new tank -- my live rock is dying! please help!

[caligirl]

Hello,
I've been lurking around this message board for a few months now and set up my first 20 gallon tank about a month ago. I received about 25 pounds of ultra-premium fiji live rock from saltwaterfish.com. It was a nice green color when I put it in my tank (which had been filled with saltwater for about two weeks). I added live sand about a week ago. I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but the live rock started showing black parts and is slowly turning black and slimy all over the place. The only other algae growth I've seen so far is hair algae and some red algae in other places.
I'm assuming the fact that my rock is turning black is a bad thing and I'm not sure what to do. I've been testing frequently but can't identify anything wrong with my water. I had been keeping my lights off for a few weeks - would that be detrimental? For the last week I have been careful to keep the ligts on for about 12 hours per day to theoretically promote the algae growth but it only seems to be turning blacker...
Is there anything else I should be looking out for? Metallics? Should I be adding supplements?
I would appreciate any help you are willing to give me!
Thanks,
Julie
P.S. Here are my aquarium statistics right now:
temp = 82C, Salinity = 1.021, pH = 8.2, Ammonia = .025ppm, Nitrite = 0ppm, Nitrate = 0ppm.
My ammonia levels have been low since I put the rock in the tank. I don't know much about cycling (only enough to be monitoring the levels). Should the fact that I never saw an Ammonia spike be a concern?

 

[capschamp]

you are in the right place. try to remove some of the "black stuff" from your live rock. If it comes right off it is bad algae (i wanna say cyanobacteria but have only seen it red/brown colored.) Your tank may have cycled, some test kits give a bad reading on ammonia. You may want to bump your specific gravity up a bit to around 1.24-1.25 what kind of lights do you use? Are you using tapwater? If you cut back on the lights I am willing to bet that some of the algae starts to dissappear. THat is about all i can think of hopefully someone else chimes in.

 

[caligirl]

Thanks for replying, Capschamp!
I have been searching the board for similar posts but haven't found much... I have read a little about lighting -- I have a basic daylight lamp (7500 W?) and a Blue Actinic (7500 W?). They're both pretty old. Does anyone know if I should replace them? If so -- what should I use?
According to other posts, my lights should be OK but possibly a little dim to promote "coraline algae growth" (is that the bumpy green stuff that came on the rock?) Also, it appears that I should be adding Calcium. Is that true? It's a new tank and I don't have plans to add corals anytime soon (just some snails, shrimp, and a few fish) so I was hoping to not get into that. I don't have a calcium test kit so maybe that would be a good investment just to see if I'm in the right range....
I have my doubts that simply replacing the lights will magically stop the black grimy stuff from spreading, but I guess it's something worth trying. Should I be adding supplements of some sort? I can also increase my salinity, but I thought I was already in the right range...
I really appreciate your help and would LOVE to hear from other people too.

Julie
P.S. Yes, I am using tapwater... I let the water sit for a week or two before adding the rock and added a "harmless" product that claims to condition tap water, ie. remove chlorine.

 

[trevorlyn]

I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR BULBS IF THEY ARE OLDER THAN 6 MONTHS OLD. ALSO TRY USING "REEF COMPLETE" IT RAISES CALCIUM AND MAINTAINS MAGNESIUM AND STONTIUM. IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON ADDING CORALS USE RO WATER REVERSE OSMOSIS. FOR NOW SINCE YOU HAVE TAP WATER USE "POLY FILTER AND PHOS GUARD" THIS WILL HELP BY REMOVING METALICS AND SILICAS. WAS YOUR LIVE ROCK CURED BEFORE YOU ADDED IT TO YOUR TANK.

 

[blemmy_guy]

I had the same problem when i first started my tank, the green stuff should come off real easy, kinda slimy dark green, i would use my net to get the big stuff out, make sure you have good water movement, it will help, but Capschamp is the Master !! do what he says if it conflicys with me !

goodluck todd

 

[caligirl]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the input! I'm new to this and am trying hard to do everything right, but don't personally know anyone with experience with saltwater tanks. You are my new friends.
So far, based on your ideas, I will try and scrub/remove the blackish stuff. I will replace the lights. I might try to raise the salinity a bit. And I will buy supplements:
1) Poly Filter
2) Phos Guard (to remove metallics and silicas)
3) Reef Complete (to raise Ca, maintain Mg, Sr)
Does anyone have a counterargument to these ideas? I am a bit uncertain about the supplements. I'll try to do some research on them, but don't like the idea of blindly dumping stuff into my tank. It does make sense to supplement essential elements though (and remove residual metallics from the tapwater).
Also - in answer to TREVORLYN's question, the rock was indeed fully cured.
Julie

 

[capschamp]

Originally posted by Blemmy_Guy
Capschamp is the Master !! do what he says goodluck todd
todd you made me blush. I am not the master. look at the names of the mods, they are the masters imo.
Letting tapwater sit for a week is the same as adding the stuff to it to take out the chlorines/chloramines (I'm pretty sure)
Algae feeds off light and nutrients. you need to cut them both back. Adding tapwater adds nutrients for them to feed off, and the lights enhance the photosynthetic nature of the algae, causing it to grow more. I started out using tapwater and had a 10 gallon qt that was set up on my floor, and hardly got any light. after 6 months of adding tapwater to it and keeping it going, under zero lights, i had no algae. in the display tank, i had switched to using distilled water and battled algae problems up until a couple months ago. after cutting my light schedule back a few hours, the cyanobacteria went away (i also attribute the phosban reactor to this). Try blowing some of the stuff off the live rock with a powerhead or a turkey baster, it should just blow right off. using the net like todd said also works pretty good.
You really need to get new lights if you want to keep any corals. if you are doing fish only with live rock, i dont think you need to change them. is the 7500 the kelvin rating? what is the wattage? but getting new lights may also cause an algae outbreak. the bumpy green stuff is the corraline algae. my live rock looks way different than when i got it. green is gone and it is covered in purple, and is growing on the glass.
Keep searching. you will find the answers you need. Others more knowledgable than i will be along soon with their input......hopefully

 

[caligirl]

Thanks for your help... I tried removing the black stuff with a turkey baster last night but it won't budge. My conclusion is that the bumpy coralline algae really is dying. It's hard and mineral looking black stuff - not cyanobacteria after all.
I went and bought two new lights last night a 10,000K (15W) bluish bulb and a 6500K (15W) "Super Daylight." I'm guessing I should keep using the lights (to encourage coralline algae regrowth), but put them on a shorter schedule (to discourage hair algae growth). I'm totally guessing on this, though.
I also added some phosguard (to get rid of excess silicates, phosphates) to my filter system. I have more extensive test kits on order....
If anyone has suggestions on how to keep coralline algae alive, I would appreciate hearing from you!
Thanks a lot,
Julie

 

[ryand]

i dont know if this is the right thing to do but i just leave my lights on and it looks great.. i have to wait for the clean up crew to get the rest of the exxes algea off but owell it is worken

 

[jamiesharon]

i new at this also but i only have one rock so far and no fish the tank has been cycling for two weeks and i have a slimy surface to my water around the edges of tank..is it because i put my hand in it alot to move the rock around?

 

[flower]

Hi,

Coraline algae turns white when it dies, and it will all grow back. Test for phosphates, it must be off the roof. Tap water is your enemy. There is more in the water then just chlorine, it has other inhibitors for bacteria, and fluoride. TDS (total dissolves solids) is way up there with tap water, on RO water, anything below 10 is considered good. My RO reads at 8 (filter is ready to be changed), my regular tap water reads 218...all refill stations has it posted, the last test date and the TDS reading.

If the only thing you have in your tank right now is sand and the live rock....I highly recommend you dump all of the water, and restart with RO (reverse osmosis) water...you can get it at any grocery store that has a refill water station. Super Walmart sells it for 37 cents a gallon. Since water quality is the very life of your Saltwater tank, it make no sense to skimp on the water content and use grimy tap water.

I'm just curious...What kind of light fixture do you have on the tank?

Coraline not only needs light....it needs calcium to grow, and until the tank is cycled I wouldn't concern myself with the rock. It's called "live" rock because of the tiny critters it has living in it, the rock itself is just a rock. The little critters are fine, as long as you always keep it in saltwater, and not use any freshwater on it. Take a NEW scrub brush (mark it fish only) and scrub your rock with it in the saltwater you already have... use a bucket and scrub it to get rid of the slime growing on it.

After you replace your water with fresh made up RO saltwater, and the rock and sand is all set....put a piece of raw shrimp, OR use 1/4 cup of pure ammonia (found in any laundry isle at the supermarket) OR ghost feed (flakes, feed an invisible fish) Please do not use a live fish. Once the ammonia spikes to at least 1, and then just leave the tank alone to cycle. Once the ammonia spike drops back down to 0, check nitrites, once that is 0...check you nitrates. If nitrates is over 10, then do a 3% water change....then for one more week ghost feed the flake food and after a week of ghost feeding, test all three, if ammonia and nitrites are still at 0, your tank is cycled. If nitrates are high, do another 3% water change.

This is also the best time to set up your quarantine tank, so it, and the display can cycle at the same time. Not only will the QT help to keep parasites and disease out of the display, it will help regulate how fast you add new critters....a fish should remain in quarantine for 3 weeks...if after 3 weeks it's healthy, then put it into the display and add a new fish to the QT. Adding too many fish to fast is the #1 reason a beginners tank crashes.

A QT is very cheap and easy to do. 10g tank, paint the outside bottom black or use a towel under the tank. Use one of those cheap HOB filters like Penguin or Whisper brands, then put a piece of PVC pipe or a cheap decoration in it so the fish can feel secure. Attach with a rubberband an air line (no stone) to the bottom of the decoration or PVC pipe, to hold it down to the bottom of the tank. Use a little air pump to power the air line...you are all set. The air line will move the surface water and add oxygen to the tank, a piece of macroalgae will also help to keep the parameters pristine. Test each day, just to be on the safe side, the ammonia...any hint of a spike, do a water change. I would keep ready made up water just in case I needed it for that purpose. In all the years I have done QTs, I have never had to do an emergency water change, but better safe then sorry.

 

[geridoc]

I think Flower has hit the nail on the head - as long as you use tap water you will either see algae and diatoms thrive in your tank, or you will make the manufacturers of phosphate-removing pads very rich (and you very poor at the same time, kind of the symmetry of the universe at work here). You need two things - 1) RODI water, and 2) patience. Your tank is only a month old, and lots of strange things are going to happen during the next few months. As long as your water quality is good (yours is not, since it is based on tap water) these little bumps will iron themselves out. For a FOWLR don't worry about additives or calcium levels, just get the water simple and good.