My tank is going down hill and can use some help

coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
Hi, I've had my 29gal tank for over and year and its been going decent. There were always slight problems but nothing major. Now all of the sudden i have an outbreak in red slime algea
and it has caused w/e corals i had to suffocate from being enveloped by it. I also lost a pistol shrimp, a few hermits, and peppermint shrimp. I may have eve lost my brittle star but i rarely see it so i'm not sure. I can really use some advice...
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by coolcat63
http:///forum/post/2617674
Hi, I've had my 29gal tank for over and year and its been going decent. There were always slight problems but nothing major. Now all of the sudden i have an outbreak in red slime algea
and it has caused w/e corals i had to suffocate from being enveloped by it. I also lost a pistol shrimp, a few hermits, and peppermint shrimp. I may have eve lost my brittle star but i rarely see it so i'm not sure. I can really use some advice...

More info is needed and your pic didnt show. What do you have for live stock, filtration, lighting. Whats your light schedule like, your feeding schedule, how much and how often? How much LR, and what does your clean up crew consist of? Also what are your current tank perameters? Nitrite, Nitrate, ammonia, pH, alk, calcium, salinity and temp.
 
coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
yeh sorry for being vague, i'm new to this site and not sure what to write. My livestock is 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 yellow watchmen goby, and about 8 hermits. I have 38lbs of live rock and 14lbs of live sand(i think). I have 65 watt lighting, a seaclone 100 protien skimmer, a 30gal filter, a 55gal powerhead. the temperature is at 78degrees. I just tested my parameters pH 8.2, Nitrite .25(mg/L), Nitrate 5.0(mg/L), and Ammonia 4.0(mg/L). I already added something to lower the ammonia.
Also how do u post a pic?
 
keoni

keoni

New Member
Well they said it had been up a year and doing well so obviously it cycled initially. What is causing it to cycle again? Did you add a lot of livestock at once? Or do too big of a water change?
 
tomato clown

tomato clown

Member
Using tap water to top off?
How about a clean up crew? You mentioned hermets and a bristle star, but nothing else.
I'd at least begin by doing a water change and killing the lights for a while.
Buy a new turkey baster and blow the red algea off the rocks just before the water change, let the filter suck it in and clean it out a few times before the water change.
As well, if you don't have anything cleaning the substrate, you might want to ask here about doing a partial substrate cleaning before a water change as well.
Provided the red algea does blow off, if the corals you have aren't completely gone, you may be able to save them by blowing the algea off with the turkey baster (You'll get to keep lights on for shorter time periods for the corals)
Note: Don't read this then run and do it, wait for the people with better experience to chime in
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Water changes are defiantly going to be your best friend right now. IMO I would do at least a 50% change, I am shocked that you haven't lost any live stock with an ammonia reading that high. Most defiantly you are cycling, added bio load or excess nutrients that your bacteria cannot break down adequately. How often and how much do you feed your tank?
 
vampofvegas

vampofvegas

Member
The best way to remove the current red slim is to siphon it out (because the turkey baster doesnt do much but blow it around.. if you dont have enough flow you wont get it sucked out by your filter). Get one of those siphons from a 'commercial' pet store. Then take off the long funnel tube and just use the hose (or buy the same size tube clear tube from depot or lowes. Then siphon only using the hose and not the clear cylicander thing. It sucked my Slime right out of the tank. Then I cut my light cycle down a few hours and no more.
Seems either your tank wasnt set up for the year you said it was because you're afraid someone is going to make fun of you, you havnt been up on your water testing and water changes regularly, something died in the tank, too many fish too fast, or baby jesus just hates you.. lol.
 
coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
haha. nah my tank has actually been up for over a year, it's just kinda been neglected cus i didnt really have any cash and was busy with college. now i have a job and even when college starts again i won't neglect it like i have been. i have actually been just sticking my hand in the water and taking all the red slime off with my fingers. i guess the water parameters do sound like a cycling tank but i just realized i haven't tested the water in a looooong time so i c wat is wrong with it. i unfortunateally lost all my corals already to the red scourge.
o and btw is 65 watt lighting good enough 2 keep corals to begin with. i just took my chances by buying some mushrooms and they seemed to be fine b4 the neglection.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
It isn't the slime that you lost your corals to. It is the water quality. An ammonia reading of 4ppm will even kill bacteria. Your fish made it through this? Water changes are the only thing that is going to help here.
 
coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
ok well i'm getting on top of this. i've added amquel plus 2 the tank. i will start water changes soon as soon as i buy something to purify tap water. and i have luckily not lost any fish. i appreciate everyone's help they have given
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by coolcat63
http:///forum/post/2619282
ok well i'm getting on top of this. i've added amquel plus 2 the tank. i will start water changes soon as soon as i buy something to purify tap water. and i have luckily not lost any fish. i appreciate everyone's help they have given
Amquel will barely help. Have you tested your tap? At this point, the most phosphate ridden tap would be better than ammonia burn. Dechlorinate the water and mix it.
 
tomato clown

tomato clown

Member
Hit the LFS for water, just get new gas cans from home depot or lowes to fill them. The 5gal. gas cans will run you roughly $9-$12 each and the 10gal. in water from the LFS will probably be about $1 a gal.. So you're only looking at about $30 ($40tops) to get the water changes started. After that the gas cans are now stricktly water jugs and you just spend a few bucks to refill each time. If you buy chemicals and such for tap water, you'll spend just as much if not more just to treat already bad tap. As well red algea can be from using the tap to begin with. I learned that lesson the hard way.
It helps cut down on waiting time, bad tap water, extra chemicals, etc...
 
coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
thanks but i dont know of any lfs nearby. i just get things from this site or, if i have 2 *****. also once i get the parameters back to normal wat kind of corals would i be able to keep with 65 watt lighting?
 
coolcat63

coolcat63

Member
good news. with a few water changes and some chemicals i got my ammonia down to 0. i saw the salinity was at about 1.029 though...is that ok or should i lower it?
 
prime311

prime311

Active Member
1.029 is too high. Lower it, but slowly, as you do water changes just add water with an SG of like 1.020 until the overall water gets down to 1.025/6.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by coolcat63
http:///forum/post/2625429
good news. with a few water changes and some chemicals i got my ammonia down to 0. i saw the salinity was at about 1.029 though...is that ok or should i lower it?
Its on the high side, IMO I would lower it somewhere in the area of 1.024 to 1.026. Do it slowly over the course of a couple of water changes, where it is now isnt dangerously high and slower is better with salinity changes. What are you testing with, Hydrometer or Refractometer? If hydrometer, before you lower it I would double check the readings against a calibrated refractometer just to make sure it is what you say it is.
 
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