What is this ?

[Rmckoy]

I was sitting looking and it opened and closed again .
What is it ?
Good or bad ?

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

Looks like some type of small clam/oyster with some cyano on it.

 

[Rmckoy]

I have no idea what brought the Cyno on but am experiencing a little issue recently .
It looks like some kind of clam but I wasn't sure ,
I didn't think it moved ( open and close)
What does it eat ?

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

They are filter feeders phytoplankton and other nutrients from water. Not sure what type of clam/oyster it is. As far as the cyano could be a water movement problem or excess nutrients in water. Just don't blast the mushrooms with to much water movement it can cause them to detach as they are constant slow movers leaving parts of their foot behind to grow new mushroom. You may want to make sure your phosphates and nitrated are low and raise your magnesium up to 1500ppm range also to help with the cyano. Don't raise your mag more than 100ppm per day.

 

[Rmckoy]

They are filter feeders phytoplankton and other nutrients from water. Not sure what type of clam/oyster it is. As far as the cyano could be a water movement problem or excess nutrients in water. Just don't blast the mushrooms with to much water movement it can cause them to detach as they are constant slow movers leaving parts of their foot behind to grow new mushroom. You may want to make sure your phosphates and nitrated are low and raise your magnesium up to 1500ppm range also to help with the cyano. Don't raise your mag more than 100ppm per day.

Phosphates are at 0
Nitrates are 10 ppm
I've never ever tested mag.
How do we test mag and what to use to dose ?

 

[54seaweed]

looks like a black mussel very similar to a clam

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

I use a redsea mag test kit my self it was recommended to me at one point. For a mag supplement Kent marine tech M magnesium i believe that i heard works best with a cyano problem. I myself use BRS mag and a gallon lasts me over 6mo. Try to suck as much out with your water changes as possible. With some more freq water changes for a little while and raising your mag it should clear up. Not sure if you test for calcium and alkalinity but magnesium helps those be more stable.

 

[Rmckoy]

I use a redsea mag test kit my self it was recommended to me at one point. For a mag supplement Kent marine tech M magnesium i believe that i heard works best with a cyano problem. I myself use BRS mag and a gallon lasts me over 6mo. Try to suck as much out with your water changes as possible. With some more freq water changes for a little while and raising your mag it should clear up. Not sure if you test for calcium and alkalinity but magnesium helps those be more stable.

I have tested alk , cal and kh alone with ph , phosphate , nitrate and ammonia .
I was to the understanding that cal , alk , iodine , mag and all other essential elements were in the salt mix and don't need to worry about them . I Mage another test kit I got with the purchase but missing the ID cards and not sure what they are for .
I'll add a picture and see if anyone here can help me .

 

[Rmckoy]

This is the test kit .
The one I don't have a booklet for is iron .




The API kit is the one I use all the time , the only one I had to buy was KH
Should I try smaller partial water changes more frequent then once a week to start ?

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

I would do at least 10% WC twice a week to get the nitrates lower (algae feeds off nitrates ant phos) check on your magnesium and with sone time it will go away. I had a cyano outbreak in my old 75 gal tank and more water changes and raising is what worked for me. I tried chemiclean red slime remover and all it did was make all my corals unhappy (lost a few) 3 days of overflowing protein skimmer and a 50% WC to get things back to normal and cyano was still there.

 

[Rmckoy]

I have some red slime remover but didn't want to use it .
I use aquavitro salt .
It comes in a 35 lb bucket .
This is the bucket I use for filling .
I usually change 4 of these bucket full every Saturday Morning .
All has been great but I've started to notice the algae in the last couple weeks . I think I'm doing more then 20% every week .
I'll test tonight and get all parameters to post here .

 

[54seaweed]

some how double posted opps......................................

 

[54seaweed]

looks like a black mussel very similar to a clam

oops your talking about the red hair my bust

you can siphon it out scrape it off rock with siphon hose and a tooth brush when doing water change

it takes a few times to get it all but it works

I never use any chemical's in my tanks (That's a bad word in my house)

a lot of times they can lead to bigger issues

I treat my tanks as they were the ocean

 

[Rmckoy]

Just tested:
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Phos: 0.25 ppm
Ph 8.2
Kh : 12
SG : 1.025

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

If you are doing a 20% WC every week your nitrates should not be that high. You need to start doing some water changes and get the nitrates down. Will also help with getting phos down too. May need to make sure your not over feeding the fish the extra nutrients will lead to increased Nitrate and phos.

Couple more questions.
Is this on the 75gal you have talked about in other threads?

What is stocked in your tank?

Are you using RO/DI water? if not that can be a source of phosphates.

Do wou have a good protein skimmer? helps remove waste from water slowing rise of nitrates.

 

[Rmckoy]

It is the same 75gal .
It all started when I added this Foxface .
Everything was good . Never seen any phosphates at all . They were always 0
I'm thinking if have been feeding extra cause of every time I feed it like a aggressive shark feeding lol .
As soon as I put in sea veggies in in the clip it's like a fight for the last bite !
I have a coralife 120 skimmer ( probably not the best I could have bought ) but it works . The skimmate is always very dark and smelly .
I'm thinking adding the Foxface might have brought me close to stocking limit .

Stock : I hope there are no tang police
1 powder blue
1 orange shoulder
1 kole tang
1 Foxface
1 sand sifting goby
1 yellow wrasse
1 cleaner wrasse
3 false clowns with a 12" ritteri anemone
1 black brittle star
1 tiny white brittle star ( possibly dead , I haven't seen him )
Blue legged hermits
There was a few small red legged hermits .
1 urchin
6 T5 HO 3 blue and 3 white
120-130 lbs of live rock
And a canister filter with ceramic and filter floss in it .
That's the whole system .
I haven't been using RO/DI water and purchasing a system as soon as I can .
There are also a few corals ,
Bubble , torch , a few different zoas
A lot of mushrooms .
Star polyps , and a few more .

 

[carey]

Have you thought to test the water that you are adding? I'd test for nitrates and phosphates. Since youre using tap water I would bet the elevated levels of those are due to that. Especially the phosphates.

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

Defiantly test your tap water. You may be a tad over stocked on the tank but should sour out. With that stock list I would be cleaning the canister filter at least every other week too.

 

[Rmckoy]

Defiantly test your tap water. You may be a tad over stocked on the tank but should sour out. With that stock list I would be cleaning the canister filter at least every other week too.

I clean it every Saturday morning when I do my water change .
I think it's noticeable this time cause I was cheap and only did 10% water change last week . 1/2 of what I normally do .
I'll test it tonight when I change ,
I don't want to leave it till Saturday .
Should I remove the skinner and clean it out too ,
The collection cup gets washed a lot but I've never took the skimmer off to wash it out .

 

[Ljfdfireboy]

Don't think you need to clean the whole skimmer. I clean out my collection cup every 2-3 days and I will clean the skimmer pump about every 6mo. I can't imagine that adding a foxface would have been the cause but who knows. Anemones are very dirty creatures probably produces more waste than a couple of fish combined. Sounds like you are doing every thing right. I would definitely invest in a RO/DI unit it will make a world of difference. Be very careful if you are looking at them on ebay. That is where I got mine from and had to buy a bunch of parts for it right away and it still needs new parts. BRS has some nice units at a good price. Oh ya What the tank police don't know wont heart them.