Black algae question and pick of Copperbanded Butterflyfish

[jtrux]

My friend Terry is having an issue with this black hairy algae growing in his 75 gallon tank. It started about two weeks ago and has gotten alot worse. He vacuumed it last night and it came back like this. Oh and there is a pic of his copperbanded butterflyfish which he has had for about 6 weeks. He had difficulty at first feeding it ( actually it wouldn't eat at all ) but about three weeks into owning it he noticed it started picking at the rocks constantly when the food settles on them and then once or twice it has picked mysis shrimp out of the water column. Also, all his levels are good such as nitrates, ammonia and nitrites but along the edge of the glass where the substrate begins it looks as if iron is building up cuz the glass and substrate is turning a copperish color. Any help is appreciated.

[JimD]

Do a search for "Cyanobacteria", tons of info.

[erikharrison]

How much flow is in there? What kind of skimmer does he have? I don't see a whole lot of LR in there either. An easy start would be to buy a tank to use as a sump/fuge. He can do like mine with no baffles for now. Get an overflow and a return, and then a really good skimmer. Then he can just start buying sand and LR and putting it down there. It will help a whole bunch...
Koralia #4 $50
Overflow Cheap, just post in WTB/Trade probably 20
Return Cheap, just post in WTB/Trade around 30ish
Tank Cheap, just post in WTB/Trade around free-20
Skimmer You can find a good one used for around 150-200

Let's say 350 on the high end of the used spectrum. It will be the best 350 spent!
This hobby is frustrating dealing with all of the new tank issues because we all rush into it. Try and explain that if he wants to rush, a whole lot of things will die, and money will just go down the drain. Slapping him around a little may help too!

FLOW, FLOW, FLOW, FLOW, SAND, SAND, SAND, SAND, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, ROCK, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM, SKIM,

[TRMCC79]

It's my tank that Jtrux is talking about. I've only had a couple of saltwater tanks and still consider myself somewhat novice, so I might have missed something obvious. It’s a FOWLR 75 gal with a DIY 20gal sump, Koralia 2, skimmer (made for 100gal) and standard lighting. It has approximately 60 lbs of live rock and 3 inches of aragonite. My ammonia, nitrite, nitrates are all 0, SG is at 1.0225 (salinity 30.5 ppt). My calcium has been low due to a water softener but I use additive to get it back to acceptable ranges. I have not checked phosphates, which probably caused this. The tank has been set up for about 5 months, cycled and had fish in it for 3 months, but this just popped up about 2 weeks ago. I have probably been over feeding slightly while trying to figure out what the CB butterfly likes. I am going to check phosphates but in the meantime is there a chemical treatment that does a good job?

What is the worst that this stuff can do other than look bad?

[Ed]

Chemi-Clean will make it go away temporarily at least. Be sure to run an air stone in the tank while using it and do the recommended water change. The cyano can kill corals if left untreated. Best to eliminate it if you can.

BTW, my CBB eats PE Mysis and frozen green mussels on the half shell. I give him a treat of live black mussels from HEB every once in a while.

[MissT]

The "coppery" description sounds like a diatom outbreak...
How long has the tank been set up?

Phosphates been checked?

[MissT]

Oh, and Welcome to MAAST, TRMCC79

[TRMCC79]

Chemi-Clean will make it go away temporarily at least. Be sure to run an air stone in the tank while using it and do the recommended water change. The cyano can kill corals if left untreated. Best to eliminate it if you can.

BTW, my CBB eats PE Mysis and frozen green mussels on the half shell. I give him a treat of live black mussels from HEB every once in a while.

Thanks for the tip, I am going to try the mussels on Monday!

The "coppery" description sounds like a diatom outbreak...
How long has the tank been set up?

Phosphates been checked?

Set up 5 months ago. I let it fully cycle then started stocking slowly about 3 months ago. Haven't checked them yet, had to leave town, but I am going to check them first thing Monday morning.

Oh, and Welcome to MAAST, TRMCC79

Thanks. I have been lurking around for about a year, but haven't had much to post about until now.