Algae and temp

N

Nonfamous

Reefing newb
Is there any info on the effect of temp on algae growth? Link to a thread or article?

Background:

Tank has been up for 3 years. Had my standard various issues but never any serious algae. Earlier this year we had storms, as many others did, and my tank got down to 70.4*F. Since that time I've never really gotten it back up to the 80* or so it was before. Mostly around the 74.5* mark. Since that time I have also lost 2 Foxface and a Flame Angel. Also about 1 gallon of tap water was accidentally introduced into the system about a month ago. Now I have all kinds of stuff growing in the tank. I have replaced my 2 200w heaters with 2 300w and added a 3rd. Temp is slowly coming back up over the last few days.

I have done numerous water changes but have Green hair, Red hair, Brown hair, a green I've never seen before, and red covering type, (all algae) as well as cyano growing in my tank. Oh there is bubble algae too, but I know where that came from. I have about 60x turnover in the tank with powerheads and new return pump.
 
Need water tests to help but 99.9%,of algae problems are nutrient export issues. There are more nitrates and phosphates entering the system than leaving it
 
Okay, so I am going to post up a little more. Don't ask for parameters, just assume they are fine. Been in the game long enough to have checked those first. The only one off was the PO4 and we all know how poorly reliable those tests are. I'm running a GFO reactor with Rowaphos.

So my temp got down to just above 70*. I have 3 300w heaters installed now all set to the highest setting. Temp has come up slowly, but is now 76.4* F. As the temp rose over the past 6 days I have noticed several things. 1. The algae, though it has not gone away, has definitely not grown larger and in most places has started to release from the rock and such. 2. The palyos that were taking over my tank are closed up and looking pretty sad. This does NOT bother me. As long as they slowly dissolve, I will be happy to see them go away. 3. My Small Zoa population is looking much better. 3. My giant plating Monti looks bad. Real bad. Very bleached though it still has florescence of the "dots" the overall colour is pretty much white. I'm hoping it makes a full recovery. But, I am prepared it it doesn't. 4. Some of my mushrooms have turned loose and found new homes. Some have shrunk up pretty good too.

I'm confused though. Most people seem to have issue keeping heat out of the tank. Mine seems to be keeping it in. Its not like I live in the tundra. The room temp is set to 72, the 3 heaters are set to max and I preheat the mix water. The stand is enclosed and the top is 75% enclosed. Why is heating becoming such an issue?
 
Sorry, its a 90 with 28 in the sump.

All of this info is for nothing. I discovered the REAL problem. Likely its been going on for some time and would account for both coral and live stock losses I've suffered over the last few months. I left the tank for 2 days and came home to most corals dead or very bleached. Fish were still alive, but even some of the algae was dying. Temp read 71.4*F. Since I had moved the thermometer to the sump I took it out and was going to put it in the display to check the readings there. (I've been moving it around to get an average reading.) I got delayed and didn't put it back in the tank right away. When I did pick it up it was reading 43.4*F room temp. Its over 72*F in my house. Needless to say it was bad. I went out and picked up a new one, put it in the tank and was shocked at the reading. 90.0*F. I'm glad I still have fish at least. I'm dropping the temp now. Turned all the heaters down to 75*F and am randomly tossing in RODI Ice cubes I have made. One or two at a time every hour or so. I've opened the top and the doors to the sump also. So far so good. Since 7 am its down to 84.7*F.

I'm hoping it not dropping too fast, but nearly everything is dead already so as long as the fish are alive I'll be happy. Some of my mushrooms are open and a little of the GSP so maybe they will make it. My Zoas are toast as well as my Palyos. What makes me sad is that I lost the diner plate sized Plating Monty. That was a $1000 coral I grew from a frag. The sand bed is a mess and it looks like Cyano has set in. I can deal with that though once everything else settles down. I never even considered that the digital thermometer would go bad. Guarantee it won't happen again though! I now have back ups for everything in the tank. Extra powerheads, pumps, heaters, skimmer and thermometers. If it plugs in, I have a backup now. Even for the lights.

Any idea how these extended temp variations effect the good bacteria in the tank? Am I risking a cycle by dropping the temps?
 
I'm sorry to hear you loss your corals and that precious montipora, but I'm glad your fish and mushrooms are doing better.
 
Thanks folks.

Temps has stablized at 77.9 over night. Heaters are working as designed.

My mushrooms are not looking good. Mostly just dissolving as the day goes on. Cyano is hot and heavy. Many of my snails are gone. The few Zoas that made it are not opening and look pretty small. Like they are dissolving away. Doing a big water change as soon as the water gets ready. Will do another tomorrow. 10% both times. I'm going to install a sock filter and start cleaning the sand and removing shells. I'm going to buy some dry rock and slowly remove my old rock over the next few weeks. I'm going to let it air dry/freeze over the next few weeks then boil it and break it up as sump rubble.

I was going to start making changes anyway and now seem to be the time. This just really sucks, but it's a lesson I won't forget any time soon.
 
My tank is at 79f , I run 2 - 200 watt titanium heaters in my sump 1 is set for 79f and the other is at 78f, having a constant non changing steady temperature day & night is more important than what it's actually set for. Whether you set you system at 75f or 80f doesn't matter as much as it being constant. My 2cents! :)
 
Its been a few days so here is an update.

I'm still having a tough time stabilizing the temp. Running between 77.3 and 80.1. It just a matter of figuring out the correct settings on the heaters I think. I've done two 11 gallon water changes and dialed back the brightness of the whites on the led lighting. Cyano is slowly going away and the red and green algae seems to have stopped growing though its still there. I picked up two Turbo Snails to help clean it up. Slowly they are nibbling away at it.

The troublesome Palyos don't seen to be doing too well. Not a heart breaker for sure. I'd be fine if they would all just fade away. Some of my Zoas are making a comeback. At least I have some colour in the tank! My metallic Mushrooms look to be okay, well, the ones that survived do. The Green stripe, red and blue are still in the tank but have no colour and are very small. The GSP seems to be un effected. Looks like it will make a full recovery. My brain coral is very bleached but..... at night, with the lights out, it becomes very "fuzzy". I'm taking this as a sign that it is feeding and will recover in time. The Plating monti is in bad shape. Though some of the dots still seem to glow a bit under Actinics, the rest is starting to dissolve. I'm not going to pull it yet, but things don't look good.

All of the remaining fish seem to be okay. They must be tuff little buggers! With the SG issue I had and then with the heat, I have no idea how they made it. Glad they did. Still, I feel bad for the three I lost.

I guess today I'll clean the power-heads and go from there.
 
There must be something wrong with the heaters. The temperature should be stable, even if you are using both at the same time.
 
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