What's Wrong with my tank???

superman

superman

Member
My tank is about 2 years old. It is now going through a diatom bloom, with no lighting change. My rocks are getting covered in Dark red and green slime algae. And I haven't seen a single pod or worm crawling around in months. All My fish, corals, and crustaceans are doing super. But the tank itself doesn't seem so well. Some of the live rock is turning whiteish. Now I've tested Amonia, nitrates/trites, and they all test out 0. what could be the cause of my problems?? It just doesn't make sense because all of the animals are doing so well. It's like the tank itself is dead.:confused: :confused: :confused:
-Superman
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
Have you added anything for the last six months. Have you checked your calcium and ph. Are the starfish new. When did you change your lights bulbs last. Has the temp increased. Have you changed any maintenance routines. There is so many different things and the info given is kindov vauge.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Your alkalinity might be playing a role here as well as ph.
So if you could include test scores for Alk, Calc, and Ph as well as salinity it would help.
Regular maintanence going well? clean filters? Run carbon?
Thomas
 
superman

superman

Member
salinity is 1.025. I have never run carbon. should I?? I have to filters that hang on the back with these ceramic hexagonal cylinders with holes in the middle (inherited with the tank.) I use PC 2 65 watt smartlights (which im told with PC is a lot of light but i dont buy it.) which were changed about 5-6 months ago. The ones before that were a year or two old and burned out. I know this is bad but i've never tested alk. and I have no idea how to raise or lower ph. I have dkh superbuffer and I will give you some readings on ph when I get home from work. Sandsifter added about a month ago. Last fish was a scooter blenny about 5-6 months ago.
 
T

thomas712

Guest

Originally posted by Superman
I know this is bad but i've never tested alk. and I have no idea how to raise or lower ph. I have dkh superbuffer and I will give you some readings on ph when I get home from work. Sandsifter added about a month ago. Last fish was a scooter blenny about 5-6 months ago.

If your alk is low it can cause problems with your Ph and allow the bad algea to grow more if not maintained to proper levels.
In normal seawater at pH 8.0, the carbonate alkalinity accounts for 96.5% of the total alkalinity. Alkalinity can influence the stablilty of PH so this is important and could very well be your problem.
Thomas
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member

Originally posted by Superman
And I haven't seen a single pod or worm crawling around in months.
-Superman
You have a scooter blenny that eats pods, and a sand sifter star that eats just about all the good stuff in a sand bed. You may need to buy some sort of booster sand bed package with worms, pods, etc to help. But I would trade in the sand sifter star myself. Most will starve to death in time.
Have you ever tested for phosphates, silicates? What is your source water? But definitely....alk and pH can play a major role and need to be tested often.
 
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