Help ! What can be the problem ?

xxxespoxxx

xxxespoxxx

Member
Tank Has been up for 11 months. Just this last week this stuff is starting to happen, what could it be? I clean it up and in a matter of hours it slowly starts creeping back. Our system is a HO Bio wheel filter saline solution skimmer,Nova Extreme T5 lighting... all are readings are fine, and none of the fish and corals seem to be harmed. Just have to brush the stuff off the corals, is this deterius (sp)...We didnt have to much of a clean up crew so we bought a bigger clean up crew, hopefully this will help a lil but im sure there is a problem somewhere.


 
coralreefer

coralreefer

Active Member
well, we need to see some parameters to get anywhere.
the biowheels tend to collect very large amounts of detritus and that can cause nitrate and a phosphate spike. i got rid of mine and my tank looks a lot better scince i did.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Cyanobacteria. (red slime algae)
Here is my take on getting rid 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.

[hr]
Henry
 
wilsonreef

wilsonreef

Member
Are you talking about the brown stuff? If so, that looks like a diatom bloom to me. Do a water change, but let the diatom bloom do it's thing. They almost always do that at the start of a new tank. I believe it's part of the process.
 
xxxespoxxx

xxxespoxxx

Member
Originally Posted by coralreefer
http:///forum/post/2944217
well, we need to see some parameters to get anywhere.
the biowheels tend to collect very large amounts of detritus and that can cause nitrate and a phosphate spike. i got rid of mine and my tank looks a lot better scince i did.
up until 3 days a go we didn't have any issues so I don't really think it would be the filter.
 
xxxespoxxx

xxxespoxxx

Member
Originally Posted by wilsonreef
http:///forum/post/2944227
Are you talking about the brown stuff? If so, that looks like a diatom bloom to me. Do a water change, but let the diatom bloom do it's thing. They almost always do that at the start of a new tank. I believe it's part of the process.
Ya, but for 11 months nothing and all of a sudden.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I think the brown on the substrate looks more like a blanket slime than the dusting you get with diatoms. xXxEsPoxXx if you take a turkey baster or a siphon tube and try to suck that part up does it all come up like a blanket?
 
xxxespoxxx

xxxespoxxx

Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/2945245
what is your phosphate level at ?
do you have a phosphate reactor ?
No, I don't have a phosphate reactor, but for 11 months no problems without a phospate reactor what so ever, and then all of a sudden. I will go go home and check the readings for that. I did do a major clean up in the tank though last night and as of this morning nothing has reappeared through last night till this morning, but I'm sure when I get home there will be a present for me
 
king4345

king4345

Member
11 months or 11 years is really irrelavent. Personally I have found Bio-wheels to be not needed in the SW realm. In fact I would bet it is the beginning of your problem. A good sump, skimmer, and UV system are you best defenses in SW keeping. SW keeping is not always an immediate problem, and things can take sometime to build up. Without tank parameters I would say that there is a nitrate/phosphate problem. I would get my hands on a good DSB in a refugium. Also a good clean-up crew in there to stir up the SB and help clean up the left overs. I would also pull a major water change 35% and check the source water for contamination ie: nitrate/phosphate etc. I would cut back on the feeding for a few and see if that helps and also the lighting. By adding a refugium you can offer this stuff a better place to take up residence outside of your aquarium. Keep us posted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top