Help! About to give up on this

[Leslieb]

I have a 72gal bowfront aquarium with an Emperor 400 and an emperor 280hob, a reef octopus HOB BH-2000 protein skimmer and an ecosmart vortech MP10w es pump. I have 40# sand and 40# live sand and 65# live rock. I have 2 clowns, 1 flame angel 4 hermit crabs 3snails and 1 shrimp.

My parameters today is ph 8.0 amonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20 salinity 1.025
It has been running since December 19th
I cant seem to keep things goin i lost my blue hippo last nite i have no idea what happened it started hiding in rocks the day before then died my water params were just what i just reported i have had a brown algae bloom for at least 3 weeks an cant get under control. I do at least a 20% water change weekly an sometimes 2 times a week. Feeding ocean nutrition brine flakes once daily. the flame angel will not eat I only see him eating off of rocks. my sand is really looking bad from the brown on it now i am seeing what appears to be large pieces of mouse droppings. Not much luck with vacuuming the sand an cleaning it up. I guess the brown algae is really my biggest concern but then the little blue tang died. Oh an i have 2 t5 54w ho fluorescent 12000 2 54w actinic an (4) Pairs, 8 blue moon LED lights. My tank does not look good at all. I am about to give up.

 

[Trueerfan]

Where do you get your water? Can you post pics? The brown might be diatoms, that's normal. I gave up on Tangs, to many problems

 

[Leslieb]

I get my water at lfs. I just cant get rid of the diatoms an cant seem to get the sand lookn good it looks like it has mouse poop all on it

 

[JumperAlex]

Haha, I had the "mouse poop" problem in my tank too. An additional or a more powerful power head will help with that. Or it could just be the positioning of the ones you already have. I am still playing with the positioning of mine and planning on getting a more powerful addition. I have a thread on here called mouse poop if you want to see the pictures.

 

[Leslieb]

ok i will definately get another powerhead. Can u tell me how to put pictures on.

 

[JumperAlex]

If you are on the computer it's pretty self explanatory if you are on an iPhone like I am you either go to where it says advanced in the top right corner next to send and follow the prompts.

 

[Sniperhank]

I think photobucket and other photo hosting websites are the best way, it is how I do it.

The thing about diatoms is that they feed off of silicates. These mostly come from sand, but can also come out of the silicone that holds your tank together. Until it is burnt out, you will have diatoms. They aren't really that big of a deal and you shouldn't get worked up about them, it is a normal part in the life of a saltwater tank that we all have gone through.

One thing I would suggest, is to cut back your feeding. Feeding daily puts un-necessary phosphates into your system, especially when you feed flake food. Doing this now will help you out in the long run. I feed my 55 reef twice a week, that's it. My fish are all fat and healthy.

As for your blue tang death, sorry to hear about it. In the end though, understand that tangs are surgeon fish. They are open water swimmers. In terms of keeping a tang in the home aquarium, they need a 6ft long tank so they have the room they need to swim. Normally, even a 90 gallon tank won't cut it for them.

 

[JumperAlex]

Here is a picture of my mouse poop problem from before.

 

[TheTodd]

That is from the Flame Angel. I got a Multicolor Dwarf Angel recently and that thing's poop was like twenty times the size of my Chromis. Mine eat algea and brine...would not touch pellets. If its sitting on the bottom, you need more flow to keep it kicked up in the water for the skimmer/filter to grab. Crabs or snails that eat detritus might help break it down too.

I agree with the diatoms. Not pretty, but very normal, especially in a new tank. They will eventually disappear. They just do.

I also agree with the Blue Tang being in a small tank. It really seems that people with Tang problems (Ich outbreaks and mystery deaths) almost always have their Tang in less than a six foot tank, which is what most experts and experienced aquarists agree is best for Tangs. People will say. "But it was really small..." My observations are that size of the fish does not matter, its the fact that the tank was too small. There are people that swear their Tang is healthy and happy in their small aquarium. Those are the exceptions to the rule and not big on hoping I can beat the odds on stuff like that. For a 75g, look into things like Tomini or Kole Tangs. They are okay in a 75 (there are a few others that work too).

 

[Chromediggity]

Just question but did you start your tank on Dec 19, 2012? That's some finicky fish to add within 30 days.

 

[Leslieb]

Just question but did you start your tank on Dec 19, 2012? That's some finicky fish to add within 30 days.

Yes I did was it to soon

 

[Leslieb]

Here is a picture also of red stuff on lr growing

 

[Leslieb]

Here is a picture of sand an brown stuff on rocks an skimmer

 

[Sniperhank]

Cyanobacteria. Lives and thrives off of nutrient issues and low flow in aquariums. Same advice as before, cut back on feeding heavily. Add another powerhead maybe to help things out. You should have 50x turnover of the water by the size of your aquarium.

 

[Chromediggity]

I'm wouldn't call myself one of the most knowledgable on here but your tank should go through the brown algae, then a slime algae cycle and then you'll see green hair algae. I waited until then to add my flame angel (about 6 months after set up) and he is doing great. I know he grazes so you may not have enough of what he needs to graze all day.

 

[Chromediggity]

The clowns are pretty hardy so everything else should be okay

 

[Leslieb]

Do I just leave the red algae there or try to remove it

 

[Leslieb]

What should I b feeding the flame angel

 

[Chromediggity]

The slime algae is always a horrible process to go through. You can cut back on your light but its just a stage that you have to go through. Physical removal is the only thing that worked for me until it "just went away." It is going to cover everything but your tank will get established/balanced and it will eventually clear up. They have chemicals to help but I am not a fan of the slime algae chemicals.

 

[marsh]

Yeah I agree, plus your diatoms don't look that bad to be honest. Everyone gets diatoms. It's like chicken pox for your tank