New to R2R and would love the help!!

[krae09]

Hello everyone! My name is Kelsey and I'm from Oklahoma! I am new to this site and fairly new to saltwater! I do not know all the in's and out's of marine talk and know just enough to keep a healthy tank. I love coral and if I was informed enough, would buy more but do not want to buy a lot until I am fully informed on how to care for them properly! I have a 20 gallon bow from tank. It has an umbrella leather, a hammer with three heads, a green star polyp rock that I just acclimated today and so far it has not opened up, 4 tiny (about the size of a quarter) anemones (possibly bubble tip or long tentacle), and a pair of percula clowns! We moved quickly and I did not have time to set up a tank at our new house before transferring the tank. We lost a lot of things in the move and I am just now back to the point of "health."

I have never had a sand bed but have always wanted one, but have been told not to create one now that the tank is established. Any suggestions on this?

Also, I have been reading online a lot, partly why I joined this site....my algae has all of the sudden gotten pretty bad and i'm wondering if it's due to my phosphate levels?

I also all of the sudden had these weird whitish clear things pop up in a matter of a couple days and there are a ton!! I have found them online to be Q-tip sponges. Are these bad and what causes them??

Thanks so much for answers, can't wait to read more blogs!!

 

[fishroomlady]

welcome to the forum! I'll try to answer what I can - in terms of a sand bed, you can add sand to an existing tank - I'd suggest adding a little at a time though - you'll want to use like a piece of pvc or something so that you can target where the sand goes and minimize dust from the sand (if you get live sand - it doesn't require washing but dry sand needs to be washed really, really well before adding). If you do add sand, just enough for about 1-2 inches of depth is good.

In terms of the algae, how long has the tank been up? New tanks goes through some algae stages and some will resolve in time. In terms of your anemones - by the description - they may be aiptasia - I would look at that - if so, they are a bad, nuisance hitchhiker that you'll want to get rid of.

Sponges are usually a good thing - they are filter feeders and shouldn't harm anything. Many times, they disappear in time.

 

[krae09]

Thank you for the response! The tank has been set up for about a year and a half! I have some beautiful purple algae and then within the last week I have gotten a burgundy soft algae (not red algae) and also bubble algae on the back glass. I don't normally clean the algae off the back glass...or even scrub the rocks for that matter. I do a 20% water change once a week with purified water. I scrub the front glass and get as much of the stuff off the bottom but don't normally touch the other algae.

 

[krae09]

Oh and I actually purchased the anemones from a store...I can send pic but i don't think they are bad hitch hikers

 

[bairdimusprime]

post some pics, we are all here to help pics always make it easier to give the correct information. fishroomlady is right on the money

 

[krae09]

 

[krae09]

Pictures of the redish algae and the bubble algae. I just acclimated that green star polyp today and it hasn't opened yet. It could be from me being in the tank today, but I noticed the leathers polyps were "disappearing" for lack of a better word, on the edges.

 

[bairdimusprime]

thats a really nice big toadstool,
the other nems look like bubble tips but the pics arent spotlighting them too well.
try to get rid of that cyano and suck out the Diatoms

 

[krae09]

Thank you! Would your suggestion be to just scrub the cyano/diatoms off during a water change? Or is there a treatment for this? Haven't had this problem until this last week

And yes, the store I got the rock of nems from said they were bubble tips but I was not sure!

 

[kschweer]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Welcome to R2R!!

Can you tell us some specifics about the equipment that you are running?

 

[Reefing Madness]

You can add a sand bed to your established tank, won't hurt a thing. The tank will be a bit cloudy for a few days, but it will subside.
Your algae is out of control because your Phosphates are high. Your going to need to get your Nitrates under 30, and your Phosphates to .05, preferably using a Hanna Checker. You'll need a GFO reactor, and GFO, or you can use a liquid product such as SeaKlear or Brightwell Phosphate-E, this will relieve your algae issues.

 

[krae09]

SeahorseKeeper: I can try! lol the LFS set me up with all this equipment but the light, from which I ordered online because he did not have any. I have a 20 gal bow front. I'm using a marineland penguin biowheel 100 that is for 20 gal tanks for my filter. I have a Truelumen Pro 12" LED strip light 12,000K white and actinic blue that says the power is 9.1 watts. There is also a light that came with the tank that i turn the day light on with the LED's and then flip it to the blue lights at night when i turn the LED's off. I have a coralia power head and a heater that came with the tank, it says 01H35 on the side?

I was also told (i'm beginning to find out this LFS guy was not much help!!) that I did not need a timer, but to just leave the lights on for about 8 hours a day...what are opinions on that??

Reefing Madness: I was told when setting up the tank that all i needed to test was the ammonia, pH and salinity. After reading I have found that my algae is most likely from phosphates/nitrates. So i have ordered a Hanna Checker, but i am not sure what a GFO reactor is? I have never checked my phosphates or nitrates, i have not had algae like this before either though.

Also, does it take a while for a green star polyp to open after acclimating? It has been about 24 hours since i put it in there and last night he opened a few polyps but not a lot.

 

[KINGROWLAND1217]

I just went through the cyano outbreak disaster. I kept my LEDS on way too long,about 12 hrs a day. All I did is remove as much as I could off the sand with a gravel vac, turned the light completely off for 3 days, and just to be sure it was all gone, I did a chemiclean treatment. The chemiclean did mess with my skimmer so I just kept it off for the 48 hrs the treatment takes. And I did a 20% water change after that. That was about 2 weeks ago and i have NO sign of it now. I keep my light on a timer for only 8 hrs of daylight and 11 hrs of night light(they are completely off 5 hrs while im at work. Hope this helps.

 

[LetItReef]

I do a 20% water change once a week with purified water. .[/QUOTE] Use RO/DI or Distilled water. Purified water can cause algae. TDS readings should be at 0. Good luck.

 

[krae09]

Ahhh did not know that about purified water! Thank you!! Will try that with my water change tomorrow!

 

[kireek]

*Welcome to Reef2Reef!*Great advice from my fellow R2R members.I would only use the chemi-clean as a last resort though.I personally do not use a timer,however I turn my lights on manually at approximately the same time each day.I run them for about 10 hours.You will definitely want to test for nitrates on a regular basis.In the future if you decide to add any hard corals you will want to test for calcium,Alkalinity and magnesium.Hopefully your star polyps are opened by now?

 

[krae09]

Help!! Lol how do I start a new thread? My leather has a weird spot on him and I don't have the slightest clue what it is or what it's from. It looks like tissue necrosis in one spot and was going to ask for advice!

 

[kacrocorals581]

I see you have lots of windows around the tank if the tank is getting outside sunlight it well cause all kinda algea on the glass I put blackout blinds on mine and no longer have a problem