Jumped In And Not Sure I Have The Right Equipment? Help

[jonesy]

I have a 90 tall, and i have the following equipment
4X65watt cora life light
prizim skimmer
2 emperor 400
and a small powerhead not sure how many gph
i have about 75-80 lbs of live rock and a live sand bed about 4 inches thick
i read you should let the tank mature before adding livestock. I set the tank up in april of 05 and added a cleaning crew and a lawnmowe blennie and a sea hare and 2 urchins. I have all kinds og hair algee and red slime algee comes and goes. I use a treatment called chemi clear to rid the red slime algee. I tested the water and i have the following reasults
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
PH 7.3
salinity is 1.021
The algee is growing on the glass, the live rock, and the sand bed. Where do i start?

 

[mr_bill]

Ammonia .25
Have you added any rock, I don't see how your bioload could do this after almost 1yr of running.
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
Thats high, how often do you do water changes, have you cleaned out your filters?
PH 7.3
Hows your surface aggitation, water movement, alk?
salinity is 1.021
I'd try to bring this up to 1.024

 

[jonesy]

i change the filters about every 2 months, and i do a water change about every 2 weeks. I do remove the filters when i ad the chemi clear to rid the red slime and shut off the skimmer as per the directions
I havent added any rock since i first set it up
as for surface agitation with the 2 filters and skimmer running thats all i have and the one power head i have isnt very big
the test kit i have doesnt have a test for alk.

 

[turningtim]

ditto Mr Bill, what salt are you using? PH 7.3? way low should be 8-8.4. Have you had your tests done by a lfs to double check? What test kit are you using? What kind of water are you using?
Are you missing anything in the tank that could have died and is still in there?
Should be: PH 8-8.4, trate -10, trite 0, ammn 0, sal 1.024-1.026, alk 8-12dkh, PO4 0
Start be stabilizeing your water and then see what will happens to the algae. Shouldn't have to add stuff to get rid of it.

 

[jonesy]

I have lost a few of the snails recently and i cant find them in the tank i had 3 large turbo's and now i just have the empty shells
i am using culligan water i get at the grocery store and oceanic salt
i havent had a lfs do a water test in a while but in the past we had the same results when i compared mine to his
i am not sure what the test kit is called i will check tonight and post it tomorrow

 

[turningtim]

You need to get a phosphate test kit and a alk kit. These will help figuire out the algea issue. Trates and phos are feeding that nasty stuff. You need to reduce the food they have to consume. Also check the water you buy for Trate and phos. Add salt and mix 24 hrs and test that for the same. I would start doing small WC's (10%) every couple days to get the trate level down and gradually increase the Sal to at least 1.024. Inverts need a higher salt content. You should get in the habit of at least rinsing the filter pads every couple days. When I had an emp on my FW tank I didn't buy the pads w/carbon. Take one you already have and cut the fluff off. Just replace it with sheet fluff cut to size. The water will keep the pad in place and no need to run carbon 24/7.
Get Salifert test kits!
HTH
Tim

 

[jonesy]

the lfs close to my office diddnt have any tests for phosphate he told me there was no need for it so i will be in wichita this weekend to get one at a better lfs. I tested the water i am buying for nitrates and it had none. Imixed in some salt and will test it when i get home. i did 15% water change last night and tested the water today and had a trate leval of 20 and amo. was still a .25. Lfs told me my prizim skimmer was the problem and i need to buy a bigger one do you think that is true or is he wanting my money? The skimmer he is trying to sell me was $195.00. Also said i need to look into a uv sterilizer would this help?
My test kit is a chem pharmicuticals or something like that

 

[turningtim]

I still suggest getting a good phos test kit and try and get alk. Are you going for a reef tank?
I had a prizim skimmer thats now doing a heck of a job collecting dust and will soon be filed in the trash can. For a 90 gal that is way undersized. What type of skimmer was he trying to sell you? Not a big surprise about the trate test, prolly won't have any after added salt. Its really the phos that would be more interesting.
Something has to be causeing the ammn. Do you have a clean up crew? Keep up with the WC's. Post the phos when you get it.
Your on the right track

HTH
Tim

 

[trainfever]

How much and how often are you feeding the fish?

 

[jonesy]

I will be getting a phos and alk test sometime tomarrow. I am going for a reef tank. I do have some clean up crew 1 brittle star,1 serpant star, 1 cleaner clam, a sand sifting cucumber,about 10 blue leg hermits, 3 emrald crabs , 1 sea hare, 1 spiny urchin, 1 zebra urchin and a lawnmower blennie. i am planning on ordering a reef package from here in the next couple weeks. Any suggestions on which one? I was eyeing the janitor package.
i did test the water after i added the salt and no change still 0
he was trying to sell me a Coralife Super Skimmer Model 220
i only feed every other day and i feed marine flake food
thanks for the help guys i am learning a ton since i found you guys

 

[misfit]

I had a prizm skimmer . It was junk.

 

[turningtim]

Really haven't heard anything bad about the superskimmers, but i have no experience with them. First for a tank your size go over kill what ever you get. I would check prices online. I've also read that ASM(?) are great for the price.
Hopefully some one else will chime in.
Are you slowly trying to raise the SAL? Go a little at a time in your WC's. Do you have a refractometer?
When you get to the point of buying new fish (not now) try and vary the diet a little. :happyfish
Don't anything until the water is under control.
If your going reef you'll need a calcium test also.
Tim