Tank Questions - Red growth on a rock and algae in refugium

[Justin Franklin]

So long story short... this is the first real tank I've had that had been doing what it "supposed" to do as far as coral growing.

What started everything was I had a friend getting rid of there salt water tank and i got it for a really good deal (I thought) and I was going to start a tank.
It was a 40GAL breeder, undrilled, with a HOB protein skimmer, fluval 306 and the wrong type of light (fresh water)
Had about a year, after dead fish and money wasted on coral that died I almost gave up on it until I met someone on here (Ken) selling a fan and has helped me in more ways I can say to get me where I am today. With out his help I would not be doing fish anymore. Also in the process I've been lucky enough to meet other members on here that have helped me out as well as good deals to get my set-up right.
I have to say, everyone here has been more then helpful!!!

So to where I am now, I have a 60 GAL cube, LED light, trigger 20 Sump with refugium growing cheto , protein skimmer, ATO. I have had the tank running for maybe 6 months or so.

There has been a red growth on one of my rocks at 2 spots. It almost looks kind of fuzzy, similar to like a moss or algae... hard to say. Here are pictures of what it looks like.

Another thing I have noticed, i'm getting a build-up of green algae in my sump. I do have a light on it, and it turns on with the display light goes off. Display light runs for about 8 hrs a day.

I have also had this anemone in the tank for maybe 2 months and my clowns still will not host in it

Thanks for the help!!

 

[lmm1967]

The red stuff is Cyanobacteria. Suck it out with a turkey baster or when you do water changes. You can try increasing the flow as it typically grows in areas with low flow.

The algae in the sump - I think you may just need to get your nutrients under control and continue letting the tank mature.

I would do some fairly large percentage water changes - maybe 20 - 30 gallons a week for 3 weeks and see if that helps.

What is your Nitrate and Phosphate measuring?

 

[Justin Franklin]

Tested on the 9th.
Ammonia .50PPM
Salinity 1.025
Calcium 440PPM
High range PH 8.2
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Phosphate .25
Carbonate hardness 143.2ppm Maybe?

 

[Justin Franklin]

Thats everything i have to be able to test...

I dose calcium, fuel, and 8.4 ph balance

 

[lmm1967]

You HAVE to get rid of that Ammonia. You should not be able to measure any Ammonia in a tank that has been cycled.

Are you SURE you have .50PPM Ammonia but only 10PPM Nitrate? Something seems off.

 

[Justin Franklin]

Ill have my wife try to re-test again today and will let you know what we find.
Im using the API master reef test kit.
Also, I took out my filter sock and currently do not have one in.

 

[lmm1967]

Ill have my wife try to re-test again today and will let you know what we find.
Im using the API master reef test kit.
Also, I took out my filter sock and currently do not have one in.

Don't necessarily take my advice......

I'll say, that personally I do not run filter socks. I hate seeing "stuff" get caught when that stuff includes live pods, brittle stars, bristleworms etc - all of which I've found in filter socks when I ran them. I also believe it gives "stuff" an extra place to hide and decay.

 

[Justin Franklin]

I agree with the filter sock. The first 2 that i used got so much build-up in them I thought the same thing as well as taking advice from other people. Thanks.

 

[FutureInterest]

@zoomzoom Ken's a good guy. I'm glad he got you on track! Cyano is the red stuff and isn't a big deal so no worries. It just means you have some excess phosphates going on. I get it every now and then when I overfeed. I just siphon the stuff out during water changes and it tends not to be an issue. There have been a few times that I've had to setup a filter sock in the sump and just siphon the water into that from the display and get all the cyano out that way.

 

[Justin Franklin]

Thats him, I forgot his name on here, lol.
And ill try to suck it out and see how it goes.
So i guess there is no major issues with it... it wont hurt anything else?

And what do y'all think about the algae in the sump?

 

[jcook54]

The ammonia is a bigger issue than the cyano. I had cyano once in a while for the first few years my tank was set up. Basically, something would get out of whack and I'd fix it by upping my water changes. Upping water changes will help take care of the algae in the sump too. Too many nutrients = cyano, algae, nitrates etc. But the ammonia is troubling and I can't remember how the API test reads, is it one shade of yellow = 0 and a slightly different shade = 1?

 

[Justin Franklin]

The ammonia starts at yellow 0ppm, then goes all the way from yellow to green being 8.0ppm for the API test.

Could of been a bad test... because ive never had ammonia problems before and honestly not sure what to do to resolve those besides water change.

BTW, the rock that has the cyano is a new rock I added into the tank when I set it up, along with 4-5 other pieces. (not sure if it matters)

And if im being honest, i have only done 1 water change since the tank has been running (15gal)

 

[lmm1967]

i have only done 1 water change since the tank has been running (15gal)

I'd start by changing that. I think you'll see a world of difference - in a good way - if you do a few water changes.

 

[ichthyoid]

Ill have my wife try to re-test again today and will let you know what we find.
Im using the API master reef test kit.
Also, I took out my filter sock and currently do not have one in.

FWIW, the API test kits do not have the best reputation for accuracy, historically.
It would be a good idea to take a water sample to your local fish store, or an experienced hobbyist, for retest/confirmation on those numbers.

 

[bluesy1213]

Just my two cents....water changes. Without them there’s just too much negative stuff in the water colum. We are caring for water to keep our coral. Not caring for coral to have in water.

 

[Justin Franklin]

Update, I did about 25GAL water change and cleaned out the sump on monday.
On thursday last week we sucked the red junk out and it doesn't look like its coming back yet but will monitor it.

I'm going to re-test the water today and see how it looks.

 

[lmm1967]

Thats great - I'd stay pretty agressive with the water changes. Cyano loves to keep coming back. I would do another 20 gallon water changes roughly a week from now - and probably once more after that and then see how things go.

 

[Justin Franklin]

Now that I figured out what almost flooded my living room and destroyed my tank when I did the first water change, the second one went MUCH better, lol.
I plan on trying to keep up on the water changes and see how it goes.

I also think I need more cleaners, i have maybe 5 crabs, 2 turbo snails and maybe only 2-3 other snails... So thats next on the list to help cur down on the bio load.

 

[Justin Franklin]

Side note... When I cleaned out the sump it was pretty dirty, un-eaten food and build-up from not running a filter sock. Should I put some crabs in the refugium to help keep it clean? I have rock and cheto in it now and plan on stocking with pods.

 

[lmm1967]

Side note... When I cleaned out the sump it was pretty dirty, un-eaten food and build-up from not running a filter sock. Should I put some crabs in the refugium to help keep it clean? I have rock and cheto in it now and plan on stocking with pods.

Not a bad idea - if they have rock or something to hide in it's good. Just keep in mind - anything in the sump may find it's way to the display.

I've had Whelk snails get from a tank, to the sump, to another tank that was plumbed into the same sump.