Coral Issues

Reeferburns · Jul 3, 2020

Hi, I’ve posted about this issue before but didn’t get the answer I was really looking for. I’ve got corals In my tank and on a few of them I have green slimy looking stuff on the coral. My Xenia has this green stuff wrapping around is pulsing thing stopping them from pulsing. It’s started to happen to my frog spawn too. Any answer much appreciated because right now my Xenia and frog spawn have shrunk since this occurrence and I really don’t want my frog spawn to die as he is pretty rare to find. I’ll leave pictures but they won’t do much justice. Thanks for all help!

reefwiser · Jul 3, 2020

What is in the sand bottom is that cyano bacteria? What water movement do you have in the tank? Looks like a bio cube do you have a protein skimmer? What are you using for lighting.

Reeferburns · Jul 3, 2020

reefwiser said:
What is in the sand bottom is that cyano bacteria? What water movement do you have in the tank? Looks like a bio cube do you have a protein skimmer? What are you using for lighting.

I’m not sure what’s on the sand and I can’t figure that out yet. It has small pellet looking things on the sand and I don’t feed pellets. I’m thinking I need more movement but what I have is 1 USA marine orbit 650ghp which is probably like 550gph then I have one constant 550gph. I’m thinking I need to add another one closer to the sand bed. It’s a cube but a marine land one. I have a protein skimmer running and it’s a eshopp old model but been using it for 5 years now. I recently have been getting terrible bubbles on the surface of my water so I’m wondering if my skimmer is not performing. Light I’m using is one ai prime hd not completely maxed. Also I have the prime at 6 inches above water the tank depth is 24 inches the width is 20 and length 18.

Reeferburns · Jul 3, 2020

Reeferburns said:
I’m not sure what’s on the sand and I can’t figure that out yet. It has small pellet looking things on the sand and I don’t feed pellets. I’m thinking I need more movement but what I have is 1 USA marine orbit 650ghp which is probably like 550gph then I have one constant 550gph. I’m thinking I need to add another one closer to the sand bed. It’s a cube but a marine land one. I have a protein skimmer running and it’s a eshopp old model but been using it for 5 years now. I recently have been getting terrible bubbles on the surface of my water so I’m wondering if my skimmer is not performing. Light I’m using is one ai prime hd not completely maxed. Also I have the prime at 6 inches above water the tank depth is 24 inches the width is 20 and length 18.

The tank volume is 37 gallons. I run back back filter and backpack skimmer.

Reeferburns · Jul 3, 2020

Sand bed

reefwiser · Jul 3, 2020

Is the sand bed red colored. Looks like Diatoms possibly. I would use some Phosban in a back in the back filter to clean up extra phosphates in the water. I would also cut down the feeding of the clowns.
These small cubes can be fun to keep parameters in check.

Reeferburns · Jul 4, 2020

Reeferburns said:
Sand bed

@reef

reefwiser said:
Is the sand bed red colored. Looks like Diatoms possibly. I would use some Phosban in a back in the back filter to clean up extra phosphates in the water. I would also cut down the feeding of the clowns.
These small cubes can be fun to keep parameters in check.

its crazy I feed once every three days only!

reefwiser · Jul 4, 2020

What you are seeing is that the current filtration setup is not working as well as it should.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 4, 2020

Can we get some pics under white light? All I see is a blur image

Reeferburns · Jul 4, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Can we get some pics under white light? All I see is a blur image

Here are some white light pictures!

Angelwolf21203 · Jul 4, 2020

Your tank appears to be terribly dirty. When was your last RIP clean? The brown stuff is bacteria blooming. And the green algae on the glass is due to too much nutrients in the water. Have you tested your water parameters lately? What were those results? I would also recommend upping the amount of water movement.

Reeferburns · Jul 4, 2020

Angelwolf21203 said:
Your tank appears to be terribly dirty. When was your last RIP clean? The brown stuff is bacteria blooming. And the green algae on the glass is due to too much nutrients in the water. Have you tested your water parameters lately? What were those results? I would also recommend upping the amount of water movement.

I do weekly to buy weekly water changes at 15 to 20 percent. My levels have stayed consistent the only one I’m not able to check is phos and I know it’s important. Everything was fine but like two days ago all the bacteria and green algae got worse. I’m going to try and add more movement and see if that helps. Otherwise I may need a new filtration system. I usually test alk and Cals everyday I test my other levels once a week. I’ll do a check now but they seem to stay consistent.

Angelwolf21203 · Jul 4, 2020

Sounds like you may have had a phosphate spike. That will cause a massive fuel source for bacteria and algae.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 4, 2020

Looks like a little dino going on here. Reduce white light intensity for a few days.
Verify these items as here are possible causes:

Low or High salinity . . . even a possibility of false salinity reading (calibrate your tester)
Temperature too warm
Alk is high
PH is low
Lack of water flow

Lastly, I dont notive much of a cleanup crew. Add at least:
4 turbo, astrea, nassarius and nerite snails and about 8 blue leg hermit crabs which will help clean this up.
Is your tank at or near a window ?

Reeferburns · Jul 4, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Looks like a little dino going on here. Reduce white light intensity for a few days.
Verify these items as here are possible causes:

Low or High salinity . . . even a possibility of false salinity reading (calibrate your tester)
Temperature too warm
Alk is high
PH is low
Lack of water flow

Lastly, I dont notive much of a cleanup crew. Add at least:
4 turbo, astrea, nassarius and nerite snails and about 8 blue leg hermit crabs which will help clean this up.
Is your tank at or near a window ?

So I did a check on two levels quick and I have 0ppm nitrate and 0ppm ammonia. I’m going to check the rest quick. My salinity is reading at 1.025 I checked it with mine and a store Milwaukee salinity checker and it read the same. I have some cleaners. One conch, probably 4 to 6 snails, 5 to 6 hermits, 4 nassarius and two shrimp. I’ll definitely try adding more in to try and attack the bacteria. Just did a check for ph and it’s at 8.3. To get ph down what would you guys recommend or is 8.3 fine? Alk just tested and it’s at .72. I have been dosing alk to try and get it up to .80 my calcium is at 450ppm.

Reeferburns · Jul 4, 2020

Reeferburns said:
So I did a check on two levels quick and I have 0ppm nitrate and 0ppm ammonia. I’m going to check the rest quick. My salinity is reading at 1.025 I checked it with mine and a store Milwaukee salinity checker and it read the same. I have some cleaners. One conch, probably 4 to 6 snails, 5 to 6 hermits, 4 nassarius and two shrimp. I’ll definitely try adding more in to try and attack the bacteria. Just did a check for ph and it’s at 8.3. To get ph down what would you guys recommend or is 8.3 fine? Alk just tested and it’s at .72. I have been dosing alk to try and get it up to .80 my calcium is at 450ppm.

Oh and it’s not near a window I learned that lesson when I first started the saltwater hobby haha! I’m going to try and add more movement I’ve always been worried that I don’t have enough.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 4, 2020

Reeferburns said:
So I did a check on two levels quick and I have 0ppm nitrate and 0ppm ammonia. I’m going to check the rest quick. My salinity is reading at 1.025 I checked it with mine and a store Milwaukee salinity checker and it read the same. I have some cleaners. One conch, probably 4 to 6 snails, 5 to 6 hermits, 4 nassarius and two shrimp. I’ll definitely try adding more in to try and attack the bacteria. Just did a check for ph and it’s at 8.3. To get ph down what would you guys recommend or is 8.3 fine? Alk just tested and it’s at .72. I have been dosing alk to try and get it up to .80 my calcium is at 450ppm.

What test kit(s) are you using ?
On alk, you mean 7.2 ?? .72 would be as good as having none