Live Rock now dead???

[mikeyjer]

So you've been using tap water, that's where the red slime problem is coming from partially. Best to do RO water change from now on. Keep changing water, IMO I would do 20-25% every other day to lower stuffs instead of everyday. Feed high quality food to your fish during this time too, prefer with garlic added food. Good luck! :happyfish

 

[djevack]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
So you've been using tap water, that's where the red slime problem is coming from partially. Best to do RO water change from now on. Keep changing water, IMO I would do 20-25% every other day to lower stuffs instead of everyday. Feed high quality food to your fish during this time too, prefer with garlic added food. Good luck! :happyfish
No ive been using RO water from my Ro unit. Ive bought some RO water yesterday, becasue mine only makes 20g a day and i needed more asap.

 

[<3thefish]

Ive been using RO water from my personal unit. I bought RO water yesterday so Id have enought to do an water change asap.

 

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by <3thefish
sorry im still a little confused. I got most of it. Let me re explain the steps that got me to this point, then I have a few questions.
Ich was in the display tank... did hypo, didnt know it was harmful to the LR, I did remove all of my inverts i could before and then put them back in after the hypo.... everything was fine for almost 2 months.... Started to notice the LR just seemed "dead" no color, just didnt look the same.... Algae broke out like crazy.... red coat over the sand LR.... I have 15x water movement.... asm g2, fluval 402, phosban in fluval..... several fish looked very unhealthy like just overnight. My tang had a slight white glaze over his eyes, and a few white spots on his body, not a single one on his fins didnt look like ich at all.... also several other fish looked sick swiming funny and near surface.... thats when i put in elafix and pimafix the last 2 days..... They started to look even worse.....
Heres by plan to fix everything, see if this works...
-20% water changes everyday till levels lower to safe levels
-tommorow clean all of the LR, then let it set in some water(old water from tank) to somewhat clean it up, then put back in tank.....
-been meaning to do this. Major system update
*Set up a open system like this: Overflow - sump with UV and ASM g2.... Overflow will also feed a 20g fuge, 100gph - both sump and fuge will go to return sump to go back to tank. Shooting for 800-900gph
*Set up closed system: Mage 5 or 7 - several outlets around tank. 800-900gph
*Phosban reactor - talked to LFs they said local water is very very high in phosphate, even traces of ammonia. and even a good RO unit might not take out all of it.
-Add a 10-20lbs of very good LR with coraline, and a few lbs of LS, or the bagged stuff
-lastly, Pray to the fish god

my lighting is new, bulbs only few months old, should be enough water movement,
anything else

I would not remove the live rock as you will be removing a big part of your biological filtration. Given your water parmeters, removing the rock could hurt not help. I would perform the water changes. You need to get the ammonia and nitrite down to zero. This is why your fish look as they do.
THe cyano will die off gradually as you improve your water parmaters and discontinue using tap water. I am not certain what will be accomplished by removing the live rock and scrubbing. THey cyano will remain until the conditions that led to the outbreak are improved.

 

[<3thefish]

So the ammonia is coming from the dieing LR and algae?

 

[scubadoo]

The ammonia is there because your biological filter cannot process the waste in your system.
many things have contributed to this. Water changes will help, decreased feedings, and using ro/di water.
Massive cyano die-off can cause problems, but you would notice this i.e. the red algae would be gone. Some cyano die-off can contibute to your problem but may not be the sole cause.
Like I said, I beleive your problem is a combination of many variables,...hypo in the display, damaged bio-filter from meds, possible die-off of cyano, high nutrients from tap water.
In general, hypo in the display will not kill live rock...but will kill the inverts living on the rock. it will also kill any inverts (not your biological filter) that helps with the breakdown of wastes and keep your substrate "clean". The absence of these sandsifting "critters" can cause a decrease in water quality.
Water changes will help as well as running some media to remove the meds from the display. The fish should improve once your water qulity improves.
The problem in performing hypo in the display is that you distrub the balance of the system which MAY lead to water quality issues. This does not mean it cannot be done.....it just means you may have problems due to disturbing the delicate balance of the system.
Always best to treat outside the display if possible.

 

[bergovoy]

First off, HELLO ALL.
Second, I have two 55g tanks, with similar setups, both are now FOWLR, but one will become a Reef tank. They are both 8 months old this week. I had different problems in either tank. The first problem was CYANO break out in one tank only. I used several different packaged products, but to no avail, it never cleard the red slime attacks. The only think commonin both tanks was the temp was 80 - 84 degrees, due to lighting and submerged circulation pumps. The only thing that seemed to help was to decrease temperatures. Due to winter is now upon is in SOCAL, the temps have now dropped to 74-76 degrees, and the tanks look wonderful.
Dont know the temps for 3thefish, but check them and see what happens.
Bill