Saltwater & Reef

mauinokaoi · 04-24-2007, 03:16 AM

Well as you can see im new to the board and somewhat to fish tanks. Ive always tanks here and there but never took any real serious. My latest tank is a 40 gal SW, everything you see in my tank (rocks and sand also) was cuaght at the beach by me, except for the blue damsels.

I never did anything special for the tank, no cycle(just borrowed a sponge from an established tank), no water testing of any sort (except salinty at water changes) water change every 6 months or so, no additves except for filter feeder liquid. Everything in my tank has been with me for a long time, I guess since they are from the ocean the are pretty hardy.

Over the last two weeks I decided to add black powder to my tank and in no time my dead white coral has become engulfed with life, now my question is, is it good life or bad life, I really like the way it looks with the algae and it seems under the algae the rocks are starting to come to life does this mean I have live rocks now, or just an algae problem, if its a algae problem and I like the way it looks should I keep it.

Sorry so long, but thanks for all your help in advance and I look forward to using and contributing to this great resource.

The following pics were taken about 2 weeks apart.

pinkie · 04-24-2007, 07:13 AM

Using dead coral or other dried-out dead rock will never become exactly like true liverock. However, it can still house beneficial bacteria and still help filter your tank. What it looks like to me is that the red stuff isn't algae, it is Cyano Bacteria. If it is, it won't really affect you fish, it's mainly just unsightly. There are treatments that you can get to eliminate it that are quite effective.

tecwzrd · 04-24-2007, 09:09 AM

Last two photos are bubble algae, Red Slime Algae, & hair algae.

Algae needs excess nutrients to feed off of. Mostly it's levels of po4 above .03 ppm that causes algae blooms. No3 plays a small role also but IME only if it's above 20 ppm.

Even though you may test po4 in the tank at 0 ppm the algae may be consuming most of it to give you a false reading.

Have you tested your source water for no3/po4? (before and after mixing your salt)

Obviously you need test kits to monitor the health of your aquarium. This algae will slowly (and sometimes quickly) take over your entire tank if you don't get the excess nutrient levels under control.

Do you have a skimmer? What do you use to filter the water and how often do you clean? What, how often, and how much do you feed?

austinsdad · 04-24-2007, 09:19 AM

You also got a nuisance it appears. Look up aptasia.

I'd at least try to check for nitrates since you got excess nutrient issues. How aften are you feeding and what?

Otherwise - SO COOL!! You caught a coral banded shrimp, feather dusters, and the urchin from the water yourself?!?! Impressive and probably was a lot of fun I'll bet.

mauinokaoi · 04-24-2007, 02:13 PM

Thanks for all the quick responses, even though some of it went over my head, I do appreciate it. It was very fun catching all the critters and rewarding. The banded shrimp was a pair when I caught them, but his partner died last summer, then the hermit crabs feasted.

The pest you refer to I found all by itslef and a friend of mine told me if there are a couple they will reproduce like crazy, but ive had this one for over a year and still no problems.

I dont do any testing at all, my water changes need to be more frequent. I feed frozen brine shrimp once a day everyday. I put quite a big chunk in but it gets eaten up within a couple of minutes, those little squirrel fish are pretty greedy, plus there is alot of hermit crabs and blennies that you cant see in the pictures.

So if I didnt like the algae im assuming I should stop the Black Powder additive and what else could I do. Also isnt the pink and green on the coral signs of live rock (even though the algae is now covering it).

Aloha

austinsdad · 04-24-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

my water changes need to be more frequent.

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Also, the water that the brine is frozen in will also add to your nuisance algae and cyanobacteria (the red stuff) I believe. I hold my forzen brine or myisis in a net and rinse/melt the frozen water off of it. After that, I soak it in garlic guard and zoe (immune system booster and vitamin, respectively)

Quote:

The pest you refer to I found all by itslef and a friend of mine told me if there are a couple they will reproduce like crazy, but ive had this one for over a year and still no problems.

The aptasia...

Been lucky. Those things will take over a tank. NEVER try to manually remove it. It'll burst and spread like wildfire.

Look at the articles section above and you'll find one on cyanobacteria. You shuld read it.

But, I'm guessing you need more rock, less phospahate laden (from the frozen) food. Is there a skimmer?

I'd check for phosphates and nitrates if I were you also.

Good luck!

mauinokaoi · 04-24-2007, 03:11 PM

Thanks for the tips, I always see a murky water from the shrimp when I throw it in, I never thought to rinse it, thats good idea. The next step is to get more rocks, in hawaii its illegal to take or possess live rock, I also dont believe in taking lava rock, so it will be more dead white coral.

The pest I dont plan on taking out (as long as it doesnt spread) I like watching it sway in the current and watching it eat brine shrimp like a venus fly trap.

I dont have a skimmer, they appear to be too pricey plus I dont even know why I would need it. All I have is a 75 gal wet/dry which seems to do the job, I never tested anything because I never had thing mysteriously die or get sick.

Would you guys leave the algae and just have white rocks, or would youleave it for the natural look.

Aloha