What is wrong?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Reef Chemistry
Forum Description: A place to discuss reef chemistry.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44127
Printed Date: October 05 2025 at 3:08pm
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Topic: What is wrong?
Posted By: James
Subject: What is wrong?
Date Posted: October 20 2010 at 8:30pm
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I have had my tank up and running for just under 3 months. I have a brown web-like stringy mess that seems to be covering a lot of rock and some of my corals, especially the kenya trees. In addition, I generally turn off my pumps when I feed the fish and I notice that when the pumps are off for just a few minutes a brown wispy haze starts to surround almost everything in the tank. My params as of 10/18 were: Temp: 78.4 pH: 8.4 Alk: 3.5 meq/L or 9.8dKH Calcium: 410 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 Ammonia: 0 Total Ammonia: 0 Mag: 1125 I added some Mg supplement after I checked these on Monday but this brown slime has been going on for a couple of weeks now. I only use RO water and I check my water regularly and have never had issues with Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia. I have a 55g tank with a 55g sump/refug and I "try" to do 5g water changes once a week. I have a 4x 54w T5 light system with 3 Blue+ and 1 Aquablue. I have 4 fish and feed them once a day. Any ideas, suggestions... I tried to add some pictures but I get an error saying they are the wrong format even though they are .jpg. ------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Replies:
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: October 20 2010 at 8:52pm
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Create a photobucket account and upload them there, then copy and paste the bb code for each pic into your posts. They'll show up great. Your nitrate is really 0? Most tanks, especially those without carbon dosing or a denitrator don't ever reach 0, however if the algae is really bad it is probably eating up the nitrates. It sounds like some form of diatom to me. Personally I would stop the weekly water changes, as this contributes to algae blooms. I would do something more like 10% monthly (I only change the water in my tank every couple of months). ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: October 20 2010 at 9:14pm
Here are the pics (thanks for the advice Steve). I have never shown nitrate more than 0. I use the API test. I guess I could be testing incorrectly but the instructions seem pretty straight forward.   ------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: October 20 2010 at 10:20pm
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How much and what kind of flow do you have in your tank? For a 55 gallon I would try and get around 1000gph in the display, more than that wouldn't hurt. ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: October 20 2010 at 11:02pm
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I have 2 koralia evolution 1050 powerheads and my sump returns to both corners with rio 26h pump. I was concerned that maybe I had too much flow because some of the corals seem to be pushed over.
------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 8:30am
I can see what youre talking about but I wouldnt be overly concerned. A 3 month old tank is very new and will probably go through several little changes as it matures. Algae spikes of different forms and colors and bizarre little growths of this and that will come and go. Just chill and let it do its thing  ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 8:55am
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Thanks. I did open up the ball valves a bit more on the pipes going from the sump/refug back to the DT. From what I can see this morning, it appears to be making a positive impact. ------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 9:32am
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Steve has said the truth about water changes. The algae is a dinoflagellate. It's normal but not every tank grows that much of it. I see from the pics that there is also a Cyanobacteria growing on all surfaces. There are not enough snails. How many of what types are in the tank? What are the photoperiods of the Display and Refugium lights? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: James
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 10:40am
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That's good to know, I thought the red was early growth of corraline. I probably have around 20-25 snails in the tank with a mix of cerith, astrea, margarita and necesomething plus a couple of turbo snails. I also have a few stelenetta snails that have reproduced and can see a bunch of new tiny ones on parts of the glass. I'm guessing I need to get more snails. I was adding them gradually due to it being a new tank but it sounds like I should probably dump another 20-30 in there. Any specific types I should get? I have about 10 hermits and they seem to like to cause problems...killing each other, killing my snails. I don't plan on putting more hermits in my tank unless they are scarlets (my two scarlets don't seem to cause problems). I also have two emerald crabs that seem to do great. DT lights (4x54w T5) are on from 1-10PM and refug lights (Home Depot 6500k reflector light) are on from 9PM to 6 AM. ------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 11:22am
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This is pretty normal but without taking action it may lead to other algae problems. If it were me, I'd do the following: - stop feeding for a few days and add 10-15 Astrea. (trade out some bad Hermits for Snails) - turn on the Refugium lights 24 hours per day until the Dinoflagellates and Cyano dies back - Since more flow seemed to help, I'd go in with my hand and waft everything to get the loose soft algae off the surfaces and down the drain - check the Alk and Ca to be sure they are within range ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: James
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 11:30am
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Thanks! ------------- 55g display with 55g sump/refug 4 bulb T5HO light tank established 8/6/10 |
Posted By: ninja_brandon
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 11:52am
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That is why I like the micro hermits because they are too small to really attack anything except each other. And you can get a ton for really cheap! My first tank was a 55gal as well and I had the same issues as you. I had brown slime algae and my hermits would kill each other. I did add more flow to my display and this helped with the slime. Also I want to add that as your tank becomes more mature you will have more available food for hermits to eat. This will probably cut back on them eating and beating each other up. Can't blame them, they just want to survive!
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Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: October 21 2010 at 12:25pm
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I've found that pretty much all hermits will tear eachother up when there are too many. I have probably 15 Blue Leg's in my tank now and they never seems to bother each other, but I have about 200-250 snails or various types (margarita, cerith, astrea) give or take a few to eat all the algae that builds up. The hermits are more for eating the uneaten food that my starfish don't get. I also have 3 sea cucumbers and 6 fighting conchs to keep the sand clean. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |