I need some help with my new saltwater tank. I got home today from Indy and noticed it had gotten really dirty in the day I was gone. Since I am inexperienced I have no idea what causes this. I do know that I am going to need some help to get rid of it. I bought all of my saltwater from Klaus at coral reef. I have only had my tank for a week and a half. Any help would be great! Thanks!
Green Hair Algae
- Thread starter baueml01
- Start date
Fireworm
New member
You are starting to cycle. Its fine, and part of the game. I would start doing your water changes on a weekly basis, and if you only did 2.5 gallons a week, that would be ok. Also, you could start throwing in your clean up crew such as a few hrmits and a couple handfull of snails.
So do I just scoop out 2.5 gallons of water and buy 2.5 gallons from Klaus? And I start doing this every week right? I will have to go in and buy some crabs and snails as well. All I have is one clown and two little plants. Nothing major yet. I do appreciate the help though. If there is anything else you can think of just let me know
I strongly suggest you test for ammonia and nitrites. If your tank hasn't finished cycling yet, your clown may not make it.
If you tank has finished the ammonia cycle, then your into the next "phase" where you'll go through several different nasty algae blooms and you'll want to add the clean up crew like previously suggested.
If you've got some time, there are several links in the first post of this thread that are well worth reading.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1220315
For the long term, I also recommend buying a RO/DI filter and salt mix so you can make your own water. It'll save you money in the long run, plus Murphy's Law says that when you need water in a pinch none of the stores will be open.
-Matt
If you tank has finished the ammonia cycle, then your into the next "phase" where you'll go through several different nasty algae blooms and you'll want to add the clean up crew like previously suggested.
If you've got some time, there are several links in the first post of this thread that are well worth reading.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1220315
For the long term, I also recommend buying a RO/DI filter and salt mix so you can make your own water. It'll save you money in the long run, plus Murphy's Law says that when you need water in a pinch none of the stores will be open.
-Matt
I saw online that leaving the lights on too long can cause this as well. Is this true. I thought Klaus said to leave the lights on around 8 hours a day or it would kill the plants that I have. There probably isn't much I can do tonight with any of this. I don't have any kind of testers so I hope my clown doesn't die. With it being this late and a Sunday I doubt anything is still open. Klaus said since I was buying live rock and saltwater from him it would be fine to start putting stuff in there slowly. I hope I didn't act too soon.
LornaS
livin on the salty side
Well what Klaus sold you is cured live rock and your tank will go through a quicker cycle than without it. Still as Matt said buy or have Klaus do a water test for ammonia, nitrite, ph and alk. Should be zero, zero, 8.2 ish and about 7-9 meql. You mention plants but I am not sure what you have as most plants don't live in saltwater, could this be macro algae or do you have some coral in there? You need to leave the lights on for up to 8 hours a day as you are simulating coral reef conditions with light up to 12 hours a day. It is normal to go through many algae cycles, the one you are currently going through is probably just diatoms perfectly normal. Some turbo or astrea snails will help take care of it. You must make sure you have mixed water available for water changes and emergencies especially with a relatively new tank.....keep on hand enough to do 50% change in a hurry if needed. Get some ro/di water from Klaus or if in a pinch you can buy water from Meijer water dispensers....I used that water for a couple years before I bought my ro system. Mix the water with your salt mix (about 1/2 c per gallon) to a sg of about 1.025. areate it and heat it and test the ph to match the display once they match.....swap out a bucket full (3 gallons) You should do this once a week if not using a protein skimmer......good luck....sounds like you are on your way.
Fireworm
New member
The clown is pretty hardy. It should make it. I wouldn't worry to much about. What side of town do you live on? It is good to know what local reefers are close so if you run into problems you know who to call.
What plants are you talking about to? Are you talking about macro algae or coral?
What plants are you talking about to? Are you talking about macro algae or coral?
I live in Roanoke, Indiana so really there are no stores that are close. I knew I shouldn't have used the word plants. They are definitely not plants I think they are coral. Klaus said they are similar to anemones but they are not. He said anemones like aged water. I had him write the name on the second one I bought but I have misplaced the bag. I think it was frog..... something. Sorry I am not good with all the names yet. I do appreciate all your help on this. I am going to have to go to coral reef as soon as I can tomorrow and buy a some tests, some snails and other clean up crew, and some water to do a change. The algae seems to be the worst on the live rock. I bought 12 pounds the day I bought my tank and last week I bought another piece. The first 3 pieces have some algae on it but the newer piece doesn't. The bottom has a decent amount on it but I don't think any of it is as bad as it can get. I hope I am catching it in the early stages and can get it fixed as soon as possible.
Fireworm
New member
It just takes time. No worries.
The coral you have sounds like frog spawn. Nice good easy starter coral.
Just so you know, Coral Reef is not open tomorrow. He is closed on Mondays.
Worst case with the algae, if it gets to bad, you can take your rock out and scrub it. Just use like a stiff brush tooth brush, at least that has worked for me in the past. Once you add a bunch of snails and hermits, they will clean a lot of it up for you. I would add more snails than hermits. With being a 29g, you could add a dozen or more snails and be okay.
The coral you have sounds like frog spawn. Nice good easy starter coral.
Just so you know, Coral Reef is not open tomorrow. He is closed on Mondays.
Worst case with the algae, if it gets to bad, you can take your rock out and scrub it. Just use like a stiff brush tooth brush, at least that has worked for me in the past. Once you add a bunch of snails and hermits, they will clean a lot of it up for you. I would add more snails than hermits. With being a 29g, you could add a dozen or more snails and be okay.
Yes the coral that I have is frog spawn. Now that you said it I know that's what it is. I'm glad you said coral reef wasn't open tomorrow cause I was planning on going there. I don't know if it the same but I used a test from a hot tub that has alk and ph on it. The ph seemed right around where it should be. The test is a test where you compare colors. I would say the ph is right around 8ish. What the alk said kind of scares me. It was really blue on that part which is around the 130 mark. I know this isn't good if it is right. I don't know what causes it or how I can fix it. Like I said I don't know if these tests will actually work for aquariums. If you guys can give me some more info about alk it would be great! Thanks again!
So unfortunately I went to Uncle Bill's today to buy some tests for my aquarium. It was the closest place to me that was open. I just got done testing my water and everything seemed pretty normal to me. Not sure if it is. The pH came back right around the 8 color. Which may be just a tad bit low from what I have read. The ammonia came back to 0. The Nitrite was at 0. The nitrate was in between the 5-10 ppm color. The alk was took 9 drops which the box says its 9 degrees dKH or 161.1 ppm KH/GH. I am not sure about this one so any help would be great. The guy at Uncle Bill's thinks I have algae because I am leaving my lights on too long and overfeeding. He said overfeeding causes phosphates which causes algae. Don't know what to do from here besides listen to him and keep the lights on for only around 4 hrs a day. Just not sure about this because of the frog spawn coral. So any help would be great! Thanks again!
I also bought a new filter and a biocube protein skimmer today. I don't know if that will help or if it is just good to have. Thinking about doing a 5 gallon water change since coral reef is open tomorrow. I'm not sure if you guys think it is necessary. Uncle Bill's didn't have any turbo or astrea snails so I will just have to wait till tomorrow for those as well.
I will probably assume that it is the overfeeding that is doing it then. Klaus said the guy who previously owned that biocube had just replaced them. He said there were very few hours on the new bulbs. As far as the tests I performed, were they all normal? I noticed there were some bottles of stuff to eliminate unwanted phosphates. Is this something I should pick up or should I not worry about it?
Fireworm
New member
Don't add chemical to your tank to get rid of the phosphates. You can put some cheato in the middle chamber and do that with algae that is good. You can also run chemi pure elite and help out with it as well. You can also buy different phosphate medias and put them in a filter bag in your filter to.
Ok, I am going to have to go up to Coral Reef tomorrow to pick this up. I just got home from school and it seems like it is continuing to get worse. I would assume it is going to get worse before it gets better, but I am starting to worry. On some of the live rock it is getting to be close to a half inch long. I had the lights on for only 4 hours today.
Fireworm
New member
Is the tank getting any sun light on it? Also, you are right, it will get worse before it gets better. Hermits and some of the bigger snails will help that out to. If it gets to long, a lot of the fish and cleaners won't eat it then, so you have to get in there and cut it back and then they will eat it.
It sees very little sunlight throughout the day. The only way it would get sunlight would be if I open up the blinds. It may catch some sun through the closed blinds but that's about it. I am also starting to notice some deep red spots along the bottom of the tank. Some of the spots are about the size of a dime.
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