A LOT of GREEN?

[yayfishies]

So, I have a 46gal tank. we had it maxed out as far as fish.. one dwarf angel, two clowns, three firefish, a dottyback, an arrow crab, a cleaner shrimp, a few snails and hermits, a thorny oyster, an anemone, a starfish and a scooter blenny.
We aren't sure why, but the angel, arrow crab, anenome, starfish, cleaner shrimp and a snail have all died.
We're pretty ticked for one, and for two, we've done so many water changes in between and since then to keep the nitrate/nitrite levels in check.
But now there's like a deep but BRIGHT green slime in a certain spot and is just spreading. We've done some gravel cleaning each time we've done a water change but it keeps multiplying and is now on some rocks.
What do I do?
We've debated putting the fish and everything in another tank for the time being, just to revamp the current tank.
But we really dont want to deal with the money and hassle it takes for allll new gravel and rocks in a tank.
We will, if it's needed, but not if there's a more reasonable, less-mess option.
Any ideas???
Thanks =]

 

[teresaq]

What kind of gravel is it??? can you post a picture??
Also, what kind of snails and how many is a few???

 

[geoj]

What type of water are you using to do water changes and do you have a skimmer?
How long has the tank been up?

 

[yayfishies]

TeresaQ- i have bio-active live argonite, however i messed up the tank when starting out and am sure all the beneficial bac is gone from it. I have a snailasarous? its HUGE and theres only one left. then there are just a handful of little black turbos
GeoJ - I'm using water from the spiggot which is well water, but i still add the aquasafe liquid.
No we don't have a skimmer, but there's no build-up at the top.
Tank has been set up since november.

 

[geoj]

Quote:
Originally Posted by yayfishies http:///forum/thread/385226/a-lot-of-green#post_3377734
TeresaQ- i have bio-active live argonite, however i messed up the tank when starting out and am sure all the beneficial bac is gone from it. I have a snailasarous? its HUGE and theres only one left. then there are just a handful of little black turbos
GeoJ - I'm using water from the spiggot which is well water, but i still add the aquasafe liquid.
No we don't have a skimmer, but there's no build-up at the top.
Tank has been set up since november.
The aquasafe liquid only changes the chlorine/ammonia to a non-toxic version that then is removed by either algae or bacteria and this is why you are having problems with them. If you filter your well water with a ro/di or use distilled water this combined with using a protein skimmer will help you allot.
You should be testing silicate, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. I would guess them to all be a little high with the use of well water...

 

[yayfishies]

We test nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia along with pH and alkalinity. But the phosphate and silicate? And what's with this protein skimmer?
Also, we're revamping the tank within this next month I'm sure, using only distilled water or premixed saltwater..

 

[1guydude]

Protien skimmers remove some heavy metals, mostly just unwanted waste such as bad bacteria, fish pee and such...deff a must for a salt water tank. I must add though that they are not cheap and u get wat u pay for!

 

[yayfishies]

alright thanks. Any good places to get good deals on them?