Kindly advise

[Arun Suraj]

Hi, I've got a new tank, and i can see some red color is on the wall of my tank, pls see the images attached herewith, kindly advise, is it smething i need to worry about???

http://i.imgur.com/5N9E0UP.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/xhQHphz.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/yszvx14.jpg?1

[dendrite]

cyanobacteria. Increase flow, change more water, increase skimming, evaluate your feeding, and lighting. It's in every tank . You just don't want it to blossom and cover every surface.

[Tango451]

On another note, how old is your tank and what lighting do you have? Your haddoni looks to be rather bleached and is that lava rock (The red rock in the back or normal live rock covered in cyano?)

[djtuzik]

get a sun sun 4 stage canister filter with UV, put in purigen and phosphate removal media

[Arun Suraj]

Yes that is lava rock and I'm using led is my anemone so bleached?? I've got Japanese wool phosphate and nitrate remover sponge on my sun sun filter I've a uv sterlizer yet to be connected, can I introduce snails to deal with the problem??

[Arun Suraj]

I never switch off the lights can that be a problem,, if so how long shud I switch off the lights for?

[Tango451]

Never? Yes, that would be a problem. They should be on about 10-12 hours a day. At max I would say 14. But you did not answer my question about what kind of lights you have.. metal halides, t5s, actinics etc and wattage. Also how long has your tank been set up? I am asking because as it appears to me your haddoni is going to die due to light starvation and will become unhealthier by the day. Also, you should never put any anemone in a tank that has not been set up for at least 6 months. Please answer these questions so I can help you and the marine species under your care.

[FraggledRock]

do you have a skimmer?

[Sisterlimonpot]

He said that he's using LEDs, the brand or type would help.

I'm also looking at the pictures and trying to see cyanobacteria. I see what looks like diatoms on the glass which leads me to believe that the tank is fairly new.

I would also caution the use of lava rock in a reef aquarium.... probably not the best choice.

I see the potential of some serious problems with your tank. But to be sure, more information is needed.

I for one would like to know how old your tank is?
what type of LED lights are you using? (DON'T leave them on 24/7)
Give a brief description of what other type of equipment you have fro your tank??

[hotelbravo]

Remove lava rock and make your own "legal" live rock from sand and somesort of concrete resin

[hotelbravo]

He posted in another thread that due to his location he cannot own live rock and corals due to it being illegal. However I cant imagine the self made rock method would be illigal. Just give it some thought it would really help you out with your experience.

[Tango451]

whoops sorry, didn't see you mentioned led's though but as sisterlimonpot mentioned, what kind of lights and wattage and more specifics would be very helpful to help you best

[sunshine2382]

He said that he's using LEDs, the brand or type would help.

I'm also looking at the pictures and trying to see cyanobacteria. I see what looks like diatoms on the glass which leads me to believe that the tank is fairly new.

I would also caution the use of lava rock in a reef aquarium.... probably not the best choice.

I see the potential of some serious problems with your tank. But to be sure, more information is needed.

I for one would like to know how old your tank is?
what type of LED lights are you using? (DON'T leave them on 24/7)
Give a brief description of what other type of equipment you have fro your tank??


I was thinking Diatoms too, My tank is fairly new and i struggle with this too, do you think a UV sanitizer would help? If so do you have any recommendations? I have heard some are kind of a rip off and don't actually kill and parasites or bacteria just glow purple. not sure if that's true

[Sisterlimonpot]

diatoms is part of the tanks "maturing process" there's more things going on in a tank even after the nitrification cycle is complete. Diatoms will subside as the tank continues to mature. However I have to agree with others when they say that introducing anemones to a new tank is just a disaster waiting to happen. I'm curious how your dilemma is going to play out.

As for a UV sterilizer, they are a proven method to sterilize what passes through them, however there's no discrimination as to what it kills, good or bad. The problem with UV sterilizers are that they don't have a 100% effective rate, just because they only kill what passes through them.

[Arun Suraj]

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions the wattage I'm not sure it came with the tank 4 strips of LEDs, the tank has been setup for 3 months now i do not have a skimmer and I use a gravel filter and an external filter with Japanese wool that's supposed to remove phosphate and nitrates in my canister filter. I'm looking to connect my uv soon? Can an addition of snails will help remove the bacteria?

[FraggledRock]

your new best friend:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-15-Amp-7-Day-8-Outlet-Digital-Timer-with-Power-Strip-49811/203678165

[johnnyrd]

It would also appear there are two types of anemone in the system...the quadricolor and the haddoni could cause some trouble in the same space. Activated carbon will help here as well. Additionally if the coral "gravel" is legal you should be able to find some dry rock that's legal as well.

Did some research on Indian law.

It's actually illegal to import live rock. However, since your rock will become "live" by being present in a system containing animals, it is legal for you to own it. You can collect rocks from the shore as well, or create a coral based concrete using the "gravel" in your tank to make some interesting shapes. You can't get rock "under" the ocean as collection is banned as well. If questioned its important that the rock you have in your tank was "dead" when you put it in there. There's no way to tell after a few months if it was live when it went in, or became so in the tank, fyi.

It's isn't illegal to own coral either. There is a list of banned coral which you shouldn't have, but you can import and own coral.

[Arun Suraj]

Thank you so much johnny for your kind response, i bought this anemone thinking i cud provide him with some space, when i bought that from the pet store it was cramped up in a small tank, they do not even know what the name of this nemo is, i'm so afraid that it would die in my tank, im feeding it three days a week with shrimp, and it seems happy, these things lives over 100s of years in the sea so i'm trying to get all the hardware i can available from here, it's so difficult to find suitable filters and advise here, sorry if my questions are blunt. Once again thank you all for your valuable suggestions.

[hotelbravo]

With the right lighting you dont need to feed the anemone at all. 3 times a week may be a on the border of high

[Tango451]

I feed my carpet anemones 3x a week with no issue; however, feeding it 3x of week (with the right light which is a necessity) he will grow very very fast. If your tank isn't big enough to handle ~2 to 3 feet (.6 to .9 meters) don't feed that often - they can get big. Would cut feeding down to once a week and make sure the piece of food is at the size of its mouth or smaller. For the other anemone you have, it does not have to be fed as often as the haddoni (the one attached to the lava rock near the clownfish) but you could if you wanted to

[Arun Suraj]

I'm sorry if my question is stupid wot do GBTA eat then I fed him frozen artemia the other day and he seems to like it, wot kind of lights shud I use for the nemos I'm currently having three strips of LEDs that's all and I've kept a CFL lamp outside the tank pointe at the nemo

[johnnyrd]

Artemia are pretty low in nutritional value but better than nothing. Can you get mysis shrimp? You can also buy regular uncooked frozen shrimp from the grocery store and cut it up really fine. Be sure it's uncooked with no preservatives. Don't feed him anything bigger than his mouth (you should see a slit right in the middle of his tentacles, that's his mouth). I prefer to feed smaller pieces about 1/4 of the mouth size and give them a few a few times a week.

When you say LED strip are the strips specifically made for a reef or plants? The goal is to find something that simulates sunlight through water, or sunlight in general. The problem with straight sunlight is it promotes a lot of algae growth which you won't want in there.

I don't recall how big the tank is, but there are what they call "par38" bulbs out there that screw into a regular light bulb socket. They aren't all that cheap though.

http://www.oceanrevivellc.com/ has some good fixtures at good prices. I'm sure there are other folks out here with good suggestions too

Also folks have mentioned the lava rocks. In addition to the toxins in the rock, they are pretty sharp and can easily damage your anemone as they move across it. Try to find some alternative soon, you have a very nice green bubble tip and seem to really care about doing this right.

[Arun Suraj]

I'm feeding my haddoni frozen shrimp cut into pieces but when I tried to feed the GBTA a minute piece of shrimp he ate that and the next day I can see that he has expelled that in a black lump so I'm assuming he doesn't like that, and after I fed him yesterday he seems to be more active now, I'm not sure I cud find mysis shrimp here but I need to check it out, ty for your suggestions

[johnnyrd]

Try a smaller piece of shrimp?