red velvet looking stuff

[tammielynz9881]

you guessed it,, me again
ever since i put the new light in i have an extreme amount of this red velvet looking algae or something, i think my coral is dying from it and well i also added 12 lbs live rock as well as the light! Is this normal? The protein skimmer is filling about half full a day! YUCK!! and i just don't wanna lose what i got. So if anyone out there knows what i should do.... please don't hesitate to tell me,,, i will do what it takes to make my tank look normal again!
thanks in advance,,, Tammie

 

[S.Reef]

This is called cynobacteria. It is a nuisance algae that will take over your tank. The main cause of this is over amount of light and phosphates in the water.

Umm..it is kinda hard to get rid of it. There is a product on the shelf called Red Slime Remover. You could also buy some astrea snails and see if they eat it (I have had mixed results with this.)

The main way to get rid of it is to eliminate all your phosphates. Reduce feeding, use R.O. water for everything, change filter pads frequently, and get detrivore eaters.

 

[tammielynz9881]

thankyou so very much,, i will be heading to the lfs tomorrow to get this taken care of,,,,

 

[Nutfarm]

Another product is "Antired". Seems to work pretty well.

Other than what's been mentioned already, the slime algae (actually a bacteria) hates current. You may want to redirect the flow in your tank.

 

[phantomfe3]

chemi-clean will get rid of it. although its kinda expensive, 20 bucks for a little bottle of it here

 

[1979camaro]

i would try sam's suggestion first...im not a big fan of chemicals, and the snails will prove useful in the future as well...but, as mentioned, removing the food of the algae is the first step to clearing it up

 

[tammielynz9881]

im going to the lfs today to get the snails... and look into a bigger clean up crew.... i will just ask them how many of the little buggers i should get unless someone gets back to me before hand.... i have to check out the red slime remover and Antired but i have to watch out for the little guys that are already in there. HOPEFULLY something will help soon,,,,,

 

[S.Reef]

15-20 Blue legged hermits, the same amount of red legged hermits, 20 astrea snails, 2 brittle stars, 2 sand sifting stars, 1 emerald crab.

 

[tammielynz9881]

well i just got back from the store.. another $135 spent that totals almost $750 in the last week.... today i got 6 blue legged hermits, 6 astrea snails, chemi clear, Master test kit, misc. food,,,, i put the chemi-clear in and said change 20% water after 48 hrs unless i need to treat again,,, and to leave protein skimmer off for first 24 hrs as well as uv sterilizer (since i don't know what a uv sterilizer is i will assume i dont' have one) ,,,, wish me luck

 

[1979camaro]

yes...if you dont know what a uv sterlizer is then you dont have one. basically it is a tube which water flows through...using UV rays it is supposed to kill free floatin stuff like algae, bacteria, etc...personally, i have no experience with them, and many people would say that they do nothing at all...others swear by them

i hope you get your diatoms cleared away. this problem could be a natural result of the increase in light. to keep the diatoms off any sesile inverts you have in there until you get it cleared up you could try using a turkey baster to either suck up, or blow off, any that is growing there

 

[tammielynz9881]

i bought the light legs for my light and was wondering (a little late now, since i have them) if there is too much height between light and tank or if too little space? but am asking for future reference... im assuming that the light had something to do with this outbreak i had (via sams explaination)

 

[1979camaro]

nope...the legs are excellent...especially on an open tank. i have the legs as well. I like to have a few inches between tank and light because imo it is safer and helps with light dispersion across more of the tank. i think the reason we are thinking the light is involved is because if there are excess nutrients in a system, algal growth will still be limited if there are not strong lights. now, you are running 260w of light as opposed to maybe 40w before so the algae (photosynthetic) is thriving with the increase in light...getting the critters in there will help a lot, but the most helpful thing will be finding out what is the source of the nutrients; if it is nitrates w/c will help a lot (assuming it isnt in your water that you add to the tank). if it is phosphates it is coming in with the water you add to the tank. i dont recall, but what kind of water are you using for top off and w/c?

 

[tammielynz9881]

here are my testings as of 7-30-04

Calcium (Ca) 440 (normal range 400- 450)
Ammonia (NH 3/ NH 4) 0 (normal range <1.2)
NitrAte (NO 3) 20 (normal range 20 and under) A little borderline but normal
NitrIte (NO 2) .3 (normal range .3 and under) borderline but acceptable
Phosphate (PO 4) 1 (normal range 0 - 1.0) borderline but acceptable
Ph High Range (PH) 8.7 (normal range never less than 8.1)
Ph Low Range (PH) 7.6 (normal range 6.0 and 7.0 is neutral)
Iron (FE) 0 (normal range 0 - .1)
Chelated Iron (FE) .5 (normal range .25 - .5)
Caronate & General Hardness (KH/GH) 120 (normal range 105 - 125)

those are my testings and i use distilled water for my addings and water changes. the only thing i do not have in my signature is that i know (as of today) have 6 astrea snails and 6 blue legged hermits. All the avg.'s i gave are out of the test kits results pamphlets.

 

[1979camaro]

in a reef type tank you need to keep those phosphates down to 0, or as close as possible...that, combined with he high nirtates (10 and below is really ideal) is probably causing your algae bloom...im not sure i understand what you are telling me about your pH but it should be 8.2-8.4. everything else looks pretty good. I wonder where you are getting phosphates from if you are using distilled water for changes/top off. how often are you doing water changes?

 

[tammielynz9881]

my water changes are about every 3-4 weeks (sometimes i am too busy so it hits 4 weeks) and the ph has 2 tests in my kit and they are ph high range and ph low range.

 

[1979camaro]

personally, i try to do a 10% every week which is actually probably excessive...i find that making water changes part of my routine helps me get them done though. every 3 weeks would be a good plan imo

you just installed the skimmer, correct? that should help your water quality down the road...i imagine it is pulling out lots of gunk, no?

i think you really need to get that nitrate down, especially considering that the algae in their has probably asorbed some of the phosphate and nitrate which would tend to make your readings lower than they actually would be

on the pH test kits, what is the range on the little cards that go with each kit?

 

[tammielynz9881]

yes i just installed a protein skimmer about a week ago and YUCK,, it fills about half full to a third a day!!! and how do i get the nitrate down,, (water changes?) and on the ph kits...

well ph high range test says : "the pH of saltwater should never be less than 8.1. Correct any deficiency so that the level is between 8.1 - 8.3"

and the pH low range test says: "(6.0 - 7.6) pH below 6.0: too acidic for most species of fish. Adjust pH accordingly. pH normally decreases over time."

 

[1979camaro]

as far as the pH low range, you dont need to use that...it is more for FW fish like discus, etc from the amazon. the pH high range is the kit for you and keeping it in the suggested ranges would be good

water changs will lower the nitrates

 

[1979camaro]

oh...also...if you have the filter cartridges in those filters, that could be causing the nitrate buildup because your stock levels are really low in a 55...i would take the cartridges out and rely on the LR for bio filter, just use the filters for water flow

 

[S.Reef]

Phosphates are way to high. They should be near zero. 1 is way to high, .5 is way to high.