My saltwater tank is going down the tubes.....

[gatorgubba]

I have a 55 gallon tank for appx. 2 mo. Recently my ammonia levels were up. According to the place we bought it from all we had to do was stop feeding the fish as often. In the mean time we started getting red stuff on the sides of the tank and on the sand. Since then our ammonia levels are back down but now our tank water is green and you can hardly see the fish. All our other levels are fine also. Our starfish has lost all its legs. He is just a body with little extentions on the sides. Once again we called the place we bought the tank from and he told us to turn the filter power up...we have and it's just getting worse. We need help. This is our first saltwater tank and it's not going well. Why is our water green? Why is there red stuff everywhere? What can we do to fix it?

 

[quarryshark]

Well first I would do a very large water change, like 40-50 % and see if that helps. What are the water test result, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc? What does your livestock consist of? Do you have any live rock, it so how much? Are you adding any chemicals to the tank? A pic of the " red stuff" would be great.
These are all things we need to know in order to be helpful.
By the way .....welcome!!

 

[XXFirefighter]

in this case a picture is PRICELESS !

 

[Anemoneman]

Red stuff is doubtless cyanobacteria taking advantage of the high nutrients. So is the microalgae. Need to run aggressive mechanical filtration, changing the media (floss, pads, whatever) often. Large water changes (already mentioned). Much less feeding.
Give lots more details on your setup and we can help.

 

[dinotrex]

Is your starfish still alive?

 

[pipermurphy]

The red stuff is probably cyano, that is a minor thing and will clear on its own over time. I had a bad case of it, as did probably most here and it resolved itself. Some more info would be needed.

 

[gatorgubba]

I have 2 pieces of live rock, live sand, 2 damsels, 1 golby, yellow tang, we had a trigger but he died, 3 crabs and I think that's all we have for now. A picture would be worthless really. You won't be able to see anything but green. I have no idea what kind of filter we have. It's got 2 chambers one chamber has blue hard plastic strips in it and the other chamber has bubbles that push up into a cup that we empty. We only have to empty it appx once a week maybe if that. We were told to stir the sand but that makes the red stuff clumpy.

 

[quarryshark]

definitely do a series of large water changes. This should help the water quality until you can find a fix. The cup you are emptying is a protein skimmer. I helps to pull some of the crud out of the water. If it takes a week to fill up, it probably need adjustment. With the water as bad as you say, It should fill up in a day or 2 if its efficient enough. The Blue stripes may be a mechanical filter, if it is definitely change the filter, frequently. You may want to run some activated carbon to help clear the water up.
We really do need a rundown of your tanks water parameter, this will help us find the problem with you.

 

[jackdp]

Definitely need to see a nitrate and phosphate test result. How often have you been doing water changes and what is your source water? If you're using tapwater, that could be a big part of the problem. There must be an abundance of nutrients in your tank to be fueling such an algae bloom. Water changes with RO or DI water are in order.
Also, make sure you have good flow throughout your tank, algae will often grow in low flow areas. If you don't have any powerheads, now would be a good time to add them. Look into the Maxi-Jet 1200, they're powerful and relatively cheap.
I'm also seeing that your tank is only 2 months old. Although not uncommon for new tanks to go through stages of algae blooms, it sounds like yours is to the extreme.
From your description, it sounds like you may have a CPR Bakpak skimmer. The cup you empty is from the skimmer and the other side contains bio media for biofiltration.
For now do a big water change and get the green water under control. HTH

 

[darb2]

Does the tank get any direct sunlight? I had to move my first salt tank 15 yrs ago for that reason.