I really need help

skienlzer

Member
I can not get rid of this stuff and cant identify it... It grows so fast and it is spreading to the other side of my tank... does anyone know what it is?? I bought some "algee magic" and doesnt seem to be helping. Maybe a fish would eat it up?? Any ideas??

 

skienlzer

Member
I just went and looked them up and that's not what I have, I have something that is a brownish-green color and has alot of bubbles inside it. I thought it was green hair algee, but when I saw a picture of it, it didn't seem to look like what I have. Was a hard picture to tell though. This stuff grows really fast and can have pieces as long as my tank.
 

teen

Active Member
looks like a mix of hair algae and cyano. you have a big nutrient problem.
what kind of flter/ skimmer are you running? do you do water changes? waht do you feed your fish and how often?
i would take that rock out and scrub it down. once its back in the tank some emerald crabs and mexican turbo snails should take care of the rest.
is that sand or crushed coral?
 

skienlzer

Member
Isnt cyano red slime?? When we check all our levels they are fine. Nitrates-nitrites,ph,calcium,ammonia,hardness,phosphates. all are good, I feed the fish once a day alternating flakes and brine shrimp. What is a nutrient?? I know that sounds dumb, but i thought it was nitrates. We change our h2o once a month 15 gallons. and we have a "Rapids Pro" all in one package, with Large capacity filter,rapids surface skimmer overflow, aqua lifter, protein skimmer, rapids water pump and stellar plus air pump. Is that good? We have 5 of turbo snails and were told lawnmower blennys would eat it, but they're not.
 

weberian

Member
I agree with Teen. Nasty slimy stuff. Nutrients is equivalent to fertilizer which is what nitrates are. You might be reading zero in your tests because that slime is consuming it. Feeding fish every day is too much, usually. Depends on how much food. But most people feed every two to three days.
 

garnet13aj

Active Member
I feed the fish once a day alternating flakes and brine shrimp
I don't know if this has anything to do w/your algea, but you shouldn't be feeding brine shrimp. It's like feeding your children snickers bars for dinner, they like them but they have no nutritional value. Fish who eat them tend to starve because they aren't getting the proper nutrients. Also, most people on this site will tell you that frozen food is more nutritious than flake food. I don't know if it will help with the algea problem, but I would make the switch.
As far as the algea goes, how is your flow. Keeping extra food off the ground and up in the water will give fish time to eat it and extra flow may help w/algea or especially cyano taking root.
Good luck and give us an update, I'm not exactly sure what you have growing but it definitely looks like it needs to be tamed!
 

discusking

Member
is the tank new? It looks to me like there are too many nurtrients in the tank, which causes excess algae growth. Try to limit the amount of food you are feeding and lower the time the lights are on. Do frequent water changes (at least once a week) until the algae bloom dissipates. GOOD LUCK and happy reefing!
 

skienlzer

Member
It's all growing under the filter and pump.We have one on the right that is pretty strong pushing water towards the middle, and a little one that is like a bio-wheel, that water flows more downward on the left. The guy at the fish shop said that this is all we need. our pump pumps 1000gph. It's one of those all in one deals. When we went to a speciality shop the guy told us to clean all the rock do a 10 gallon water change every week for 1 month. And run phosphate balls in a bag in the canister filter. What kind of food should we feed them? I have 5 damsels, hippo tang,yellow tang, purple anthesis,and some diff kinds of clownfish, snails and shrimp. we give our tangs seaweed in a clip every other day.
 

skienlzer

Member
I feel really bad not feeding them because when we walk by they follow us from side to side of the tank:(, i feel like im starving them, and when i do feed them they gobble it up within 2 min!! Our new tank has been up for 3 months.
 

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by skienlzer
I feel really bad not feeding them because when we walk by they follow us from side to side of the tank:(, i feel like im starving them, and when i do feed them they gobble it up within 2 min!! Our new tank has been up for 3 months.
Do you have the tank in direct sunlight? Are you using tap water? What kind of flow do you have in the tank? Have you been able to test for phosphates...zero there would be best. Let's see...what else. How long are your lights on for each day?
Now, can you reach in and pick that stuff off by the handsful (after all of the above is addressed). If you take care of all of the above questions, just start cleaning that stuff out as best you can. Don't expect overnight results...that never happens in this hobby...but persistence will pay off. After you clean the stuff out, expect it to come back again and again until all things feeding it are addressed (stated above).
Good luck, and post an after picture when you have things under control.
Lisa :happyfish
 

skienlzer

Member
We have actinic lights on for 12, day lights on for 8 is this too much? It is in the kitchen in some light, but not directly. We will be getting curtains, havent found any to go with color scheme. We have a water system called Ionics, we have a ro tap in our sink, we use that. But our system uses solar salt in the softner. Is that bad for the fish?
 
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