Hitchhiker & Algae ID Request
- Thread starter clee521
- Start date
clee521
New Member
1. central red spiraly thing
2. those things growing right between the mushrooms..
3. feather duster?
4. i know the bubble algae is bad.. but what is that other plant growing out of the rock?
5. white part of rock?
6. ?
7. diatoms?
8. another view of those brown things from pic#2
9. what kind of algae is that in the center? (not the bubble algae..)
10. red spots? cyanobacteria?
any help would be appreciated.. thanks in advance.
tank stats
only 1 month old
65g w/ small refugium
cycled with 85lb LR, 65lb LS
tap water start w/ coralife salt mix..
water changes have been with ocean water from lfs (s.g. matched and aged 24hr)
aqua c remora skimmer
30x turnover
water parameters
s.g. 1.025 w/ refractometer
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <5
ph 8.0
temp 84-85ºF (200w titanium heater.. never turned on though)
2x96w hamilton pc
alk 3.5 meq/L = 175ppm
dKH 9.8
calcium is off the charts on the salifert test.. probably over 550
salifert and aquarium pharmaceuticals tests
stocking
2 green chromis
1 false perc clown
1 fire shrimp
9 scarlet hermits (but i can only see five.. one hasn't moved in days)
3 mexican turbos
xenia frag
polyp rocks
mushrooms
cup coral
i realize i added too much too soon..
the clown and chromis both have some kind of brown smudge on their bodies..
so far, one clown and one chromis has died. i originally had 2 clowns and 3 chromis.
corals are doing well though. good polyp extension.
so my problems are..
1. low ph
2. high calcium
3. hair algae?
4. bubble algae
5. cyanobacteria/red slime
6. diatoms
7. high water temp
8. tap water
9. sick fish
10. stocked too quickly..
i know i made some mistakes.. but what kind of plan should i take to address these issues?
2. those things growing right between the mushrooms..
3. feather duster?
4. i know the bubble algae is bad.. but what is that other plant growing out of the rock?
5. white part of rock?
6. ?
7. diatoms?
8. another view of those brown things from pic#2
9. what kind of algae is that in the center? (not the bubble algae..)
10. red spots? cyanobacteria?
any help would be appreciated.. thanks in advance.
tank stats
only 1 month old
65g w/ small refugium
cycled with 85lb LR, 65lb LS
tap water start w/ coralife salt mix..
water changes have been with ocean water from lfs (s.g. matched and aged 24hr)
aqua c remora skimmer
30x turnover
water parameters
s.g. 1.025 w/ refractometer
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <5
ph 8.0
temp 84-85ºF (200w titanium heater.. never turned on though)
2x96w hamilton pc
alk 3.5 meq/L = 175ppm
dKH 9.8
calcium is off the charts on the salifert test.. probably over 550
salifert and aquarium pharmaceuticals tests
stocking
2 green chromis
1 false perc clown
1 fire shrimp
9 scarlet hermits (but i can only see five.. one hasn't moved in days)
3 mexican turbos
xenia frag
polyp rocks
mushrooms
cup coral
i realize i added too much too soon..
the clown and chromis both have some kind of brown smudge on their bodies..
so far, one clown and one chromis has died. i originally had 2 clowns and 3 chromis.
corals are doing well though. good polyp extension.
so my problems are..
1. low ph
2. high calcium
3. hair algae?
4. bubble algae
5. cyanobacteria/red slime
6. diatoms
7. high water temp
8. tap water
9. sick fish
10. stocked too quickly..
i know i made some mistakes.. but what kind of plan should i take to address these issues?
fmelindy
Member
whew, lots to go through here. First the id's:
1. possible some type of feather duster. Could also conceivably be some kind of barnacle but its hard to tell.
2. look like some kind of polyps. Could conceivably be aiptasia but looks more like star polyps or very small anthelia to me. hard to tell
3. feather duster
4. some type of brown macro-algae, I have same kind of thing growing out of my LR.
5. cleached coralline algae, colour will come back over time
6. looks like a dead coral to me, you can see its skeletal elements not covered by living tissue
7. diatoms
8. see answer to #2
9. hard to tell, may not be algae at all but could be some kind of foraminaiferan, I'm not usre I'm looking at the same thing you are.
10. some could be cyano, some could be new coralline, some could be foraminiferans
Now, yes you did add too much to fast. Are you sure your tank was cycled before you started stocking? I never heard of brown slime on a fish before. Could be some kind of bacterial infection. I hope you have a stable quarantine system. That's where I'd put the fish if I were you. Are they behaving normally and eating or are they listless?
Your water temp is too high, IMO. That will encourage the growth of algae. I'd start using RO water only from now on as well but the salt water from your lfs might be OK. You've got adequate skimming and excellent turnover. Your chemistry parameters are adequate.
The proliferation of different types of algae suggest high nutrient levels but your tests don't reflect that. That is kind of odd. It also may reflect that your tank was not ready for the addition of livestock at all (i.e. not fully cycled).
My suggestions: do a series of 20% water changes. Move your fish to a quarantine tank or some other system while you're waiting for this tank to stabilize. They may even benefit from a treatment while there but it would be nice to identify the disease first. Anyone have any ideas? Get the temp down a little, use a chiller if you have to or float bags of ice if you can't. I wouldn't worry about your ph and calcium right now, my calcium has been unreadable for some time (likely due to test error) and the ph is not too bad (could be a little higher but there is a range of acceptable pH levels).
Does sound like you are off to a godd start, though. You have been detailed in your descriptions, you have good equipment and test kits, you realize that you may have proceeded a little too fast (like most of us do), your chemistry looks acceptable. Just slow down, do some water changes, reduce that temp, and quarantine your livestock until your display has settled and you can turn this around.
Anyone else venture an opinion?
1. possible some type of feather duster. Could also conceivably be some kind of barnacle but its hard to tell.
2. look like some kind of polyps. Could conceivably be aiptasia but looks more like star polyps or very small anthelia to me. hard to tell
3. feather duster
4. some type of brown macro-algae, I have same kind of thing growing out of my LR.
5. cleached coralline algae, colour will come back over time
6. looks like a dead coral to me, you can see its skeletal elements not covered by living tissue
7. diatoms
8. see answer to #2
9. hard to tell, may not be algae at all but could be some kind of foraminaiferan, I'm not usre I'm looking at the same thing you are.
10. some could be cyano, some could be new coralline, some could be foraminiferans
Now, yes you did add too much to fast. Are you sure your tank was cycled before you started stocking? I never heard of brown slime on a fish before. Could be some kind of bacterial infection. I hope you have a stable quarantine system. That's where I'd put the fish if I were you. Are they behaving normally and eating or are they listless?
Your water temp is too high, IMO. That will encourage the growth of algae. I'd start using RO water only from now on as well but the salt water from your lfs might be OK. You've got adequate skimming and excellent turnover. Your chemistry parameters are adequate.
The proliferation of different types of algae suggest high nutrient levels but your tests don't reflect that. That is kind of odd. It also may reflect that your tank was not ready for the addition of livestock at all (i.e. not fully cycled).
My suggestions: do a series of 20% water changes. Move your fish to a quarantine tank or some other system while you're waiting for this tank to stabilize. They may even benefit from a treatment while there but it would be nice to identify the disease first. Anyone have any ideas? Get the temp down a little, use a chiller if you have to or float bags of ice if you can't. I wouldn't worry about your ph and calcium right now, my calcium has been unreadable for some time (likely due to test error) and the ph is not too bad (could be a little higher but there is a range of acceptable pH levels).
Does sound like you are off to a godd start, though. You have been detailed in your descriptions, you have good equipment and test kits, you realize that you may have proceeded a little too fast (like most of us do), your chemistry looks acceptable. Just slow down, do some water changes, reduce that temp, and quarantine your livestock until your display has settled and you can turn this around.
Anyone else venture an opinion?
clee521
New Member
thank you for your reply.
as far as i know, the tank was fully cycled. the cycle began with the partially cured LR's dieoff.. i saw a small ammonia spike, an increase in nitrites, and then the conversion of everything into nitrate.. the levels were never very high, but i read that cycles were never too dramatic in tanks with lots of lr and ls.. i've been testing the levels twice a week and everything is still at 0.. nitrates have gone up to about 5, but never higher.. and that can be taken care of with water changes.
the spots on the fish are very light.. i think maybe some of the diatoms from the rock may have simply rubbed off on them.. is that possible? they're behaving fine.. and eating well.
if algae is caused by excessive nutrients, where did those nutrients come from? i am feeding the fish only a small amount.. and only every other day. i'm feeding formula one and two.. about a quarter cube of each with a little selcon.. and kent phytoplex for the corals.
i'm taking a sample of water to the lfs tomorrow to see if they get different results..
as for the temperature, i guess there must be a lot of heat generated by each of the SEIO820 powerheads and the maxijet 1200 on the skimmer.. because i don't even want to think about how high the temperature will go in the summer.. i'm in southern california, but i didn't think i'd have to buy a chiller in the winter.. and i don't even have MH lighting.. how many degrees will a chiller lower my water temp by?
as far as i know, the tank was fully cycled. the cycle began with the partially cured LR's dieoff.. i saw a small ammonia spike, an increase in nitrites, and then the conversion of everything into nitrate.. the levels were never very high, but i read that cycles were never too dramatic in tanks with lots of lr and ls.. i've been testing the levels twice a week and everything is still at 0.. nitrates have gone up to about 5, but never higher.. and that can be taken care of with water changes.
the spots on the fish are very light.. i think maybe some of the diatoms from the rock may have simply rubbed off on them.. is that possible? they're behaving fine.. and eating well.
if algae is caused by excessive nutrients, where did those nutrients come from? i am feeding the fish only a small amount.. and only every other day. i'm feeding formula one and two.. about a quarter cube of each with a little selcon.. and kent phytoplex for the corals.
i'm taking a sample of water to the lfs tomorrow to see if they get different results..
as for the temperature, i guess there must be a lot of heat generated by each of the SEIO820 powerheads and the maxijet 1200 on the skimmer.. because i don't even want to think about how high the temperature will go in the summer.. i'm in southern california, but i didn't think i'd have to buy a chiller in the winter.. and i don't even have MH lighting.. how many degrees will a chiller lower my water temp by?
T
tizzo
Guest
Here are my guesses , but most are the same as fmelindy's ...
1. feather duster
2 beginning stalks of encrusting gorgonia (erythropodium caribaeorum)
3. yes, another feather duster
4. (my guess of which macroalgae) Dictyota dichotoma
5.bleached coralline
6. A coral or colonial tunicate skeleton (if CT's have skeletons) if not then a coral skeleton.
7.yes, diatoms
8. same as 2
9. I have no idea, but I also have it in my tank and have had no ill effects from it.
10. foraminiferans
1. feather duster
2 beginning stalks of encrusting gorgonia (erythropodium caribaeorum)
3. yes, another feather duster
4. (my guess of which macroalgae) Dictyota dichotoma
5.bleached coralline
6. A coral or colonial tunicate skeleton (if CT's have skeletons) if not then a coral skeleton.
7.yes, diatoms
8. same as 2
9. I have no idea, but I also have it in my tank and have had no ill effects from it.
10. foraminiferans
T
tizzo
Guest
I kinda skimmed but as far as your PH, since your alkalinity and calcium are both high, my next suspicion would be your oxygen level. Do you have adaquate surface agitation as well as water movement and does the room in which your tank is in, in general have ample "fresh air".
You can bring your temp down significantly, by having a small fan blow across the water's surface. I undeerestimated it til I got a fan, now I can have my windows open in weather up to 85 degrees!! before, I had to have the AC on a constant 74. I run halides so my tank wanted to heat up quick.
You can bring your temp down significantly, by having a small fan blow across the water's surface. I undeerestimated it til I got a fan, now I can have my windows open in weather up to 85 degrees!! before, I had to have the AC on a constant 74. I run halides so my tank wanted to heat up quick.
clee521
New Member
I do have good water circulation and surface agitation.. it's about 34x turnover I believe. I have 2 SEIO 820's (820gph each), return pump is 350gph, and skimmer powerhead is 250gph. 65g tank w/ built in wet/dry.. but no biological media.
I think I will try the fans though.. I just don't want to add any more noise to the tank..
I think I will try the fans though.. I just don't want to add any more noise to the tank..