getting bacteria and bubbles...NEED HELP!!

[claireep]

i have 2 problems. I REALLY NEED HELP. PLEASE READ...ALL MY TIME AND MONEY SEEMS TO BE LOOKING SO UGLY!!! NEED ADVICE!!!
one is that cyanobacteria (?) that is reddish brown and all over my sand and rocks and it grows really fast and it traps airbubbles in it. i treated it with some white powder treatment that got rid of it mostly so, i did a water change (as indicated on directions) and turned protein skimmer back on and now a few days later it is back in full swing. i had the water tested for phosphates, but none came up. how am i getting this stuff in here and how do i get it out? i don't use tap water at all and all water parameters are good.
secondly, i'm getting so many tiny little airbubbles pushed out of my water return that it even looks like dust or debris. there were just sooo many it looked bad and made the tank look cloudy. so, i unplugged protein skimmer (to treat again for the bacteria) and now the water return is not shooting any bubbles and tank looks much better, so i know it has something to do with the skimmer that i will have to turn back on, but don't want the millions of tiny little bity airbubbles... any ideas what part of skimmer or pump or any cause or how to fix? i already tried aiming the skimmer to pour over the block sponge in my wet dry so as not to make sump full of movement (bubbles).

 

[leopard_babe]

How long has the tank been cycled? Whats in it? What kind of substrate do you have? What kind of filtering do you have? I can't help you I am a begginer myself. i know when the water in my return is low, it lets out salt looking particles in the tank. maybe you should check and see if the water level at the line in the sump is at the recommended level. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[daniel411]

For the first part. Search for a thread by "JustinX" and the key word "red slime" for probally the best write up on getting rid of red slime that I've read.
Regarding the skimmer and bubbles, is the skimmers discharge right next to the intake for the return pump, to the display tank?

 

[claireep]

i had positioned the skimmer so that the water discharge is pouring over the block sponge (inbetween the two parts of the sump) and not near the intake of the pump. the water in the sump is at the right level and it doesn't look bubbly, but like i say, when i turn off the skimmer there aren't bubbles in the tank anymore.
i have had my tank up for about 3 months, it is already cycled. i have a wet/dry filtration (as stated before) no undergravel filter, i have ls and lr and some tang and clown and damsel and flame angel and clean up crew (2 shrimp, snails, sand sifting sea star, crabs).
i will search for the red slime like you say...but anymore info, anyone is so welcome.
thanks for your time

 

[thomas712]

You attacked the red slime with an additive, wrong move IMO,IME.
Attack it at the source by finding out WHY it is occuring.
Give us test scores, including nitrates, phosphates, lighting, bulbs age and spectrum, length of photo period, water turn over rate, water source, any direct sunlight?
Your tank is still young and even at three months this could happen to a new tank.
Thomas

 

[moonrs]

Concerning you protein skimmer, I'm not sure what brand you have (I have a SeaClone 100), but I believe many skimmers have similar features, specifically some type of Air Intake... IMO, there's at least two things to consider. First, it usually takes awhile (a few weeks) for a skimmer to get "broken in". Assuming you've been using your skimmer since you started up your tank, that's should not be the problem. Second, the problem I think your having is that the Air Intake is inproperly adjusted... It may seem like an obvious question, but is yours open? I had a problem with that once because I accidently closed it all the way while trying to adjust the bubbles out. Too much air going into your skimmer and on into the tank can be a problem also. If too many bubbles are being pushed through the skimmer, more of the protein you're trying to remove goes back into the tank, instead of the collection cup. If you'll close the air intake all the way and then slowly turn it, a tiny bit at a time, waiting a minute or so between turns, I believe you'll slowly get fewer and fewer bubbles. You'll probably end up turning it at least a couple of full turns before it gets close to the proper adjustment level. Good luck with your tank!

 

[bdhough]

Adding on to Thomas's questions what kind of clean up crew do you have as well.... What kind of water are you using, RO or TAP?
There are alot of water chemistry issues involved with constant cyano blooms and they are very easy to fix. A chem is only going to do its job initially but if you don't correct the source the chem was a waste of money.....

 

[claireep]

bdhough, i said i do not use tap.. i use ro. i mentioned my clean up crew too, although maybe not enough detail
i know i need more. i have maybe 6-7 snails, 2 shrimp, about 10 crabs (hermits and sally light foot), & a sandsifting sea star

 

[bdhough]

I didn't see that in your earlier posts about the water. Just that you had done water changes.
Thats not enough of a clean up crew to keep up with a 75 gallon tank. You can easily double those numbers if you want. I would get some cerith and nassarius snails to go through the sand. Keeping it sifted will help to get the cyano out of the sand. The star isn't enough on his own. He will ulitmately eat himself to death anyways and i would suggest just getting rid of him. They can destroy a sand bed of any life.
How much do you feed? That is a big factor in this. Same with how much you leave the lights on. No more than 10 hours a day. What kind of lighting was it btw? Just because you don't test for any levels doesn't mean they aren't there. They are just being used up so quickly and in enough quantity to cause cyano growth.
One final thing is the flow rate in your tank. What kind of power heads do you have? Seems you have two sources of filtration the wetdry and skimmer which are good surface aerators. You need at least 2 power heads in the tank stirring the water around i'd say between 250gph and 300gph each. Ideally each should turn the water over 4-5 times an hour so i guess even higher than that.... It is important because it doesn't give the cyano a chance to settle in a spot of the tank. Case in point, the one dead zone in my 20 has a splotch of red cyano that isn't spreading at all but took hold in that one spot.....
Once you get all those factors in order stir up the sand to cover up the cyano and use a turkey bastor or power head to blow off the rock point blank. Then do a water change and try and syphon out as much of the cyano as possible. Thats about all i can tell you.

 

[claireep]

moonrs- thanks for skimmer advice. did that and it took a day to even out for some reason, but it worked and now there are no microbubbles!! yea!!
tryin to get rid of cyanobac w/o chemiclean now! ahhh.
also, someone said to get rid of the sandsifting sea star... will he really eat himself to death? will he damage my sandbed? what is going on with him? ANYONE KNOW?

 

[bdhough]

The sandsifting star feeds on waste and life in the sand bed. I've seen BIG ones and have heard many a story working at the lfs of them dying because of lack of food. They will VERY thouroughly go through your sand bed and eat what they find. Eventually the sand be will become barren of macro life suchs as pods and if the star isn't fed he will starve. Keep him until you get the cyano under control. He will only serve to keep the sand stired but i personally would get rid of him. If you want to keep him i would feed him a piece of shrimp once a week which can be done by finding him and then placing him on top of the shrimp, clams or other such large fare will suffice as well. Otherwise like i said he'll starve....

 

[moonrs]

Claire,
My sand-shifting starfish has been in my little small tank (30ga) for almost 7 months... I don't know what kind of timetable the others were talking about, but if he's slowly starving to death, how long's he supposed to take? He sure seems happy to me I can't speak for anyone else, and maybe my own inexperience is showing, but I think he's fine in there. However, something that thrives in my tank could quickly die in yours... My tank has become very stable with no cyano bacteria, and a nice amount of beneficial algae... Good luck with the starfish. BTW, I'm glad you got your skimmer working...

 

[bdhough]

I don't think there is really any way of telling. A fish can starve to death over a couple of weeks and just die one day..... Same way with a starfish or snail. If they are starving you won't know until they are dead. They aren't impossible to keep i would just make sure to feed them regularly. And if you are trying to get the benefits of a DSB haveing one in your tank won't help. There could be any number of explainations of why yours is still alive from you feed to much to you have a great amount of life growing in your tank.... I'd suggest feeding yours once a week though something substantial....

 

[fshhub]

months and months actually, when it comes to starving
get 2 fighting conchs for the sand bed too, as well as the snails mentionsd, but ONLY 2 FIGHTING conchs
how is your circulation? how many powerheads? what size are they? your return pump, how big is it?
does it seem to disappear or at least lessen when the lights are off?

 

[smarls]

Maybe I missed this in you posts, but how much flow do you have in your tank? IMHO, anytime I have found any cyno, it is showing me I have a dead spot and that I need more circulation.
For a 75 gallon, somewhere around 1000 gallons per hour would be a good flow rate, preferrably coming from mutiple sources.
HTH
Stewart