Help!!!

teviesfish

Member
Its not my nitrates... they are at 0. And we just did a water change...but here are the pics. All of our levels are with in range and fish seem happy.

 

120reefer

Member
looks like cyano or red hair algae...... not really bad, just more of a nusance.. what are your phosphates reading? Using RO/DI water? Using any additives?
 

tangs123

Member
actually it looks like red slime;
do a search on it (google) and there is a few reef safe chemicals that you can use to remove it
 

teviesfish

Member
well which is it?? LOL how can i tell? All fo my levels are normal range .. just did a water change... my fish had a slight case of ick so we are on the tale end of that treatment. I am using ro di water. Any ideas
 

120reefer

Member
red slime/red hair algae... still don't know what your phosphates are at..
Thats usually a good reason for an algae bloom... How bout your light cycle? How long are your lights on daily?
 

teviesfish

Member
my lights are on for a long time 8 am - 10 pm at night so i should cut that down. phoshates i have no clue... hubby got me the amonia test strips and the nitrate nitrite hardness alkalinity ph test strips. None for phos.
 

120reefer

Member
Gotcha
Try cutting down the light cycle by a few hours.. like say down to 8 instead of 14.. or turn them on when you go to work, and turn off when you come home.. whichever comes first. I had a minor outbreak like that with green hair algae and i turned cycle down from 10 to 6 hours/day for a week or so and it cleared
in the mean time i would consider getting a liquid phosphate test.. and possibly a master liquid test kit for the other parameters, unfortunately many people don't have luck with those strip tests.. very inaccurate. Hope this helps..
 

teviesfish

Member
Reefer... thanks and i will definatly turn the lights down .. problem is... I WORK AT HOME!! AND.... I DO DAYCARE!! giggles... so we just so love watching the fish and so do the kids that its so hard to look over and see the light off. :) but we will try our best to do so more and keep the time down. I am going to order some stuff here tonight and the liquid testing will be one of them. Need to use up these test strips in the mean time. Wont take long .. there are only thirty strips. thanks for the info
 

120reefer

Member
No problem at all.. and excellent idea by getting the liquid test kits... you'll be happy you did. Lol.. i know what you mean with the lights... except its ME who wants to see them
If you wanna see them at night and whatnot.. try looking at "moonlights" They will not only help out with your day/night cycle, but you can also still see them at night
And they will in NO WAY effect that algae.. they're just 1watt LED bulbs... and run off almost NO electricity.. BTW.. the flame looks good
Best of luck, keep us posted...
 

teviesfish

Member
Thanks again for your replys...will have hubby check into the moodlight. We adore our fish..Btw...was checking out here on the dry goods... should i be looking into anything like Protech Coat. Kent rx P Kent Zoe Marine or Reef trace? i hate the idea of running out to get something when i need it. Rather then having the staple items that i might need already on hand
 

120reefer

Member
Well.. I wouldn't bother on anything for the algae... try the lights for less trick first.. then check phosphate.... and if they arent the problem.. then try additives. However... KENT Zoe would be an excellent idea
i would also look into Zoecon, and Xtreme Garlic also made by Kent. Another good suppliment is Selcon.. made by American marine. i use all of these products to soak ALL of my food.. both flake and frozen/meaties. I'm sure many agree, it DOES help keep fish healthy
I'm sure your flame will love it....Best of luck
 

teviesfish

Member
stupid question probably... but what do you mean .. "soak All of my food.." I use the pellets and flakes and some life line
 

120reefer

Member
Originally Posted by teviesfish
stupid question probably... but what do you mean .. "soak All of my food.." I use the pellets and flakes and some life line
I mean I take my flake/frozen/meaty foods.. put into a cup, and literally let the food "soak" up the Zoe, Zoecon, Selcon, and garlic. it's like someone adding calcium or vitamins to a glass of water or to food to help keep them healthy.. same with your fish!
Once its all in there.. i put a LITTLE water in there and let sit for about 15-20 mins.. then its feeding time. Hope this helps..
 

mandarin w

Member
Your Red slime alge (Cyano) are basically the same thing. It is caused by silicate in your water. If the tank is fairly new. It is just part of the maturing process. But there are a few thing that you should do to get rid of this.
Most of the time this first outbreak in a new tank last about a month.
Yes the lights do not need to be on that long. 8 hrs is plenty. Someone mentioned RO/DI water. Are you useing this? or did you set the tank up useing just tap water. If that is the case, you need to start doing water changes useing RO/DI water. and keep up with them.
Your next corse of action is the flow. what type of flow do you have. The flow thru your tank should be 10 to 20 times the gal. so a 75 gal tank should have at least a 750 gal an hour turn over or more. That is why we use powerheads. If you don't already have some power heads in your tank get a couple at least two. and put them in the tank so the water everywhere is moved. You do not want any dead spots. Try to put one so the water is blown across the back of the tank, from one side to the other, and the other point it so it should blow against the front of the tank and bounce off at an angle. That should help with the flow.
Now I noticed you saiid you are a day care provider, and the kids love to watch the fish. Does this also mean they fight to feed the fish also. Maybe the fish are getting to much food. and thus to much waste. Not eating food. and the potty the fish are making. make sure you have a super good filter system going on that tank. and do weekly water changes. That will help with the extra nitrates and the red slime.
So check your lights, flow, water (ro/di), filtration, and water changes once a week. It should take care of itself in a few weeks.
By the way testing your water for phosphates wont show silicates. there is a separate test for that. and silicates is what causes Red Slime. You get silicates in your water mainly from either useing tap water or play sand intended for the play ground not a saltwater tank. You didn't by chance want to save $$ and use play sand like for the play area at the daycare. That sand is much cheaper than the sand at the LFS. If you did, let us know. We are playing in a whole different ballgame then. and you have some work to do.
Do not waste your money on treatments. They do not work. I know of what I am speaking. I know so much about Red Slime, Because I battled it for over a year. I bought my water at a LFS. that really all they wanted was to make $$. So they never changed their RO filters. I paid $1.25 a gal. for water that was worse than tap. And every week I paid $25plus dollars for Red Slime treatment. It would work for a couple days, and come right back. It took me months of reading and looking for answers. That is why I know. You can treat all you want, but if the root cause is still in there, It will come right back.
 
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