How To Fix Problems In A Saltwater Aquarium (5 Steps)

In this video, I show you the 5 steps I take to identify and fix any problem in my saltwater aquariums. I do this by showing you a case study of my nano saltwater tank, which currently has cyanobacteria after being neglected for a few months.

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0:00 Hello
0:29 Step 1: visual ID
1:51 Step 2: test everything!
3:48 Step 3: find the cause
5:20 Step 4: fix the problem
9:09 Step 5: ongoing maintenance

[Richs_reef]

0.9ppm of phosphate is really surprising given your stocking! Fascinated to know how long it takes to bring down at a sensible rate and how the corals adapt👍🏻

[discol]

Nice, straightforward and easy to follow advice. Especially liked the part about attacking it from loads of different angles straight away, potentially causing more harm. 👍

[VinceNysse]

Legend mate. I’ve let my tank go over the last few weeks as I’ve got a broken shoulder. Haven’t been doing water changes, dosing is out of whack etc… phosphates through the roof. I’ve got a 525ltr system. As soon as I’m better, I’ll do 20% per week water changes while testing again every week. I’ll also try some GFO. Tank is covered in green algae, but hoping to get it sorted👍

[thechickenwizard]

Right now I'm having the opposite issue in my 20 gallon macroalgae tank; there seem to be hardly any phosphate and nitrate in my tank, causing both an outbreak of diatoms and killing off some of my macroalgae from lack of nutrients and being covered with diatoms. So far it's started to improve with daily phos and nitrate dosing and scrubbing the algae fronds clean, but I really need to add some fish as well as find some good film-eating snails soon to keep the tank healthy.

[TheNdNly]

Great vid, Where can i get my hand on some of those hanna checker stands? i assume they are 3d printed? .STL files would be amazing!

[NorwichBaker]

I appreciate the guidance and I have the Fluval 13.5. My only worry is that the primary encouragement should be stay on top of your tanks rather than let things slip and whether you let this one slip intentionally or not. After all we are keeping living creatures right!? Thanks

[jaysrealreefuk]

Great watch...we've all been there with some of these issues at some point. Happy New Year to you and your family ✨🎇 🙂👍

[ManiacalMangoes]

Excellent video explaining how you reason through a potential issue

[marcopalazzo]

I'm in the same boat. Same tank. Although mine had been neglected for a year!

[Harolddespui]

If you set the Hannah salinity checker to ppt it is much more precise as you get an extra digit.

[patrickkoelbl]

Great Video, how u call the Korall in Step 5 @9:11 ?

[lindawilliams]

Where did you purchase those trays that your Hanna checkers are in

[josephposada]

Once again, a most excellent presentation Alex. My curiosity lies with the salinity tester you use. Is it readily available in the US? Thanks again, truthfully, you are the wonderful teacher that has helped me stay in this hobby.

[hakman]

Could you just use a skimmer as the sole filter on a evo or a tank similar size I have an internal filter on mine but wat to replace it with a skimmer

[forrestlea]

Hey I have the exact same tank and light setup with the AI prime. Please please please what is your light settings and schedule I can't seem to find a good one. Also this was extremely helpful because I was also neglecting my tank and lately have been trying to fix things so glad I got some good information to go forward with!

[TomoBishBosh]

Love this, got to love the satisfaction of fixing something also! Where do you get your aquarium covers from? Looking for a PVC/netting one for my RSR170 but all i can find is the netting one they sell that feels naff

[ADDeaN]

Where did you find those organizer things for the Hannah checkers??

[jakubmotloch]

Hi Alex im currently dealing with dino's again and my question is because i have low nitrate almost zero and low phosphate should i turn off my skimmer during this time to help raise my nitrate because i have been dosing phosphate slowly NeoPhos into my tank but i don't have bottled nitrate to dose. thanks in advance

[sumit]

@Alex, I am getting too much velvet problem in every 3 months, could you please suggest what could be the reason..

[foxglovemead]

Nice video, but Hanna SG readings can be "bettered" by switching to PPT. Getting around 35 ppt e.g. 34.9, 35.0 or 35.1 sensitivity is better than around 1.026 e.g. 25, 26 or 27? Any of the numbers would be OK, but accuracy of other Hanna readings will be directly proportional to salinity. With a 10% water change you have the option to mix new water slightly higher/lower to achieve stability and testing after a water change allows other readings to show up trends more easily.