Air bubbles underwater??

[CoryB]

Here is a brown slime and air bubbles trapped under it on some of my live rock.

Is this cyano? What is the best way to combat it. I do a 20% pwc a week is this not enough. All my parameters are good. I feed once every other day. I have no CUC is it time to invest in one?

 

[erichm20]

Tough to tell for sure with just the blues on. Water changes, siphoning it out, feed less and run GFO would help.

 

[CoryB]

I'll take a better pic today.

What is GFO

 

[melosu58]

We have a good article about it in our sw articles section.

 

[erichm20]

I'll take a better pic today. What is GFO

Granulated ferric oxide

 

[CoryB]

Do i need some type of reactor for that or is it a liquid type additive? I don't really want to rely on additives. I'm going to up my pwcs and shorten my light cycle and use chemicals as a last ditch effort.

 

[Massimo]

Is it stringy snotty looking? Could be dinofallegates. It's a bacteria like Cyanobacteria that feeds off of light and nutrients In the water.

 

[CoryB]

Yes it's stringy in the sand and snoty on the rocks like a sinus infection.

 

[Massimo]

Yes it's stringy in the sand and snoty on the rocks like a sinus infection.

what are your water parameters ?

 

[CoryB]

Everything I can test for is perfect. I ordered a reef testing kit l, the one that has mag, phosphates, calcium. But it won't be here till Christmas.

 

[Massimo]

Everything I can test for is perfect. I ordered a reef testing kit l, the one that has mag, phosphates, calcium. But it won't be here till Christmas.

do you have corals, anemones? Anything that requires light to grow?

 

[CoryB]

I have one bubble tip nem.

 

[Massimo]

I have one bubble tip nem.

you need to cut down on the lighting, 4-6 hours a day, lots of water changes, and add GFO in a hang on back filter. It's a long, long, long battle. But you can over come it. I've been through it, I know the feeling of looking at your tank and seeing brown crap everywhere.

I remember during my outbreak of dinofallegates, I went on a school trip to New York City, I told my parents to turn my lights on and off in the morning and night. Well guess what? They left my lights on for 7 days straight. My dad also overfed a ton. When I got home after the trip my tank was literally brown. I couldn't see the inside of the tank... It was really bad. 2 months later it was all cleared up!

 

[Massimo]

Also, cut down on your feedings. Feed your tank once every 2-3 days. And don't overfeed.

 

[CoryB]

Ok. The hardest part will be finding an old hob filter.

I think I have an empower 400 from my fresh days. What should I do to clean it? It was a piranha tank and man are those things dirty.

 

[Massimo]

Ok. The hardest part will be finding an old hob filter. I think I have an empower 400 from my fresh days. What should I do to clean it? It was a piranha tank and man are those things dirty.

hot water and vinegar. Take the filter apart, scrub it down with hot water mixed with vinegar. After you think you got it all cleaned. Let it soak in hot hot water with vinegar again. Let it sit for like a day or two.

1 part vinegar 2 part water.

 

[CoryB]

How much GFO should I add?

 

[Massimo]

Read the instructions on the container. Usually it's not much

 

[CoryB]

So I think i figured it out. The instructions if you can even call them that are not user friendly.

The instructions aren't very clear on when I should replace the GFO and I can't measure phosphate so best guess when should I change it out?

Is it safe to say my distilled water isn't very pure and that is the cause of all this algee.

 

[mr_X]

I think you need a reactor for GFO. From what I've read it needs to tumble a bit and not just sit in a HOB filter like carbon would.
Can you post a picture of the brown stuff with the daylights on?