can you help...

[countrygal]

:notsure:
could you please help..I have a 30 gal tank lots of live rock, live sand on the bottom, some polyps, mushrooms, culrly Q anemone, royal, 2 nemo's 1 maroon clownfish, domino damsel . Had a blenny and one more royal and within the last two day's both died.
My salt is 1.035
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
ph low at 7.8
nitrate 20
Just got a soft colt coral and that looks a bit limp.. got a star poylp a week or so ago and that still hasen't opened. What I was wondering about is the dark maroon growth that is taking over one of my live rocks and the star polyp. it is also on the filter sponge of my skimmer.
.:help: What is that darn stuff and How do I get rid of it!!!!!
please can you all help me..........Thanks

 

[nas19320]

First off your S.G. appears to be high. I'd bring it down slowly to ~1.024. Can you describe this growth? Might possible be cyano.

 

[ivanfj]

How come is your tank?? Both your pH and salinity are way off the desired mark. Nitrate needs to be a little lower as well. 0 would be best. You need to slowly lower your salinity first and then worry about other things. Slow down on your buyings and feeding as well. Corals definitely need to have proper lighting to survive and thrive. I hope you have the good lighting. If not, you may see some of your corals start to fade a bit.
Sorry if that sounded any harsh. But HTH

 

[countrygal]

my lighting seems to be pretty good. I have 2 coralife light fixtures of 65 watts each. I am working at bringing down the salt level also. I am a woman what can I say I love to shop for my new hobby. I know, I need to be paitent, my son in law tells me that all the time, and for that matter so does my daughter. thanks

 

[countrygal]

:notsure: Not sure how to describe it....deep dark maroon in color, seems kind of hairyish (if that is a word) for just checking it out I used a soft brush and it comes off easily but does come right back.. if it is that cyano stuff I have read some where that rainfords goby will eat it, that would be nice if true and if I could find one. Just trying to get this all work out and running good. thanks

 

[nas19320]

Sounds like it may be Cyano bacterium to me, do search and you should be able to find some more info. Increasing water flow may help.

 

[michelle13]

I think one problem might be that you are trying to have seven fish in a 30 gal aquarium. I have a 30 gal with a 7 gal sump and only have four fish. Maybe your biological filtration isn't able to handle the load, so you are beginning to see the effects (cyano & dead fish). I would recommend not getting another fish, especially one to eat cyano (which I doubt would ever happen or else everyone would have one!). What kind of water are you using? Tap? RO/DI? You should probably also have your LFS verify your test results and have them test for phosphates if you don't have a test. There are several things that can cause cyano to grow; improper light spectrum(i.e. old bulbs), over feeding, low flow, nitrates, phosphates, and sometimes the water you use. HTH

 

[jgonier]

I ended up with the same type of dark marroon hair algea on my live rock. My tank is still cycling so my nitrates and nitrites are still high, but here is my opinion. You probably used tap water to set up your tank like I did. I think that is why I have it and maybe for you too. What I did to get rid of it was bought 2 astrea snails. These two little guys have not left my live rock from the day I put them in (two days ago) and have eaten all of the hair algea of the top of the rock and are now moving to the rest of it. These guys are eating machines. I also got two hermits, but they have not really made a very big impact. I would get a few algea eating snails. Astrea snails work great.
By the way, how long has your tank been up for? You not only have two many fish for such a small tank, but you may have added them way too soon or all at once (throwing your tank out of wack).

 

[countrygal]

well it is really the cyanobacteria, have done alot of reasearch on that one. and yes I have had some deaths. I only use saltwater and fresh water from the fish store. got my nitrite down to 0, amonnia down to 0, PH is still a bit low about 7.8 and nitrate is a bit high right now about 10, so I am working on that too. Salinity is a bit high right now too 1.035. Have done a partical water change with freshwater. so I am hopeing that with bring the salt level down. So I now only have 4 fish, two clownfish (Nemo) and one maroon clown and a Domino Damsel. We'll just have to see what happens now.
thanks for all the advice.

 

[fshhub]

you probably could stand to have your calcium and alkalinity tested as well. they may help with your ph problem. that is not a little low thoug, it is actually quite low.
do a few more fw replacements, are you sure that your sg is 1.035? if so, continue to bring it down, I prefer mine at 1.025+(no more than 26 though)
Those 2 things are probably paret of your problem. As well, how old is this tank? and did it cycle yet?
I would not even worry about the nitrate, 20 is not an issue at all. The you may aslo wish to rethink your stocking again. Chances are tgood(esp ina 30 gallon) that your clowns will not get along. They just do not seem to like other species fo clwonfish. That and maroons get rather large, in fact they would be the only or 1 of 2 fish max, in a 30 gallon kept by many of us.
HTH and i too hope i did not sound harsh

 

[countrygal]

thanks, and you weren't harsh at all. I love getting all the help that I can get. clowns are all getting along quite well too. Salt level is already comming down. I think it is 1.026 now.
thanks

 

[jaret]

Originally posted by Nas19320
There are several things that can cause cyano to grow; improper light spectrum(i.e. old bulbs), over feeding, low flow, nitrates, phosphates, and sometimes the water you use. .
Regarding the possibility of Phosphates:
I set up my 55gal and filled it withthe garden hose with tap water. I knew this would lead to major phosphates. Indeed, they tested off the charts. I filled my Mag 350 charcoal canister with a product called PhosGuard and brought the phosphates down to ~0~ undetectable in 4 days. The meathod to my madness was that the PhosGuard was cheaper and easier than buying and transporting 55gal of RO water. If indeed phosphates prove to be the culprit I highly recomend this product.:happyfish

 

[chandler04]

Yer salt is alright now, and u cannot just get rid of yer nitrates. You need that bacteria wether you like it or not. 30 Gallons isnt necessaryily small, and the fish you have are small anyway. The fish you ahve right now are perfect. I say yer next move would just be to get an RG and a Lawnmower Blenny to eat algae and stuff, and yer good. Also, grab a bunch of snails, they'll work you wonders. Make sure that you have good filtration though, and dont feed the fish too much, that could be the problem. Either too much or too little food could be it. Do you have Power Compacts? If not, you should get some, definitely for yer corals. Okay, thats wat i have to say.

 

[greatfullreefer]

Just my opinion but the last thing you want to do is add any more livestock, would just add to your nitrate probs. The fish you have at the moment are pushing the limit even for an established tank.Lets address your PH first, what time of the day are you testing it? if you test it in the morning a lower result would be expected 7.8 is pretty low but the danger with PH is the fluctuation. Test in the am and then just before lights out. If it is still low at lights out then all you have to do is buffer your alk with a dkh buffer. If the PH raises to 8.2 or more then you may want to consider dripping a kalkwasser product to stabalize. Check your alk and calcium levels and post if possible as these have a severe impact on PH levels. What are you using for water source? what filtration do u have? do you have room for say a 10 gallon fuge? How many power heads and what is the gph? Do you have any green algae? How long has the tank been set up? The lighting you have is sufficient for that size tank.Additionally are you adding any chemicals or buffers to your tank?