please help! (pics)

[Mappelbaum37]

I cant get rid of this algae I have in my tank no matter what i do... I just added E.M. Erythromycin to the tank to try and help the algae but it doesnt work. Its not actually part of the rock. The algae looks like a thin blanket on the rocks and I blow it away with a turkey baster every day and it just comes back. How long does it take for this sh*t to go away. It keeps on getting worse as the days go on, going onto the sand and covering the entire rock. Will a phosphate remover work? How long does it take to work if I apply the phosphate remover made by blue life. Go to www.marinedepot.com and search phosphate control on the top left... Then the first result is the blue life phosphate remover. 1 oz.

PLEASE GIVE ME ANY ADVICE. i WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE ANY HELP----


Thanks...

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1043.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1047.jpg

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[gman08016]

what are your numbers like cal,ph,alk,amonia.R.O. or tap water have you tested your water your useing.

[Mappelbaum37]

I use spring water like the big water bottles used for water coolers. Not tap. All my levels are fine and just to make sure it wasnt my test kits I went to my LFS and they tested the water and it was fine. The phosphate remover is the only think I can think of because algae lives off of phosphates and eliminating the phosphates will make the algae starve. I've thought of everything I can do and this is my last thought so far.

[Mappelbaum37]

should I use the chemi clean again?

[MR PALM BEACH]

I would try to avoid using any chemicals if possible, try to get it taken care of the natural way, water changes, are you over feeding? maybe cut down on the feeding. Some chemicals can be harmfull and also deadly to most inverts and corals so READ THE BOX.

[BangkokMatt]

I would stop using spring water. It contains minerals and many other things. Switch to RO/DI.
Diatoms are a normal stage of new tanks. Some go away quicker than others. Just stick with a good regular maintenance schedule and keep your water in check and they will go away.
Don't add any more chemicals to help the situation. As you have seen, they regularly fail to work and you don't know what you are putting in the water column.
Adding a phosphate remover is a good thing to do. I use Rowaphos in a TLF Phosban reactor.

[Mappelbaum37]

As much as i hate to say it I dont have the space or the money for a phosban reactor. A phosphate remover like the liquid dropper one made by blue life is in my reach.

Just 5 minutes ago i squirted A LOT of slime off the rocks with a turkey baster and the rocks look pretty clean. I wont dose the erithromyican again. I will do a 10% water change tomorrow, add carbon to my fluval, and wait 2 days and run my protein skimmer. I never really like using chemicals but honestly, i think thats the only way to get things done quickly and effectively. I've tried doing it naturally and it if it even works at all, its minimal effect. I have cut down on feeding and lighting and nothing has happened so far.

When you say that I should use R/O water what do you mean by that? you mean I should buy an R/o canister and use that?

[plummike]

you could also place a bag of Phosphate remover in a flow area like the sump. Maybe feed more dry foods too, froozen cubes have a Phosphate containing binder.

[BangkokMatt]

You can buy an RO unit and install it in your apartment or you can buy it from your LFS or supermarket. Check out the drinking water and see if it says RO on it.
You mentioned a fluval. Are you using this for filtration or just to run media (ie carbon)

[JCR's Reef]

Have you tested the spring water? Might be suprised

[Salamander]

The fluval could be part of the problem. As could the water you are using. I'd suggest RO/DI. Beware of supermarket and LFS RO/DI, make sure you test it's TDS. They often don't replace membranes etc as often as they should.

And what are your parameters? "Fine" doesn't help much if you really want useful advice.

How about flow, lighting, skimmer, fuge etc?

[madreef_7K]

These pictures look like your tank is cycling (mine looked exactly like yours)! I don't know how old your tank is.!

What Salt are you using! Also, you HAVE TO switch to RO/DI water. 20% water change every week and put Kent's phosphate sponge (the white stuff). Put half of this sponge (~$7 to 10.00 in LFS) in a 10 micron sock ($10.00 at LFS) and leave it in your sump or filter. Replace this material after 12h with fresh stuff which can be left there for 3 to 4 weeks. Do not use liquid phosphate removers etc or any thing that mixes in the water.

Also, you should get some (3-4) BIG turbo snails (~$15-20). These were the steps I took and my tank changes in few weeks. I could actually see the competition between my turbo snails with algae but eventually the smails won. I would post pictures of my tank before and after but I have never had success in posting pictures here :(.

Anyway, I hope this help. Good Luck

[xcreonx]

Depending on the brand of spring water it could have a TON of silica in it, which can lead to the algae problems you have. Spring water isn't necessarily 'clean', it's kind of a trick in that sense.

Most aquarium stores sell RO/DI water by the gallon, I would look into that first. Otherwise get a RO/DI unit and hook it up. Its really easy to do and worth every penny.

[BangkokMatt]

Mappelbaum37 -Need more info on the fluval

[mikexreefer]

I agree with madreef_7k. Your tank still looks like its still cycling. I would give it some more time. It should all disappear after time. I wouldn't suggest using any chemicals. Water changes and algae cleaners would also help. Hope this helps!

[Mappelbaum37]

the tank has been running for 1 year now and about 2months ago I re did the tank. My steps were that I took out all fish corals rocks and water and put it into a bucket. I switched my crushed coral to 40 lbs of non live sand and 20 lbs of live sand. Then I put in about 80% of the same water again and added 20 lbs of live rock to the tank to currently make the tank have 100 lbs of live rock. Just 2 weeks ago I started having major algae problems. I have a prism protein skimmer, fluval 405 maxi jet 1200 w/ quick filter and a koralia #3. I dont have a sump so thats why i needed the hang on the back protein skimmer. Today I'm going to do a 10% water change. The water I am using is waterboy but I'm going to use poland spring water next week. I use oceanic sea salt mix. It garuntee's no phosphates and/or nitrates. I dont understand why this would all start happening now... The tank has been running for a year. The only explanation is the recent tank change I told you about

Before:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture950.jpg

after: (time of red slime algae problem)

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1005.jpg

I dont have a *today* picture but you get the idea...

[BangkokMatt]

Firstly, stop using the Fluval as a ilter. They trap nitrates and your algae is feeding of those. Your live rock will filter for you. Continue a series of water changes (try 20% every 3 days) and turn your lights off for a day or 2 . That should start to improve things

[Mappelbaum37]

Since I dont have a sump the only thing that works for my type of setup is my fluval and my prism. In the very near future I plan on buying an aqua c remora pro as my skimmer and a cpr aquafuge for a refugium since both of them are hang on the back items.

My plan is to do a 10% water change today, put carbon back in my fluval, run my prism protein skimmer, on Saturday do a 10% water change and on sunday leave the lights off. Aside from all of that I will buy some more snails over the weekend. What someone told me was that if this form of algae is coming off the rocks when I squeeze water at it then its not algae its a bacteria and the only way to get rid of it is to cut back the nutrients and bacteria in the tank... Thats why i used erithromycin. I would say my tank is cycling but its not really algae, its a bacteria I guess.

[Mappelbaum37]

* Appreciate any feedback and advice so far- You guys always help me the most and come through for me so I appreciate all of your advice and help in advance.

[vtminter]

How old and what spectrum is your lighting? I made the mistake of going with very cheap lighting once and the brown algae was through the roof. Old lights will also do it too. As they age they go into a more red spectrum and this will cause a lot of unwanted algae.

[Mappelbaum37]

I have t5 216 watt w/ moon light fixture. 2 tubes= 10k 2 tubes= actinics One actinic tube is 420 mn the other actinic tube is 460 mn. The reason for the 420 mn tube is because when the lights were shipped to me one of the actinic 460 mn tubes broke and they shipped me a 420 mn tube and said that everything should be fine.

[justinm0424]

You need to go and get RO/DI water from a LFS or buy a ro/di unit ($150). I've tested bottled water and it's about 200ppm and my tap is only 170ppm. good ro/di's should have 0ppm and lfs's should always have under 5ppm. i'd do a 10% change every 3 days for about a month and it should go away. I bet it's the silicates and other minerals in the "spring" water

[madreef_7K]

Ok! so you redid your tank and two weeks later you started to have this problem. I can bet that your tank is recycling and should recover from it in next few weeks (5 to six weeks!).

You DO NEED RO/DI water (:) I am sorry for being insistent on RO water). Also, you should remove all or any media from your fluval filter and replace it with Phosphate sponge. (my tank has no machenical filteration at all. I have sump but it is for skimmer, heater etc). And I agree with Bangkokmatt, you do need to change 20% water every 3 days for for atleast 5 to six times to replace the cycling water in your tank (I did the same thing). Also turn off your lights for 2 days completely (Corals and fishes will be fine, I did that too! also reduced my photoperiod to 6 h instead of 10 h)

As far claims by salts, I don't really buy them. I have chosen salt (reef crystal) based on popularity (I know many will say popularity depends upon many factor!) because many of the reefers here on this board and other places are using these salts (IO or reef crystal) and MAJORITY of them are not having many problems! so you might want to look into salt as well. Also, adding Ca regularly (I added Kent's turbo ca for first few months) will give coraline algae edge over the other bad algae thus creating more competition for the neutrients!

Other than that, leave your tank alone and let nature take its course. :)

Good luck!

[Mappelbaum37]

if I buy an RO/DI unit which one should I buy?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pet_supplies.cfm?c=3578+4395

If I buy this does it mean I can use tap water for my water changes or should I keep on using bottled water? If I have to keep using bottled water then whats the point of buying the unit?

Also, are there going to be any replacement parts I need to buy for cleaning it out?

[madreef_7K]

I have a coralife RO-DI system shown in the link. you can research and see if you can find it cheaper. You can connect it directly to tap water and collect the pure water from other end! but the system runs very very slow. It takes a day to fill up 50g drum!!

http://www.proaquariumsupply.com/index.php?aquarium=detail&detail=57

As for part, you have to change the membrane every two weeks or so depenpeding upon your tap water quality.

And forget the bottled water (You can drink as much you want but your marine tank needs even more pure water, the filtered through RO system :) ) Things we do for our tanks! Dammm!

Hope this helps.

[justinm0424]

you plug it into your water line and into your drain line and it'll purify your tap water. It does waste water though like for every gal it makes it drains 2 so for 50gals it uses 150 gals total. You will have to replace the filters every 6 months to a year depending on how much you use it (many people also hook it into their fridges or other drinking devices).

[Chef Reef]

http://www.purewaterclub.com/
simple... look under where it says this:

Categories

A) Drinking/Reef water systems (11)
B) Reef water systems (14)
C) Accessories (22)
D) Filters (28)

and pick reef water systems.

the price for a Ro/Di unit runs from $85 to $155 depending on model and GPD.

this is the cheapest place i have found. i can also get all 6 stages including the membrane replaced for about $60 bucks including shipping. most other places w/membrane is over $100 before shipping.

[BangkokMatt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11658703#post11658703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mappelbaum37
Since I dont have a sump the only thing that works for my type of setup is my fluval and my prism.

It doesn't matter that you don't have a sump - you should't use the fluval as a filter. As I stated before, your LR will do the filtering. The use of the filter will only make your problem worse. Just use the fluval as a media container.

[hermitage]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11658566#post11658566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mappelbaum37
The water I am using is waterboy but I'm going to use poland spring water next week.


I really would stop using Spring water. If you can't afford an RODI unit...at least go buy some distilled water. Spring water has all kinds of minerals and additives for taste.

[madreef_7K]

I meant change the membrane every two months and not every two weeks!

[Mappelbaum37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11661783#post11661783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BangkokMatt
Just use the fluval as a media container.

What do you mean by media container? Right now I have the sponges in it and 4 containers. One container holds carbon, the other holds pieces of live rock, and the other 2 hold the white noodles.

Now, if I get this RO system do I have to run it all the time? Is there plumbing to the sink involved? Do I buy RO or RO/DI unit? I'm interested in purchasing this because it seems like a must for my tank. my spending limit is maxing out at $150-175 due to me being broke. =( also I've seen people adjust the unit so it is posted on the wall behind the aquarium but I dont understand whether you just use tap water for the water change and then let the unit run when you add the water or do you hook it up to the sink so all the water that comes out is purified and ready to go...

Thanks a lot

P.S. The lights have turned off at 9:00 tonight and will be off all day tomorrow...

[BangkokMatt]

Take the sponges out of the fluval. They trap nitrates and algae eats nitrates. Not sure what the white noodles are but if they, again, sound like a nitrate factory. Remove them by a handful a day until they are gone. Iwould only put LR, carbon and phosphate remover in the fluval. No sponges, no nothing else.

[Mappelbaum37]

the link isnt working right now but what I think you're talking about is the fluval lab series phosphate remover. If you could go to www.drsfostersmith.com and search phosphate remover. The fluval lab series phosphate remover filter media should be the first one to come up.

Also I'm still curious about my last post about the RO units

[madreef_7K]

RO units connect to your normal fosset like garden hose! you turn the fosset on only when you need the ro water. (usually people have a bucket or 30 g rubbermaid trash can will also do!). I usually trun mine on at night and turn it off in the morning (I have a float valve in my rubbermaid tub to stop the flooding). The waste line goes in the drain of the sink. I recommend go to a LFS who have this system and take a look at it first hand. That will help a more than reading what we are trying to describe here.

[mahalamata]

RO (Reverse Osmosis) are good for aquarium use,but RO/DI(Reverse Osmosis/Di ionization) units have and extra stage to the filterting cycle containing a resin (look like tiny beads)that polishes the water even further,giving you as close to 0 TDS as possible. The extra DI costs a little more but it has been the best investment i have made for my tank.mine is connected via washing machine tap to my water supply(you can also use saddle clamps),from here the pure water outlet fills two 30 liter containers,the waste water goes to another for plant watering and general garden use.Once the two water containers are full the RO/DI unit turns of(with a float switch,or if you are diligent turn it of yourself) and i use one for top off water(do not use tap or spring water at all) and the other i mix with salt and use it for my water changes.on my 20g system this lasts me a month,at witch point i start over.
By the sounds of it moving your LR around and changing some of the sand has caused a new mini cycle in your tank.If i change sand i always use live sand all around to prevent this from happening.Also if there are phosphates or other nutrients in the water the algae is using it up hence you get '0' readings on your tests.If you get PhosBan or PhosGuard or something like it you can place it,in the bag provided,on the maxi jet so water runs trough it.
If you continue to use your Fluval canister take all the floss or sponges out,giving another potential placement for your phosban and any other media you choose(carbon,chemi pure etc).you can have floss and sponges in there but i would change them every 3 days.because they collect all the detritus from your water column and they start to rot thus releasing nutrients into your water,hence the term "nitrite factories".
Keeping up with your water changes with pure (RO or RO/DI)water,10% or maybe 20% at a time will help shorten this new cycle and i am sure that you tank will look great again very soon!!
Finally sorry about the essay but i'm trying to put across all my thoughts and suggestions!

Good luck buddy

[Mappelbaum37]

Thanks a lot... I appreciate all your help.. The lights have been off all day and I plan on turning them on tomorrow... The tank has a little odor to it though... I cant tell if the corals are all ok because the lights havent been on and they didnt open up but not only is there an odor but when I look on the sides of the tank its cloudy... If this is from the medication I dosed on sunday I did a water change so I dont know why it would still be cloudy. (and I added carbon to my fluval and just started up my protein skimmer)

[madreef_7K]

Sounds good for now. Don't worry too much about corals. In my experience they are much hardier than what I have read about them here or else where. Think about these coral in a small bag in a dark contained for two to three days during shipping. Yet they manage to come back to life in your tank. Just follow the routine methodically and you will see the results in few weeks.

Good luck.

[Mappelbaum37]

When I turn my lights on tomorrow and knowing my luck all the *algae* is still on the rocks after I've repeatedly squeezed it off with a turkey baster, used erithromyicen and did a 10 gallon water change I will know that it is a bacteria, not algae right? If it is a bacteria, do I just do what I have normally been doing with the water changes and the turkey baster. I would suggest cutting back on lighting but if the lights have been off for more than 24 hours now and the bacteria is back on the rocks with no lighting, then its not the lights I would be concerned about. (I'll post pics tomorrow)

[BangkokMatt]

If you have cyano bacteria leave your lights off for 3 days. Only actinics on the 4th. Lights back on and water change on the 5th.
This thread explains all
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1240837&highlight=cyano+sk8r

[Mappelbaum37]

Its thursday and the tank looks A TON better. I plan on doing another 10% water change on saturday or sunday depending on my schedule. There are still 3 or 4 spots in the tank with the algae but it looks A MILLION TIMES better then it did a couple days ago... The water isn'nt cloudy or smelly anymore. I have some pics here for you.... (all corals are fine, as well as fish)

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1059.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1060.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1062.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1063.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1064.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc251/mappelbaum37/Picture1066.jpg


*I will continue to use the turkey baster to clean some spots in the tank and have made an executive decision to buy a refugium to help stabilize things.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3618&Nty=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&N=2004&Ntt=refugium&Np=1

*Everyone, thanks a ton for your help.. I really appreciate it.