Stacy Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I'm hoping it's just a typical new tank thing and will be easy to get rid of. Water params were all 0. Ca was over 500. Dkh was low- 6 range I think. I'll post exact when I get home. It's nasty looking and covering everything! Tanks been up 2 mos or so now... Thanks in advance for the help!! ~Stacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Looks like diatom. How is your flow? It could be cyano. How long has your tank been up and going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teg Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 kind of look like some type of cyano bacteria. If it is, you can do 3 days lights out, and reduce feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 If the tank is 3-4 weeks old or less then don't worry about it, should clear up in no time. Unless your not using a skimmer, then it may not go away unless you make very frequent water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Tank's been up since January 3rd. I had been putting tlc in a couple of times a wk until I ran out last week. Not sure how old the bulbs are. Could that affect any of it? Also, I don't feed frequently, but I've only fed liquid or frozen when I do. Know I need to move to pellets or flake...which works best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Old bulbs can definitely affect algae/cyano growth. If power compact i would replace at least every 6 months, preferably within 4 months. If T5 they can last a year, I switch mine out at 5-6 months tops. One quick way to get rid of it is with small flexible tubing (like for an air stone) and a 6-12" piece of rigid tubin (to fit the end of the flex tubing). Create a siphon and suck it out. I would stop dosing CA if you are, and a 6 for Alkalinity is fine, but I would keep dosing this one every few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 oh and cool looking blasto or magician paly...whatever that is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 +1 cyano (IMHO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 I thought cyano was more red? When I've had it before (years ago in a different tank) it was red. This isn't, but it does act the same. Guess it can be brown too? Derekreefer- thanks! It's a blasto and one of my fave pieces in there. Would like it more if it weren't currently covered in brown slime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoneroller Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 How many and what kind/size of fish do you have? And why are you feeding a liquid? Who's consuming it? I would also make sure to not overfeed or overstock such a new tank. I'd say a little new tank syndrome just going through it's paces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizzy Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Check this out -- click here. I am normally against adding anything to a tank, but I did use the chemiclean redslime remover as recommended and OMG, it all went away within days. Nothing suffered, it was all good. (Even the Xenia lived through that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Fish that are in it: 6 line wrasse, itty bitty oscellaris, lawnmower blenny, and a red firefish. About to add a one spot foxface tonight per someone's recommendations in a previous thread. I feed Arcti-pods or frozen marine cuisine a few times a week. Every now and then I'll squirt some phyto in for the corals. Everyone eats the other stuff. I hear flakes/pellets are cleaner so what would be the best plan? I just tested the water again tonight and numbers haven't changed. Nitrates and Phosphates are 0, Kh is 6, sp gr is 1.022. Advice I got from someone else seems to lead to it being leaching from the "used" LR I have? Maybe lights also and new tank syndrome. Or a combo of all. Justin, if you see this, how old were the bulbs in that light when I bought the set up from you a few months ago? I also started dosing Marine SAT tonight, so we'll see how that goes... Thanks again for any advice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoneroller Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 My advice: skip the foxface, SAT and TLC. Patience is in order IMO as I am not aware of any shortcuts in this hobby. A lot of snakeoil but no shortcuts. It wouldn't hurt to get new bulbs, try them out and if the problem goes away you'll have a clearer picture of the issue. If not, then you atleast have a backup set. I use prime reef flake and a high quality pellet as well as frozen mysid and cyclopeeze. "Only bad things happen fast..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 My advice: skip the foxface, SAT and TLC. Patience is in order IMO as I am not aware of any shortcuts in this hobby. ... "Only bad things happen fast..." +1 bazillion I had cyno and diatoms appear in my 75g a month or so after it was set up. They eventually went away as the tank matured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Cyano and Diatoms can be dealt with fairly easily - feed less, water change more, more clean up crew if you're understocked, run a skimmer, run a fuge with chaeto, etc... My guess is it's diatoms and it's both part of a new tank cycle and not particularly deterimental to anything in the tank. Dinoflagelates could be a problem though, I'm not extremely familiar with them, but it looks like there's a chance.... btw this algae guide is fairly comprehensive: http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Im going to say that looks like a form of dinoflagellates. I had my run in with that stuff...cant treat it like normal algae...you need hair algae cyano or bryopsis to out compete it for nutrients and starve it out. I havent really found anything that will eat the stuff and the stuff gets everywhere. I syphoned it out a little bit everyday or so not taking more than a gallon of water out. Try and keep it contained as much as possible dont let it float around the tank as itll attach somewhere else and grow. I still have a lttle bit here and there but I think its fiannly going away. I find hair algae and bryopsis much easier to deal with so dont mind it growing in the tank right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlloyd123 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Hey Stacy. The lights were a month old when u bought tank from me. All of them but one of the actinics due to one of the new actinics that busted when installing the lunar LEDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Thanks Justin! Should rule out old lights then, lol...one possibility down, seems like a million others still left! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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