1st salt.......problems

zman411

zman411

Member
ok ok this is my first post.........YEA ME!...............:happy:
I've almost always had a fresh water tank all my life
untill about 2 years ago when my 50 got busted by a snapping turtle
......(very sad day.....but the soup was good)
ok back to the problem at hand
a friend gave me my first saltwater tank... a 5 gallon with a black spick sea urchin
then this black slime started forming in the bottom
so I got a snail (yes only 1) and some hermit crabs
hoping to cure the problem :( no avail
then I got a pair of camel shrimp
and still the slime is there
I got given to me a 45 gallon (at least I think it is 45) and I want to set it up a reef But I don't want to set it up with salt until I get this slime probem taken care of
any suggestions....................:help:
 
S

sebae0

Guest
its cyano bacteria and it happens alot in new tanks, tanks with high phosphates and nitrates and tanks with a low water flow and improper lighting.
what kind of water are you using?(tap, ro, or ro/di)
how old is the tank?
this is common but can be eliminated so don't give up.
 
zman411

zman411

Member
Natural filtered spring water (underground sping straight out of my tap (NO CITY WATER))
the tank is like a month old but when he gave me the urchin he also gave me the tank half full of water from his 6 month old 55 gallon tank
my little slice of the sea has a 2 or so inch of crushed coral bottom and 2 3lb. chuncks of fugi LR
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Test that water for, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Phosphate and silica, and test the TDS.
In saltwater you want to eliminate all the nasties in the water you use, hopefully yours is good and you won't need a filter, but if you have any of the above you will want to use RO/DI water.
Also do you have any circulation in the water via power head. If not you need that, cyano will not survive where there is plenty of circulation.
The other factor is that a 5gallon saltwater tank is difficult to maintain even for experienced reefers, the water quality is always an issue.
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Welcome to the board, zman411 :cheer:
Do you have any powerheads to or a Hang on Back filter to circulate water...??
Oxygen and good water circulation will clear up the cyno (red slime)
 
zman411

zman411

Member

Originally posted by Squidd
Welcome to the board, zman411 :cheer:
Do you have any powerheads to or a Hang on Back filter to circulate water...??
Oxygen and good water circulation will clear up the cyno (red slime)
thanks for the welcome
my first saltwater and i'm very very excited about it
I have a protein skimmer on it now
(had very cloudy water) and the skimmer cleared that up :( lots of nasty stuff came out of that
 
D

dubbin1

Guest
That is the same stuff that I asked about the other day. I'm glad someone could identify it in this thread. I got a second powerhead and it is clearing up really well now.
Dwayne
 
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