In need of help!

[wildflower52530]

I need help. I have a 55 gallon salt water aquarium. I have had it up and running for 1 1/2 years. for the last 3 months I have had some BIG PROBLEMS with alge growth. From maroon, lime green and even black. I have to admit that I made a really stupid mistake when I set this up due to not enough money for this hobby. I had bought the aquarium (fresh water setup), stand, air pumps, power heads and crushed coral and salt. Due to life problems it sat in storage for about 6 years. I finally moved into a home and talked my hubby into letting me set it up. I live in a rual area and only have 1 LF. The owner told me all I needed was an undergravel filter and I would be set. Well the sucker I am I fell for it, bought a 40 dollar UGF and set it up. All went well until lately. I have been doing water changes like crazy, all that seems to do is slow the spread alittle. I run my skimmer all of the time. Have tried stirring the substrate daily to help unclog any areas in it to no avail. I need to go to something else for biological filtration. The problem is I havent got more than $100 to put toward this change. Can I do something for this little amount of money or should I just tear it down and give up? My husband almost has me talked into this. I will have to drive 2 hours to get to a reputable store to buy anything but will do it if something can be done. Please help me I really love this hobby but just cant seem to afford the things I need to do this succesfully. Thanks

 

[fishfreek]

should I just tear it down and give up?

NO DONT GIVE UP!

I suspect your algae issues is a direct result of having high nuturents in the tank. You dont give water test readings. I suspect your water peramiters are a bit out of wack.

Have your LFS check for the following if you do not have test kits.

• Ammonia
  Nitrite
  Nitrate
  Phosphate
  Alkinity
  Calcium
  PH

I know some of those readings will have little to do with your alage problem but its good to know what they are at any rate.

My guess is that your nitrates and phosphates are elevated.

Given you have a UGF this also helps support my guess as UGF's will hold nitrates vs remove nitrates. Water changes will help to some degree but unless you remove the source of the nitrates (assuming this is what is causing the algae) will put an end to the problem.

What kind of lights do you have?

Can you describe the algaes appearance. You have given colors but not texture. is it slime like? Hair like?

I can understand your budget and trust me we can get this fixed and stay within your budget.

 

[michealprater]

If i was you, i would remove the ugf. We recently had a member have similar problems. read his post. although this will be stressful but it may be your best bet. dont give up, saltwater is too rewarding.
check this thread.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=1494&highlight=remove+ugf

 

[SW Beginner]

Michael,

Perhaps that link should be a sticky.

 

[reefrunner69]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=9

http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

In addition to Mike's link here are a couple worthy of reading. IMO, the best filtration is a natural filtration, it is also very good at keeping some pest algae at bay.

 

[wildflower52530]

The maroon alge covers all the live rock that is exposed to light. I guess you could say it looks like slime. The black looks the same as the maroon just not as much as it. It sometimes look like it traps the bubbles under it. I try to keep it off just by moving the water briskly then syphoning the chunks of it out but it just grows back in 3 days. I will have the LFS check water peramiters tomarrow and get back with this info then. Thanks for the links to read. I will read them tomarrow when I have time in the mourning.

 

[michealprater]

It sound like algae growth from high nitrates. More than likely from the ugf. I would definatly invest in the kit fishfreek recommended and remove the ugf.

swbeginer, sorry i cannot make threads sticky, because im not a advisor. You will have to talk to a advisor.

 

[fishfreek]

Sounds like Cyano to me. What kind of flow rate do you have in this tank? Can you adjust the flow so areas that this grows on have more current going over them?

I am also interested in the water test results.

 

[wildflower52530]

Well I got the water tests done yesterday. I can see now that I will have to purchase my own for accurate testing. I was told that the Nitrite and Nitrate were both WNL. The ammonia was slightly elevated but not to a harmful level. She could not test for phosphates until they get there next shipment of supplies in 3 weeks but she suspects this is fine as well due to the other test results. Salinity is 33 or Specific Gravity1.0245. She said "Your water looks beautiful, honey!" Ok, so why doest my tank?
For lighting I just have two 40 watt full spectrum florescent bulbs (5,000 k I think)and had an actinic for looks but it burned out and havent had time to replace it (2 hour drive to buy another) I don't have any corals so I havent done anything big for lighting. I was wondering if maybe putting lace rock in for base rock might have something to do with this? Can it cause problems? The slime like algae seems to grow more on this than my live rock.
For water flow all I have is a 350 gph powerhead running the UGF. I change the direction of water flow every time I top off the water.
The Berlin system looks like a good option. How large of a skimmer is needed to keep up with it. I will have to build one. Any suggestions? Venturi vs air stone? Also what kind of sand can you buy from home depot? It seems I have read people buy it there. Thanks for the advice. I will have to try posting a picture later if that would help.

 

[fishfreek]

Ok. Does WNL stand for (Within Normal Limits)?

Do you know the EXACT readings of the kits.

Nitrate of say 30ppm might be within normal limits (not in my book) but it would contribute to your algae problem.

IMO any ammonia and nitrite is above where it should be.

Phosphates have absoulty nothing to do with ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate and can not be derived from any of those results. Phosphates are known fuel for algae.

What do you feed? How often do you feed?

When did your actinic light burn out? Could this have been around the same time frame the cyano started to take over?

The reason the slime is growing on the base rock more is probably because it is not overly covered with coraline yet.

You need more flow. You should shoot for at least ten times the tank capacty in flow rate. Given that you have a PH driving a UGF i doubt your even getting 350GPH as there will be some drain on the PH's capacity when its trying to pull water thru the substrate and filter plate.

There are many good mailorder sites on the net for aquarium goods. I understand your desire to help out the local shop but there are times that convience should take precidence. Your actinic bulb needing replaced and getting some test kits for example. Waiting 3 weeks for a testkit would drive me nuts. Also why drive 2 hours for a bulb when you can order one over the net for probably the same cost if not cheaper after facrtoring in gas and time.

www.petwarehouse.com
www.thatpetplace.com
www.marinedepot.com
www.hellolights.com --> lighting specialist

just to name a few.

Yes a pic would help if not to much trouble.

 

[wildflower52530]

Sorry, medical background taking over I guess. WNL is within normal limits.
The owner said she just compares the colors of the liquid tests to a paper she has for normal and that she would have to do the tests all over again to get exact results. Didn't sound to happy about my prying.
The actinic burned out after this started to happen.
I used to feed twice a day, Flake in the mourning and then anything from brine shrimp to the expensive mixes they have of frozen foods in the evening. I feed my starfish a sinking pellet of somekind once a week. After the slime started to grow I cut this down to only once a day. Poor fish. This hasn't seemed to help, only to make really hungary fish.
Thanks for the web addresses. I guess I am just a tight wad and think I am saving money to drive 300 miles to buy what I need. The more i deal with the LFS the more I see I need to just move on and find a better way of getting things done. I will try to post some pictures. I can get the camera about 11:00 a.m. and then just have to figure out how to post them.

 

[wildflower52530]

 

[wildflower52530]

Cant figure out how to post pictures. Sorry!

 

[targaboy78]

Hi wildflower525300,

To post pictures;
1> Type the message body, as you would during a regular reply.
2> Then, in the "Add an Attachment section", Click [Browse] and select the filename of your picture.
3> Click [Add Attachment]
4> Your image will appear in the "Posted Attachments"section..
5> Repeat steps 2 through 4, until all the images are attached.

I hope this helps.

 

[wildflower52530]

Thanks, I will try again.

 

[fishfreek]

In the first pic what is that off to the left? Do you have a bubble curten or an air stone in the tank? Thats what it looks like.

Yep its cyano. Excess nutruents and low water movement are two main culprits of this.

My 80 gal tank was littered with this junk soon after I added some slightly uncured live rock. The live rock was producing just enough ammonia and other nutruents to fuel the cyano growth. Over a period of 6-8 weeks I had this UGLY growth on my tank. Then as the rock finished its curing process and was releaseing less and less nutrients the cyano started to receed. It is now gone.

You say you feed brine. Is this frozen or live? You also say you feed frozen prepaired foods. I suspect that would be one of the sources for the phosphates.

Feeding your fish once a day will not hurt them. It sounds like you was also feeding to much. (dont feel bad this is common)

Feed sparigingly. Maybe even skipping a day here and there.

Know that in the wild the fish do not know when the next meal is so they will attack each and every meal as if its their last.

On a second note.

You can link images using the tag. If you have a place on the net you can upload your images you can use this. in fact we want people to link images as much as possible as it will not use up our storage space. If you have no method of linking your image to your own web host then you can attach images like you have.

Either way thanks for the photos and trust me your tank is not LOST.

 

[wildflower52530]

The bubbles are coming from a wooden air 'stone'. I know that is weird to do in a salt water tank but I love watching the bubbles rise in the water and figure it might help with dissolved oxygen in the water a little as well.
I feed frozen brine. I haven't bought the expensive mixed combos they have for the carnivore fish for a while. I use the frozen brine, break off a little piece and let it thaw out on a paper towel to get rid of the 'juice' that is left when thawed, then give about 30 brine that the fish eat. I might overfeed the flake but I never see any drifting around the tank after about 5 minutes after feeding. I guess I better be more careful with this.
So do you think I should get rid of the UGF? Add another powerhead? Is the Berlin the way to go? I am probably getting annoying but I need some options please?!? Thanks for your help.

 

[Hara]

low water movement are two main culprits of this.

only thing with this is that I am seeing cyano on the outflows of my Fluvals! Plenty of water movement there, also, I have so much current in the tank that the sand makes drifts, and guess what is on the top???

I am getting rather frustrated seeing this each evening...but I just keep cleaning and waiting it out, it sure does not seem to be hurting anything..just ugly

 

[fishfreek]

your suffering from the other main reason for cyano. And that is excess nutruents.

When I had my cyano outbreak on the 80 I had a 1200GPH pump plus three MaxiJet 1200's (rated at 295GPH each) in the tank and still had cyano.

I had it prior to adding the three PH's and hoped that would help. It did help to some degree as it did not allow it to collect/grow on rocks and the substrate where the current was the most powerful.

Having high flow is not a guranitee you wont have it.

But having low flow will definatly not help maters.

 

[Anemoneman]

What appears as cyanobacteria hanging in high flow areas like powerhead outlets is probably dinoflagelates. It is also a pest and fueled by excess nutrients. It's common name is snot algae.

Mark