Dinos?

[jaBX1]

They are black box LED. I know, not great but it was what I could afford for the size of my tank.

They are full spectrum but blacked out the green and red spectrum when I originally thought this bacteria was algae.

 

[jadakiss]

Ok cool. Try to do what was prescribed above and see how it works out. Keep us posted

 

[35ppt]

i would not increase feeding because it could spike it to get worse, in the past i had that issue and what i said above solved the issue. i never ever heard of nitrate being low being a issue, listen i had a 55gallon with 1 clown and 1 yellow tang with full of zoas and sps and i never ever had issue feeding low ,i kept my feeding minimal and do not shut off your skimmer... thats the last thing you want to do. shut the light off for 3 days cut the feeding for 3 days and do a water change on the 3rd day as well . see how that works.

Lack of nitrates can absolutely kill corals. The first thing I did when I got into the hobby was bleach out a couple hammers and killed a colony of zoanthids from lack of nutrients. ULN systems can work and be quite stunning but I feel it's safer to keep some detectable levels of nutrients especially if you're not just straight sps. Corals need N and P to survive, especially LPS and softies.

They are black box LED. I know, not great but it was what I could afford for the size of my tank.

They are full spectrum but blacked out the green and red spectrum when I originally thought this bacteria was algae.

Black box LEDs are great, no doubt there are better lights out there but they grow coral just fine.

You might consider getting a second hand microscope to see what exactly you're dealing with. Definitely not dinos.

 

[jaBX1]

My corals seem to be doing ok, definitely not thriving though.
It seems like they change day to day. (Possibly due to feeding heavy/light?) This is one of the reasons I was trying to increase feeding a bit.

I am on day 2 of the 3 day blackout and will do a water change once I turn the lights back on.

I did a half dose of Dr. Tims Waste Away last weekend and will do a full dose this weekend.

I will post with updates

 

[jaBX1]

Update:

I turned the lights on when I got back from work, about 30 min before the whites shut off.
As soon as the lights were on I noticed a light green "haze" in the water.

I tried to take a picture of it but I'm not sure the iPhone camera captured it.

The stuff all over the rocks is still there but it seems less firmly attached and easily blows away.
I did a 15% water change and syphoned as much out as I could.

When changing my filter socks I noticed a different and stronger that usual smell. When rinsing the socks I noticed a pink color (usually brown). I am not sure what that is but it definitely surprised me.

Good news: all fish and most coral seem fine.

Bad news: One of my two anemones is gone. I am hoping it just is hiding somewhere I can't see but a small bit of a tentacle was seen on the sand where it used to live (see 3rd picture at base of rock)

 

[jadakiss]

Hopefully this will solve the problem. Give it some time and continue to do your water changes and swapping out the socks

 

[jaBX1]

Just wanted to give an update after adding Dr. Tims Waste away and turning off lights for 3 days.

The bacterial slime all over the rocks has lessened and it does not have a good hold on the rocks like it used to. I can easily blow the slime off of the rocks into the water column.

I added a second dose (full dose this time - 1ml:1gal) of Waste Away and gave it 24 hours with no skimmer.

After a water change I can notice a significant change on the rocks. Easily 50-70% better than before.

I am not planning on doing another blackout and hope that things will only continue to get better.

I will check water parameters before my next water change later in the week but assume it will be very low as usual.

Thank you to everyone on this thread that has helped identify and given me advice.


Last question - When should I add Dr. Tims Refresh?