Recover my coral?

[glarior]

a I had a bad red algae outbreak in my 75g tank. Did a massive water change about two weeks ago using DI/RO setup. Been sucking out what algae I can find with a tiny hose off the corals and looks like its dying off. Going to do another water change next week (unless you think I should do it sooner) to help combat that algae even more.

So... suggestions on how to recover my coral and let it thrive again? Most coral stuck it out by some polyps died, my colorful polyps are still not opening and my torch won't open either. I have been adding a little extra liquid food for them in the tank in hopes to get them to come out. Now, I am not sure what to do to help them survive and look like they use to.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Oh, how does that algae thrive and grow? What did I do wrong to make it thrive like that?

[Regric25]

You are most likley talking about Cyano Bacteria. Its not really an algae but a bacteria that thrives in tanks with elevated nutrients. What kind of filtration are you using? Do you have a fuge? How often do you do water changes? Do you run a skimmer? How many fish are in the tank? How often to you feed and how much?

Start by reducing the amount of food you put into the tank you might be overfeeding. I feed my fish every other day and corals 2 times a week.
If you dont run a fuge you might think about running one. It will help export nutrients and so does a skimmer. Also what kind of powerheads are you using. You might not have enough flow in your tank.

[glarior]

You are most likley talking about Cyano Bacteria. Its not really an algae but a bacteria that thrives in tanks with elevated nutrients. What kind of filtration are you using? Do you have a fuge? How often do you do water changes? Do you run a skimmer? How many fish are in the tank? How often to you feed and how much?

Start by reducing the amount of food you put into the tank you might be overfeeding. I feed my fish every other day and corals 2 times a week.
If you dont run a fuge you might think about running one. It will help export nutrients and so does a skimmer. Also what kind of powerheads are you using. You might not have enough flow in your tank.

I have a custom sump with fuge that pumps water through it. The light is on a timer opposite of the tank. Has blue filter pad, bio balls, coralife skimmer, rio 3100 pump and then one more power head in the tank at the opposite side. I just added that new power head about two weeks ago. The fish are clown, blue tang, white goby, blenny, firefish and six line wrasse. I think they are getting ~1/2-1 cube of food a day. As for water changes... I slacked on that for to long. Should I do a 45g water change once a month? I have a RO/DI water setup in a trashcan that I can premix the salt and everything in. It is 45g.

Thanks

[tebstan]

45g is too much at one time. It's better to do smaller, more frequent water changes on a regular basis. If cyano is the only problem, keep it off the corals and address the cause. If you do a big water change, it will still come back if you don't figure out what caused it.

What kind of corals do you have? You mentioned putting in liquid food, but some corals won't take liquids. That food could just be contributing to your problem. Cyano comes from high nutrients and low flow.

You may still need to add more flow depending on your rock structures. But most likely, you've got high nutrients feeding it as well.

Did you recently switch from tap water to RO? Or add a bunch of fish, or liverock? Make any changes in the routine?

[glarior]

45g is too much at one time. It's better to do smaller, more frequent water changes on a regular basis. If cyano is the only problem, keep it off the corals and address the cause. If you do a big water change, it will still come back if you don't figure out what caused it.

What kind of corals do you have? You mentioned putting in liquid food, but some corals won't take liquids. That food could just be contributing to your problem. Cyano comes from high nutrients and low flow.

You may still need to add more flow depending on your rock structures. But most likely, you've got high nutrients feeding it as well.

Did you recently switch from tap water to RO? Or add a bunch of fish, or liverock? Make any changes in the routine?

So, if I did not do water changes for months and months that most likely would be the problem for the cyno? Also, maybe the amount of food.

How do I tell if I have enough flow in the tank? Any articles talking about that?

RO/DI setup has been going for a long time now so that is not new. The tank has been going for a year. No changes from routine. The one big thing I have not done was water changes.

[tebstan]

Skipping maintenance can cause the nutrients to build up, contributing to the cyano. Changing a lot of water at one time can cause too much stress on the occupants, smaller frequent changes would have the desired result to lower nutrients. Do you use a skimmer?

As for flow, there's no simple answer. Every tank is different. Some corals like lower flow, some need high flow, it's all a matter of developing a balance.

[glarior]

Skipping maintenance can cause the nutrients to build up, contributing to the cyano. Changing a lot of water at one time can cause too much stress on the occupants, smaller frequent changes would have the desired result to lower nutrients. Do you use a skimmer?

As for flow, there's no simple answer. Every tank is different. Some corals like lower flow, some need high flow, it's all a matter of developing a balance.

How many gallons would you change at one time? Yes, I have a skimmer... coralife 125g skimmer.

What about adding a UV light? would that kill it?

[txg8gxp]

On a 75g tank, I would change 15g IMO