Bob replies...

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your well-written letter, and the complaints about unwanted alga of some sort seem to be an endless subject matter where my email is concerned! And from what I can see in your letter, you have had a settling-in sort of experience where some unwanted situations arise while aquarium microbial processes are establishing their relationships/balance with other classes of bacterium in the aquarium, or what can be referred to as 'equilibrium.' This overall set of processes can take about six months to get fully established in a well-managed system. If not well managed, it may never become properly established. But you seem to have excellent equipment, test kits, and the systems water quality also appears to be very good.

So what I can gather from your well-written letter, - the cyano problem probably began in some nutrient rich areas, possibly having some excess ammonium/phosphate, which got small patches of it going. And the reason the cyano seemed to expand more when Kalkwasser was used is because the very high pH of Kalkwasser was precipitating some phosphate as calcium phosphate, which covered some surface areas in the aquarium. And anywhere the cyano covered some of the precipitated phosphate, it reduced/oxidized the precipitant, thereby gaining its phosphate for growth. Of course, this will not generally happen elsewhere in the aquarium, as the compound remains stable unless a microbial slime/algae growth encompasses it. So when you stopped Kalkwasser use 'and' removed the slime by siphoning/vacuuming, you eliminated these fertile areas and gave the system some more time to adjust/balance itself microbial-wise.

As for the dinoflagellate situation, this free-swimming form of brown algae probably came in on some new coral added to the tank and found some organic rich areas to help expand its growth. But your attention to what it takes to maintain better water quality and not overfeeding your livestock, caused it to dissipate on its own.

Where brown alga is concerned, there's also good news there. I believe it got it got its start, as did the cyano. And because it now has a mat-like base, is capable of prolonging its growth by making its own nutrients under its base, where anaerobic conditions exist. And the only way to eliminate it is with a lot of handwork, as the areas having this growth need to be hand-cleaned/removed. And as you do, I would expect new growth of this alga to diminish and within a few months, be almost nonexistent.

Nevertheless, when cleaned, some short growths will reappear, and this is where your ample supply of hermits will be able to help, as they can only feed upon short growths, not the long-like hair growths when the algae becomes more established. But remember, hermit and snail poop need to be vacuumed monthly, as excessive amounts on/in the sandbed will only add unwanted nutrients to the bulk water.

Another thought to keep in mind, is the choice of media in the calcium reactor. A poor choice here can add unwanted silica and phosphate. Even though they may not register on your test kits, it could be just enough to initiate an unwanted algae situation. The only two choices in reactor media in my opinion are; CaribSea ARM, and the German KORALlith media.

As for that Marine Technical Concepts skimmer review, that was a long time ago! But do recall a situation with the one piece beckett valve in the top of the High Speed Aeration (HSA) unit. I highly recommended to the owners of the company that the enclosed one piece beckett be changed to a two piece beckett that simply was two vertical half's that snapped together and it be placed in a similar chamber, but one that opens so the beckett could be removed and easily cleaned. After a lot of experience with this unit, which was probably one of the best skimmers I ever had, I found salt creep quickly occurring in the beckett, which was difficult at best to clean since only 'its' intake opening was accessible to push a tiny pipe brush or pipe cleaner through. And because of its center bulbous fitting, could not see if it were totally cleaned out. So a lot of guesswork and frustration went into keeping it clean, but when clean, it worked with exceptionable efficiency. Therefore, I recommend shutting the skimmer down and removing the top chamber and cleaning that beckett as best you can, as cleanliness of that beckett valve may be your problem with getting good skimming results. Check it out.

And where feeding is concerned, I always grimace when someone says 'they only feed every other day.' Just keep in mind underfeeding is just as bad as overfeeding! Checkout my new Microcosm book titled "Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook," as there's much info on proper feeding along with the various maladies that can affect out fish. Also, a new medication is discussed that is appearing to quickly and very effectively treat parasitic infestations such as the common Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans), Marine Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum), and Clownfish disease (Brooklynella hostilis), whether the fish are in a fish-only or reef aquarium. And it's expected to be also very successful in freshwater aquariums!

From what I can see, after being up and running for three months, I think you're nearing the end of some unwanted situations. And because of your excellent equipment and experience in the hobby, your aquarium future looks very good. So stay after the brown alga as I expect it too will soon diminish.

I hope the above helps,

Bob