Can someone help to identify this stuff?

jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
I have a 90 gal tank with a few fish and honestly I have no idea what I am doing with my tank. Tank has been set up for past 4 years and since I started to leave alone.....no water changes....chemical additives etc.....everyone seems to be really happy.
I now have this "growth" that has developed and I am sure it is due to my lack of maintance and laziness!
It appears to be a deep red or purple that began on the live rock and when I do not scrape the glass it is there also. It makes a heavy film and one can not even see thru.
How can I make this go away? I really do not want to change the water or entire tank as I really have no idea how to do that correctly. Guess I have been extremely lucky so far.
I am adding some pics and I have high hopes that someone out there can help me.
Thanks to all in advance!





 
corallover23

corallover23

Member
Originally Posted by JWoodby
http:///forum/post/2570844
I have a 90 gal tank with a few fish and honestly I have no idea what I am doing with my tank. Tank has been set up for past 4 years and since I started to leave alone.....no water changes....chemical additives etc.....everyone seems to be really happy.
I now have this "growth" that has developed and I am sure it is due to my lack of maintance and laziness!
It appears to be a deep red or purple that began on the live rock and when I do not scrape the glass it is there also. It makes a heavy film and one can not even see thru.
How can I make this go away? I really do not want to change the water or entire tank as I really have no idea how to do that correctly. Guess I have been extremely lucky so far.
I am adding some pics and I have high hopes that someone out there can help me.
Thanks to all in advance!


Coralline algae is hard and typically grows of the live rock or glass. If this is something you can remove easily by scraping, it's red slime (which is actually a bacteria). There's a product you can find in stores called red slime remover, but I wouldn't suggest getting it - most of these products are antibiotics which will affect your biological filter. Instead, I'd go with other types of controls.
Since this is a bacteria, light levels don't have that much of an effect as they do for controlling algae. Your best options are to control water movement and nutrients in the tank. Red slime doesn't like to grow where ther's a lot of water movement, so you might need to add a powerhead to circulate the water a little more. Do you use tapwater for mixing salt? If so, this can be a source of nutrients (nitrate, phosphate) and you might want to switch to reverse osmosis water (available at self-serve "Culligan" dispensers for about $0.33/gallon once you buy the refillable containers). You might also try adding a phosphate adsorbing pad to your filter - you'll get some phosphates just from the food for the fish.
Not much will eat cyano, so snails and hermits crabs (cleanup crew) doesn't really help with this problem.
 
rot_stupid

rot_stupid

Member
It's hard to see from the pics, but the hard purple that encrust's the LR is coraline, but if its mushy, soft stuff, it migh be cyano bacteria, which is not good for your tank.
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
Is it hard and difficult to scrap off the glass. Or is it soft and slimey and comes off in sheets?
By the looks of the green algae on the rocks and the lack of maintenance I'm betting its all cyno......
 
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
It grows on the live rocks and also the glass BUT is is very soft and does not require any scraping to remove etc. It tends to hold together but seems to be soft.....kind of like a blanket covering.
I do use tap water so maybe you are correct and that's a source where I have got this.
Should I try to manually remove with a siphon and get the water to moving more rapid etc.?
 
nacl freak

nacl freak

Member
Well it could also be cyno, considered bad, or I have seen sponge growth that looks similar, but never to that extent . Hopefully others will give their opinion. I was leaning toward coralline growth, but after second look, noticed it's also present on sand. If cyno you should be able to easily scrap off. Coralline is hard.
 
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
Originally Posted by nacl freak
http:///forum/post/2570869
Well it could also be cyno, considered bad, or I have seen sponge growth that looks similar, but never to that extent . Hopefully others will give their opinion. I was leaning toward coralline growth, but after second look, noticed it's also present on sand. If cyno you should be able to easily scrap off. Coralline is hard.
It is on the sand just because of where I cleaned it from the glass yesterday. It has just fallen downward onto the sand. It does not seem to grow or form there.
It could be called sponge-like as it seems to be really soft in texture.
 
corallover23

corallover23

Member
you might want to switch to reverse osmosis water.Your best options are to control water movement and nutrients in the tank. Red slime doesn't like to grow where ther's a lot of water movement, so you might need to add a powerhead to circulate the water a little more
 
nacl freak

nacl freak

Member
Sounds more like cyno bacteria. You need to remove as much as you can with syphoning. Water changes will help.Use r/o [reverse osmosis]. Cyno developes when water is high in nutrients. A combination of nutrients plus light equals phosphates.Do you have a protein skimmer?
 
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
Originally Posted by nacl freak
http:///forum/post/2570889
Sounds more like cyno bacteria. You need to remove as much as you can with syphoning. Water changes will help.Use r/o [reverse osmosis]. Cyno developes when water is high in nutrients. A combination of nutrients plus light equals phosphates.Do you have a protein skimmer?
I am not sure if I do or not.....I know that sounds stupid.
I have 3 filters (I think) they say Fluval 304, Aquaclear 200 & Aquaclear 300. Do any of those names sound right?
 
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
I also have a BIG "Emperor" something that has 2 big bio wheels..........
I am so very lost on this!
 
nacl freak

nacl freak

Member
Best advise for now. Go to top of new hobbiest forum read top three post. FAQ, tank set up and mantaince. Lots of basic and advanced info. It sounds like names of filters and power heads. If your unsure about protien skimmer, it's something you have to empty frequently.It skims waste from your water.
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
Fluval 304 is a canister filter (i believe), the aqua claers are power heads (in the tank right?) and the emp is a 400 with twin large bio-wheels and removable plastic carterages and pre-fab carbon refills. Correct?
How often do you clean the filter media in the filters?
 
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member

Originally Posted by TurningTim
http:///forum/post/2570937
Fluval 304 is a canister filter (i believe), the aqua claers are power heads (in the tank right?) and the emp is a 400 with twin large bio-wheels and removable plastic carterages and pre-fab carbon refills. Correct?
Yes......you are 100% correct!

How often do you clean the filter media in the filters?
no where near as often as I should.....honestly it has been months.....? Years? I have no idea......sooooo, well that tells you what a bad person I am to my fish.

I got to say that the 7 fish I have do seem really happy in their home.....I can only imagine how happy they would be if I were to do things correctly.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
You have a bad case of Cyano.
Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5. If you have a cyano outbreak do the above 4 items andh:
a. At water change time siphon off the cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanker.
b. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c. Use a turkey baster now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.
Hope that helps.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
jwoodby

jwoodby

New Member
I think I have found alot of people here with excellent advice!! I understand exactly what I need to do!
Much appreciation to all who have answered and helped me. Maybe I can follow directions and get my tank back the way it used to look!
 
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