[jperry8]

My tank just had an explosion of hair algae. Just today I was in it cleaning as much as I could by hand. I turned off the pumps and took them out to clean them and everything else I could get to. After about 30 min. my prize naso tang was coming up toward the surface. By the time I was done I picked him up off the bottom "by hand" , tried to help him but it was too late. I would like to know what I did wrong, was it the pumps being off too long or something about scrubbing the algae?

On top of this it has killed two of my acros and a branch of frogspawn.

Help please!

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[Will C]

something went haywire. your pumps being off for a limited time shouldnt do that. i mean if you left them off for a day or two mabe but not in a matter of hours. have you tested the tank? what are your levels at? have you done anything different? change of products? a new addition? any thing?

 

[Newts]

Were you maybe using any household cleaners that might have still been on your hands before you stuck them in the water? How long have you had the Naso? What a bummer it looked like an awesome fish.

 

[mopar man]

Were you using a sponge from the super market? Some of them have anti bacterial chemicals in them.

 

[breaume]

what were you using to scrub the rock? Could someone have used it to clean around the house and not known it?

Man what a drag. you could almost blame it on the pumps being off for the Naso (but I doubt it). The corals would not have died so fast than.

Come to think of it not even RTN happens in less than 1 day.

Do a big water change. If corals are dying that fast others may follow in the next few days.

Brian

 

[reddhaus]

He was a good looking fish. Sorry to hear that you lost him.

 

[jperry8]

Thanks for the responses. The acros did not die that quick. The hair algae just kind of snuck up on them and smothered them. The explosion really kicked in over the last week and a half maybe two weeks. My tank was in great shape at the end of May. Well here are some pictures to show you before and after.

By the way the only things I did was scraped off the algea on glass and pumps, the over flow, ang picked as much off the rocks as I could by hand. The only thing would have been something on my hands but I always wash and rinse them before I go in. I have had him for over a year. I have done nothing new and have not added anything new (have not had time). I also record everything I do to the the tank as far as additives and water changes/tests since I have had the tank. Also wouldn't my other smaller fish have a problem or snails and other inverts? Nothing else has died since him. Weird!

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If anyone has anymore ideas for cleaning this **** up let me know! Thanks Again!

 

[Will C]

how old are your lights? i recently had a similar problem in my reef. it was completly free of algea 1 month ago. i switched to a larger lighting system (not that big a switch from 2 175 watt mh's to 1 400watt mh) my only guess is the bulb was old as i got a hell of an algea bloom. so i switched out the bulbs a week ago and have done nothing and its allready in recession.

 

[hjmtv]

It has to be some sort of foreign substance. Any aresols used in the proximity? Creatures rarely just keel over and if yours only took 30 minutes I think that points to some catalyst....Sorry about the fish.[-ashamed]

 

[hollywood85]

Sorry for your loss man!

 

[Guest]

SOmewherre you have excess nutrients in the water. Like Will suggested itmay be time to change out some lights.
1. Are the lights old
2 Do you use R/O water
3 When did you last change the carbon block and other media
4 Is the R/O membrane over 1 year old
5 Could you be over feeding? not likely
6 Is your skimmer clean if you have one
7 If you use activated carbon when was it last changed.

These are the questions that need to be answered to identify the problem.

 

[waynesreef]

Sorry for the lose. It was nice looking fish.

 

[jperry8]

Will- I switched from dual 175w to dual 250w 3 months ago, but these were brand new bulbs I switched to. Maybe the increased lighting intensity could have had something to do with it.

Neo-
1. See above
2. Yes and I change filters every 2-3 months
3. I do not use Carbon or othe media
4. The R/O Membrane is close to exactly one year old. (When should I replace, where should I get one, how much?)
5. Feed twice a day small pinch of mixed (by me) flakes, and in p.m. a cube of mysis (quarter size).
6. Just bought a new EuroReef skimmer CS 8-1 (this was bought once the Algae started becoming a problem 2 weeks ago)
7. Don't use it, should I?

 

[waynesreef]

Most RO/DI membrane comes with a color indicator (dye) to show you when it is exhausted and need be replaced. You definitely need to use the skimmer to remove excess nutrient/non-dissolved organic in your system. Nutrient is a food source for algae.

 

[Will C]

you dont have to run carbon. i dont and never do. it ok to do it once in a while to help clarify your tank but if your doing regular water changes you dont need to.