it during your water changes? Is there a way you can make your water changes weekly instead?

I had this problem when I first set up my reef tank in the beginning of the year. It looked exactly like yours. I was using regular water and not RO. I was overfeeding (purposely though because it was cycling) and I was leaving on the lights far too long. How long are your lights on for? What kind are they? How new are the bulbs?

If you have Green Hair Algae in your tank, your phosphates should read well above .05 mg/L., which is considered by many to be the lowest level at which Green Hair Algae will grow.

The above was taken from:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa070403.htm

There's some really good info in that article which is why I saved it when I had my problem.

I wouldn't sell the tank on the account of this temporary issue. It can be fixed! Please keep us updated.

Oh and I agree with beefing up the clean-up crew, keeping a skimmer running 24/7, maybe adding some phosphate removing media (do you use carbon at all?) and not adding another Tang.

Edit- I just noticed the reflections in your pictures. Does your tank ever get direct sunlight?

 

[joander123]

RO water is really good to have, if you cant afford a unit to make your own, many fish stores sell it..... even WALMART will sell it to you in buckets. Usually pretty cheap, like 25 cents a gallon or something like that.

Or if you have 100 or so dollars to spend, EBAY has some really nice, cheap RO units for sale.

HTH,
Jay

 

[stevesharp]

Yea it gets some sunlight, There are alot of windows in my place, and that seemed the best spot, I will look into more reef cleaners, I am thinking of doing a 100% water change, and removing my crushed coral, but I don't want to disturbe the algae because the pores could spread, as I was told by someone. I do use Carbon in my filter, as well as some Bio chem, I use 3 blue bulbs, and one purpel bulb! One of my blues are a 42 inch, my other blues are 18 inch, and my purple is a 42 inch. I use instant ocean sea salt, I have 2 power heads at the back of the tank, One is blowing up at the water, and one is blowing toward the back of the glass, and I have another smaller one that I usually have on and it points at the front of the glass! I dont have them blowing bubbles, but steady flow, should I have them blowing bubbles? My filter also came with a power head connector, but I use the pipe with 6 holes instead. Im using a protein skimmer that was for a 60 gallon tank, so I had to mod it to fit my 55 gallon, And it runs off a air pump, with a air rock on the hose that sits inside the chamber!

I am able to fit upto 3 bags of media in my filter, I use Carbon, and one I have to recharge for my ph, and a bio chem bag that I have to rinse with salt water.

My readings are, and we just did them

PH: 8.3
Nitrite/NO2: 0
CA: 700
Nitrate/NO3: 5
Amonia/NH3/NH4: 0.1

So before I do anything what should I do next?? Do a 100% water, clean or not to clean rocks, and to remove or not to remove crushed coral...

And as for livestock,

1 Peculiar Clown Fish
1 Maroon Clown Fish
1 Yellow Tang <<Which is'nt getting any bigger, had him for about 4 months>>

2 anemonies,
1 is a common one,
and that big one in the picture,

various corals!!
That big one in the picture
10 green sand polyops
I have two more of those corals <<like the big one>> that are on another rock but smaller and different in color!
I have a coral that no one seems to know what it is!
And I seem to be growing alot of Tube worms!! The nice ones you find in the pet stores! There are about 30 of them all over my rock, White tubes, and a fan coming out of them!

Oh and I forgot that I have a black spiney urchin!! But I cant seem to locate him because of the algae..... which makes it difficult when sticking your hand in there to pull out rock!! OUCH!!! Hmmmm..... I think that's it....

Oh and I have a Zena or something like that spelling.....

 

[stevesharp]

Those are the readings for my water in my tank... Should have mentioned that

 

[5xevy]

I would definitely not do a 100% water change- maybe something like 30% every couple of days or so.

Have you measured for phosphates? How long are your lights on?

"Zena" is probably xenia I'm guessing. That calcium is pretty high. Do you add any?

 

[stevesharp]

Yea I did add some, but not adding anymore! I was told that if I can get the coraline algae to take to my rocks again, then it would take care of the hair algae, I turn my lights on at 1:00pm and off at 10m,

I don't have a phosphate kit, but will get one!

30% is about 20 gallons?

I should say that my tank may look like this because I did something stupid about 6 months ago.. and this could be it's way of getting back at me! I did a die off on my Live rock.. After recieving abunch from my LFS, we noticed aton of aptasia on the rock... SO I hot water soaked it in fresh water... All of my rock! Did this for about 10 minutes, then I Cold water soaked it!! for another 10 mins, Then I set it outside to dry off, next morning took the hose to it, and then put it back into my tank... That is the last time I listen to someone that has no experiance in the Salt water field! But i noticed I still have little creatures, I felt so bad doing that, but he said I had to kill off the aptasia as it can seriously spread! That is why I had been putting in liquid calcium, to get the coraline that I had'nt damaged to take hold again! And it is growing again, I can see bright green as well as some purple in there! But I am not doing any more calcium treatments to it, As it has enough in there

 

[stevesharp]

Sorry for all the posts, but this has been an issue for about 4 months now... Just feels like im bein a pest

 

[Catpicklesdog]

You don't want your powerheads blowing bubbles but what size are they? You definately need to check for phosphates as this is one of the main causes of algae problems (not the only cause but ONE of the main). As far as I'm aware it's bubble algae that spreads pores when you burst the bubbles so I would try and remove as much as possible by hand.

Also what type of test kit do you use - strips or liquid?
I agree with 5Xevy don't do 100% water change as the it could be too much shock for your tankmates, I did 25-30% every 3 days when I had my algae problem. Also how long do you have your lights on?

 

[stevesharp]

Have my lights on for about 9 hours, my 2 Powerheads blow 50 gph, and my little one blows 10 gph,

Liquid test kits

 

[Catpicklesdog]

You definately need more circulation. The recommendation is 10 x for a FOWLR = 550gph and 25 x for a reef = 1375gph. I'm assuming your powerheads are 50 gph each so you only have 110gph.

Edit: I'm definately into the koralia powerheads at the moment and recommend them.

Double Edit: I doubt very much that it's what you did to your rocks that caused this. Also, coraline algae won't get rid of this for you, it's more likely to be the other way round as this algae could "suffocate" what it grows on. And also don't apologise for your posts (we need the post count!!!) that's what we're all here for - to help each other through our experiences. No-one is a pest!!!

Treble Edit: I'd also cut down your lighting to about 5 hrs. Don't worry - I also had corals when I left my lights off for a full 24 hrs then had them on for 5 hours a day for a week.