SaltWaterN00b

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This is 2 things actually,

1. The sand is blowing around the tank, i know this is normal until it settles but it is building up a little on the rock, is this ok or should i brush it off?

2. I noticed on 2 parts of the sand now has like a red tint to it, the sand when i put it in was white, there was no red at all. Is this something I should worry about? Whats the solution if it is?
 

nanoreefer22

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1. With sand on the rocks, you could always brush/blow it off but it's probably gonna go right back if your flow pattern doesn't get changed.

2. The sand turning red is most likely cyano or it could be diatoms depending on what you see as "red". Both of these are problems and should be dealt with at this point before them become worse.

What are your water parameters and how old is the tank?
 

SaltWaterN00b

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Tank is a month old, from what i can remember the only thing not what it should be is the ammonia its at .25 (one down from 0 on the color chart), the Saltinity is a very little higher then it should be.

Emporer 400 filter, 2 pumps, 30lbs LR, 2" LS bed

Six line Wrasse, some bristleworms and some brittle stars is what live in the tank.

How do i take care of it?
 

bigbris1

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For a new tank sand blowing around is due to the factthat the sand is not yet "weighed down" with bacteria, etc. After a few months it won't blow around as easy.

The red stuff sounds like cyano & that would be due to your water conditions & usually in low-flow areas of the tank. Do you have all the neccessary testing equipment?
 

SaltWaterN00b

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The test kits i have are Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH out of those the only problem i see is an Ammonia of .25 which is the first down from 0.

The tank is a month old, dumped Nitrex in it and it dropped everything except the Ammonia to 0, it did drop the ammonia but not to 0.

Should I wait it out, is this part of the process?
 

SaltWaterN00b

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I did read alot about the cycling process but never saw anything about red sand, as for treating with chemicals i wouldnt because i do have a fish in the tank and i dont know if the treatment will do anything to the fish or not.

Ive been told by 2 people to wait it out though so ill see if anything gets better.
 
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saltwaternoob give it time for the ammonia to get converted into nitrites and nitrates... can u give the fish to someone u can depend on that can care for the fish in the process...

if you still have ammonia u dont have a high enough bioload as of yet
 

marrone

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By using Nitrex the tank is cycled and ready to go. You shouldn't have to worry about checking readings at the moment. Just make sure you Ph is about 8.0 and you have good water breakage.

The red sand is mostly Cyano, which was mention above. To help remove it you should try and siphon it out and increase your water flow. If this doesn't work you can try a # of treatments that will remove it. Since this isn't a reef tank it's not that big of a problem outside of how it looks.
 

Chiefmcfuz

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Last edited:
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SaltWaterN00b said:
The test kits i have are Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH out of those the only problem i see is an Ammonia of .25

marrone not going against what your saying but going by what he has wrote he said he has a .25 in ammonia... which not might be alot but can climb rapidly and kill his fish eventually if not converted and cycled...

i dont no after a month u def. should of seen a cycle...

i forget saltwaternoob how big is ur tank, how much live rock, and what livestock u got in the tank.... the only thing i can think of is that the fishload or bioload is to much for the amount of denitrifying bacteria that he has currently in his tank....
 

marrone

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Chiefmcfuz said:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-beginners/10991-how-eliminate-red-slime-algae-cyno.html?highlight=slime+algae
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/7332-red-slime-algae.html?highlight=slime+algae


Here are 2 threads on Cyanobacteria or red slime algae. Also you can try and do an advanced search and look there for Brown Slime algae, Green Slime algae Cyanobacteria, red slime algae or cyano.


Marrone look at his tank thread, looks like he's got mushrooms in there.

This tank was going to be mostly fish with a couple of pieces of coral in the tank, like mushrooms, but nothing big. He wanted to have a couple of clowns and such. So it's shouldn't be that big of a deal at the moment and actually cyano and such hits almost every tank from time to time.
 

marrone

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Tonyscoots84 said:


marrone not going against what your saying but going by what he has wrote he said he has a .25 in ammonia... which not might be alot but can climb rapidly and kill his fish eventually if not converted and cycled...

i dont no after a month u def. should of seen a cycle...

i forget saltwaternoob how big is ur tank, how much live rock, and what livestock u got in the tank.... the only thing i can think of is that the fishload or bioload is to much for the amount of denitrifying bacteria that he has currently in his tank....


He is using Nitrex in the tank which will covert all the ammonia and nitrites over to nitrates and then help to eliminate some of the nitrates. The Nitrex will take care of any spikes or mini-cycles that the tank is going through until the bacteria builds up to the point where the tank doesn't need the Nitrex anymore.

It's very safe and works just fine. If I'm not right the tank has been running for 1 - 2 weeks now.
 

marrone

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Chiefmcfuz said:
Nah dude I know, just trying to help. If the husbandry is correct then I agree add circulation to the surface of the sand and rock and if that doesn't work Red Slime eliminator or something.
It's funny but it seems that everyone goes through a cyano outbreak every so often, no mater how long the tanks being running. You see it on RC quite abit where the tank is perfect and then an outbreak all of a sudden from nowhere.

I've never used Red Slime but have used Chemi-Clean and that work, so I'm sure it's the same junk and it will do the job.

Funny but I wonder if the tank will end up with more corals than fish in the end anyway.
 

SaltWaterN00b

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OK Week one

PH 7.8
Saltwater Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

Hydrometer
31ppt 1.023


Week 2

PH 8.0
Saltwater Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

Hydrometer
31ppt 1.023

Currently
PH 8.2
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Hydrometer
*Post later i forgot*

Items in the tank:
Emporer 400 filter, 2 pumps, 30lbs LR, 2" LS bed

Six line Wrasse, some bristleworms and some brittle stars is what live in the tank. Fish seems happy, swims alot and eats like a pig.

This is a 55g tank running for exactly 2 weeks and 4 days 4 hours and 7 mins..
 

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