Need some help and advice....

[jfahim]

So i started my tank in the beginning of July. Absolutely loved just looking at sand and water move around! So I went through the disgusting cycle...everything had that hairy brown algae growing everywhere and then it just disappeared. I do 10% water changes every month. Everything seems to be doing just wonderful. I added a 20 gallon sump/refugium w/ live rock and sand.
My tank has about 60 lbs live rock 1.5 - 2 inch sand bed. And I believe I have red slime which I cant seem to get rid of. Tangs seem to be nipping at it here and there, but I would just love a sparkling white sand bed. I do water changes, dose purple up daily, top off with RO/DI from the LFS. I have a Koralia 2 and a Koralia 3 with the sump, i believe that is plenty of movement. And my parameters all seem fine.
PH 8.3 temp 81 calc 430 nitrite 20 nitrate 0 ammonia 0. Take a look and let me know.
Lights are 4x65 PC 2 actinic 10 hrs 2 white 9 hrs and moonlights

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21383&catid=member&imageuser=4260


http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21388&catid=member&imageuser=4260
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21385&catid=member&imageuser=4260

 

[georgelc86]

The first question most members will ask you is are you using tap water or RODI water. Also, have you tested for phosphates. Also looks like your running your lights for 19 hours. That may be a bit much. What corals do you currently have in your tank.

 

[Tangs Rule]

I would stay away from the purple up.

 

[jrobbins]

just to clarify, i assume you mean that your nitrates are 20ppm, not your nitrites. if you really are showing 20ppm for nitrites that is a sign that something is pretty wrong. if it is 20 nitrates, people might say it is high, but in my opinion it isn't that big a deal.

one thing i can think of is the refugium. when you added it, did you use cured rock, etc when you started it up? if not this could explain the nitrites and the cyano. also, a fuge can be a detritus trap if there isn't enough flow and/or enough critters in there to consume it all.

otherwise, i agree with Tangs Rule. Stay away from purple up and the other snake-oil.

and finally, upping the waterchanges certainly wouldn't hurt

 

[duke62]

ur lights are on way to long.i put my actinics on at 10 am then daylights at 3:30 daylights go off ayt 8 and actinics off at 9:30.and that is a little long in my opinion i just like to watch at night.dont use any artificial ph,cycle,etc etc.try to get whatever is wrong naturally.more water movement,water changes with ro/di,less lights.do u have a skimmer if not i would purchase one.do not overfeed give just .and give enough so within a minute the food is gone from tank.do u have a cleaner crew.serpent stars snails ,hermits they can help alot.thats all i can think of right now

 

[jfahim]

well first, the lights are on at the same time, so my actinics come on at 8am then white at 9 am then the white goes off at 5 pm then the actinics at 5...hope that clarifies.
as far as phosphates, i do not have a test for them yet. but i am running phosban and carbon in the sump.
next, the red slime was present before the addition of the sump. the rock i put in there was from my display tank, however i did add a bag of live sand from lfs. not much change in the amount of of red slime.
if i should stop using purple up....what should i use to dose calcium daily...a reactor is not possible at this point.
my corals are.... frag kenya tree, 3 frags of pulsing xenia, 5 small rocks with about 5-20 polyps on each, frag if acro, and a frag of pink branch?? something like that

 

[jfahim]

and the top off is ro/di from lfs

 

[jfahim]

yes, snails and hermits in the tank, but never want to buy anymore...the crabs keep killing eachother and both crabs and snails are knocking my corals down!

 

[jrobbins]

if i should stop using purple up....what should i use to dose calcium daily...a reactor is not possible at this point

if you insist on adding stuff to your tank, ESV's b-ionic is good.

 

[duke62]

use oceanic salt.i read an article about salt water snails and how for some reason or another they dont last more than a year in an aquarium but u still need them to clean.and hermits as well.if your worried about corals falling glue them to rock.they are a very important thing in my opinion to have in your setup.as for water at lfs i am a big fan of making my own water.they use cheap salt and u never know what falling in their water at the store.i have 15 hermits,15 snails,3 sabd sifting stars soon to be 2 and conch for sifting under sand.my corals are never knocked over nor do i worry cause they are glued

 

[duke62]

also daylights are on for 2 long.if im givin bad info someone chime in.i dont believe daylight should ne on more than 5 hours.and pc lighting will not be good enough for sps.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Never dose anything that you do not test for. Daily dosing without testing can mess up your tank.

 

[jfahim]

well i just changed the daylight hours to 11-4...lets hope and see
btw..my next purchase will be an ro/di system...so until then lfs water for now

 

[jfahim]

i dose the same amount every day and calc stays between 420-435 daily....i hear so many mixed reviews about purple up. i am going to change one thing at a time until i can figure this out.

 

[MikeyZO]

All the above methods are absoultely correct as far as preventing cyano, what with water flow and nirtate and phosphate reduction, ro/di use, etc. But in my experience I've found that once you get it, regardless of how you got it, it is a b*tch and a half to get rid of. The only way I've been successful with removal is, during a water change, siphon out as much of it as you can. Dont worry about sucking up some of the sand bed or what not, just get the cyano out. Then kill your lights for 2 or 3 days. Your corals will be ok for that long. The lack of light will basically kill off the remaining bacteria and your tank should be clean. Then you have to go back to the above preventative measures, making sure you have enough water flow, checking your phosphate level and lowering it and nitrates if need be. If after a few weeks, you see small signs of the cyano starting up again, kill the lights again for a few days. This is, imo, the best way to battle it once you have it. But in the long run you definately want to listen to whats above and figure out the source that is causing the outbreak. Remember, cyano is not really an algae, its a bacteria. If all else fails you could always fall back on eurythromiacin (sp?) to help battle it, but I would recommend against it unless you have no other choice and your tank is being adversly effected by it. Just remember to try and find out the cause to prevent further outbreaks.

Btw, its not really unusual for new tanks less than a year old to go through cyano or algae outbreaks here and there. So even if all your water parameters check out, dont kick yourself in the ass. The tanks take many months to reach a happy equilibrium and finally stabilize out.

 

[juggernaut]

So i started my tank in the beginning of July. Absolutely loved just looking at sand and water move around! So I went through the disgusting cycle...everything had that hairy brown algae growing everywhere and then it just disappeared. I do 10% water changes every month. Everything seems to be doing just wonderful. I added a 20 gallon sump/refugium w/ live rock and sand.
My tank has about 60 lbs live rock 1.5 - 2 inch sand bed. And I believe I have red slime which I cant seem to get rid of. Tangs seem to be nipping at it here and there, but I would just love a sparkling white sand bed. I do water changes, dose purple up daily, top off with RO/DI from the LFS. I have a Koralia 2 and a Koralia 3 with the sump, i believe that is plenty of movement. And my parameters all seem fine.
PH 8.3 temp 81 calc 430 nitrite 20 nitrate 0 ammonia 0. Take a look and let me know.
Lights are 4x65 PC 2 actinic 10 hrs 2 white 9 hrs and moonlights

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21383&catid=member&imageuser=4260


http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21388&catid=member&imageuser=4260
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=21385&catid=member&imageuser=4260

Just my 2 cents but I'm willing to bet that your Phosphates are running a little high!! It is imperative that you acquire and test for this regardless if it comes from a lfs RO-unit when was the last time they changed their cartridge's on the unit?!? You would also want to cut back on the feedings as this can be a big contributor as well.



My light cycle would be:

1 hour of actinic starting @ 6PM

10Hrs of 10k white from 7PM to 5AM

1 Hour of actinic 5AM to 6AM

I did this avoid the midday heat of New York summers,
However my fuge's light cycle was purposely run opposite of the tank as this would help to keep the Ph in check somewhat since I would dose a gallon of kalk a day during the summer to help with evaporation and use turbo calcium during the winter months. I have to admit though my calcium would run about 480 to 530 ppm though.

Hope this helps

 

[reefman]

high bio load-nitrate, low bottom flow, hi po4, weak lighting, not enough sand stirrers
all contribute to red slime on sand.

my advice in this case: get a brittle star n increase flow to the bottom. your protein skimmer may not be efficient

 

[Bob 1000]

The LFS here don't know much, but are good people... Get some RO from me instead,, I have a secret ingredient, that will save you money and time...

 

[Bob 1000]

Talk to Bob,,, He'll help,,lol..

 

[mluz]

I also had cyano a few months after I started my tank. It was growing on the rocks and sand, in fact it completely covered the rocks.
What I did to get rid of it was on every water change I siphoned as much as I could first from the rocks and then later from the sand. Cut down my feeding by more than half. It took over a month with weekly small water changes and skimming very wet.