Tank cleanliness questions???

[jball49]

In our 20 gallon tank we keep getting red speckles on stuff, is that normal? Also there is an algae type film on the inside of the glass, my wife cleaned it off with a scrubber made for that and it was back in 24 hours. Is that normal and can you get rid of it? Thanks in advance for your help. I know the answers are probably somewhere here but I am so challenged from a brain disease that I have trouble searching.

[mudskipper1]

the red speckles are likely just Coralline algae which is a good thing, you don't want it on your viewing panel of glass, but on the rocks and everywhere else it is fine. The film on the front is also pretty normal, depending on the nutrient and light levels in the tank, the film will grow back at different rates...most people just use Mag-Floats (or similar) daily to prevent the build up of this film, and the coralline on the glass. Hope that helps.

[drparker]

Hey jball,

Glad to here the tank is coming along. Is the red kind of soft and slimly or hard and flaky?

As mud skipper said some build up is normal. I have to clean mine every other day. One of the biggest mistakes new hobbyist make is feeding to much. What do you have in the tank and what and how much are you feeding?

[aquaticdiver]

get some nassarius snails. those things are amazing and keep my tank and sand bed super clean

[reefscape15]

I'm in agreement with Dr. parker. I used to feed every day, like the fish food container says. Why wouldn't they want you to feed more than you have to? When you run out of food, you need to buy more! But anyways, I had a problem with Cyanobacteria for about a year, and then finally reduced my feedings way way down and things just seemed to start doing better, and it was an all over healthier system. Now I only feed a small amount of flakes once a week, a veggie clip with a little algae once a week, and some frozen krill or live ghost shrimp every 10-14 days for my Angler. I have a Wartskin Angler 3.5", Bi-color Pseudochromis 3", False Lemonpeel Dwarf Angel 4", and Rusty Dwarf Angel 4". I also have a 2.5gal HOB fuge that is loaded with pods and algaes of various types, and some of my rock and sand has been going for almost 6 years, so i can get away with very limited feedings.

[jball49]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14986167#post14986167 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drparker
Hey jball,

Glad to here the tank is coming along. Is the red kind of soft and slimly or hard and flaky?

As mud skipper said some build up is normal. I have to clean mine every other day. One of the biggest mistakes new hobbyist make is feeding to much. What do you have in the tank and what and how much are you feeding?

Just 2 Damsels and it looks soft and slimy. She feeds them once a day only what they eat in 3 minutes.

[mudskipper1]

if it is soft, it is likely cyanobacteria, which does well with excess nutrients. I have found that increasing flow can prevent growth, but the ultimate answer is to keep nitrates and phosphates down. Easiest way to do that is to feed minimally. I too only feed once or twice a week, and use a fuge, skimmer, GFO to remove nutrients.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14999375#post14999375 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mudskipper1
if it is soft, it is likely cyanobacteria, which does well with excess nutrients. I have found that increasing flow can prevent growth, but the ultimate answer is to keep nitrates and phosphates down. Easiest way to do that is to feed minimally. I too only feed once or twice a week, and use a fuge, skimmer, GFO to remove nutrients.

I agree---make sure you have a power head directed right at it

[jball49]

Well I took a sample in to aquatic store for them to test. The owner told me it is a bacteria/fungus ? sorry can't remember what he called it but said it is caused when the weather changes like it has here. He said that there large tank has some and that there are chemicals that can take care of it but they just reduced the temp on theirs a little bit and that helps. Since we are still cycling he recommended against using any chemical so we reduced the temp down to 76-78 range as we had it running at 80F. Oh and the sample of the water showed 0 for the levels on the 2 things you worry about right now, I think nitrates are one but not sure??

[mudskipper1]

nitrates are indeed one, and phosphates are the other. the problem with phosphates is that they are hard to test for effectively. They often leech out of the LR, and then are immediately used up by the algae, so the test reads zero, but the algae is still getting it.

Here is a link about Cyano (red slime):
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diatomandslimemicroalgae/a/redslimealgae.htm