New pics with questions............

mennazeher04

Reefing newb
Hey everyone, well I have had my tank up and running for a couple months now and I have some pics of the new fish I just added and some other pics of algae and plants I have growing in my tank. Need advice on how to get rid of them if you can.....Thanks for the help.


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Well, you have a whole ton of different algae types, and aiptasia (pest anemones). First thing's first, remove as much of the algae as you can by hand. Throw it in the trash. You can get into hard to reach places using tweezers. Next, get 4 or 5 peppermint shrimp to start trying to get rid of the aiptasia. If you don't get rid of the aiptasia, they will end up killing other things in your tank -- they're awful pests.

The slimy red stuff is cyanobacteria, and the dusty red stuff are diatoms. These are also forms of algae. Once you've removed as much as you can by hand, you're really going to have to start trying to get your water quality in better shape. What are your nitrates reading at? Algae need nitrates and phosphates to thrive, and I'd say your algae is thriving!

You should be doing water changes of 10 to 20% once or twice a week using RODI water. If you're using tap water, that's probably a cause of your algae problems, and doing water changes won't help any if you continue to use tap water. Do you have a protein skimmer? If so, good. If not, you probably want to get one.

What do you feed your fish? If you are feeding flake or pellet foods, throw those in the trash and buy some frozen foods. Flakes and pellets contain preservatives, which can lead to algae and water quality problems.

Algae outbreaks are normal in a new tank, so what you're going through isn't out of the ordinary, but it will take work to get it in shape.
 
think they got you covered here. good looking zebrasoma. cyanobacteria is almost impossible to avoid in a new tank. if it gets bad enough you can use chemiclean. its a anti biotic, but i would make it a last decision choice. you can usually clump up the cyano and manually remove it. try to remove as much as you can while doing water changes.
 
Well, you have a whole ton of different algae types, and aiptasia (pest anemones). First thing's first, remove as much of the algae as you can by hand. Throw it in the trash. You can get into hard to reach places using tweezers. Next, get 4 or 5 peppermint shrimp to start trying to get rid of the aiptasia. If you don't get rid of the aiptasia, they will end up killing other things in your tank -- they're awful pests.

The slimy red stuff is cyanobacteria, and the dusty red stuff are diatoms. These are also forms of algae. Once you've removed as much as you can by hand, you're really going to have to start trying to get your water quality in better shape. What are your nitrates reading at? Algae need nitrates and phosphates to thrive, and I'd say your algae is thriving!

You should be doing water changes of 10 to 20% once or twice a week using RODI water. If you're using tap water, that's probably a cause of your algae problems, and doing water changes won't help any if you continue to use tap water. Do you have a protein skimmer? If so, good. If not, you probably want to get one.

What do you feed your fish? If you are feeding flake or pellet foods, throw those in the trash and buy some frozen foods. Flakes and pellets contain preservatives, which can lead to algae and water quality problems.

Algae outbreaks are normal in a new tank, so what you're going through isn't out of the ordinary, but it will take work to get it in shape.


Hey Biff, thanks for all the info. ok on the peppermint shrimp i was told that i cant add them yet because of my tank being so new. My tank is about 2 +months old. Is that true? I do have a protein skimmer and its made by aquarien teknik or something i dont know but i was told it was a good one. My nitrates are around 5ppm. Im gonna give you an update on that tonight when i get home from work but about a week or so ago thats what they were at. Also i have a RO/DI unit now but when i started the tank i unfortunally used tap water with a conditioner.
 
A lot of those algaes,a rabbitfish would make quick work of.I'm actually surprised that tang hadnt wiped them out.

Well Yote that was the main reason I bought him, other than him being such a crisp beautiful yellow. I actually just bought him about a day or two ago. He has been tearing that algae up though.
 
think they got you covered here. good looking zebrasoma. cyanobacteria is almost impossible to avoid in a new tank. if it gets bad enough you can use chemiclean. its a anti biotic, but i would make it a last decision choice. you can usually clump up the cyano and manually remove it. try to remove as much as you can while doing water changes.


Thanks for the comment, I actually just got him a day or two ago and he has been doing great.
 
Does anyone know what PICTURE 4 IS? The red bubbly things are see through but one of them look like a spongy thing trying to grow. Also in PICTURE 5 the orange thing growing in my sand i have no clue what it is but it looks like it could some sort of sponge starting to grow but cant identify it........ANY HELP ON THOSE PLEASE......Thanks
 
ok on the peppermint shrimp i was told that i cant add them yet because of my tank being so new. My tank is about 2 +months old. Is that true?

Not true. The first thing I added to my tanks was a CUC including a peppermint shrimp. As long as your nitrites are 0 you should be fine adding him. He will be very happy to dine on your aptasia.
 
The 5th pic looks like it could be a tunicate A.K.A Sea Squirt.Which is a filter feeder.
I dont know what the red bubble looking algae is called.I have tryed to keep some of it before,but my fish ate it like it was candy.
 
Looks like everyone has you covered...just start doing lots of water changes, get good flow throughout the tank, a nice clean-up crew, and feed lightly(no flakes or pellets) with frozen cubes...I would go a step further and cut the lights off for a few days. Your tank is still new, so it's gonna go thru the different algae stages, we all went thru that.
As far as having shrimp, as long as your tank has cycled and you have good parameters, you can add shrimp.
 
Well I tested my parameters and my nitrates are 0ppm finally.....now I have 0's across the board. Last night i pulled as much of that algae out as I could with my hands, so now with my nitrates being 0ppm will it still grow back or ?
 
Hope not.But sometimes it does,even if the parameters says it shouldnt.
If you see it trying to sprout back up,pull it by hand.
 
I think the red bubbles are: Botryocladia skottsbergii.

Gotta be patient with some of the algaes, mine is finally starting to dissipate. Good skimmer, good water, good circulation, maybe some predators, and competitors (macroalgaes in the fuge or a hang on back fuge) should help clean it up. Oh, and patience. Lots of patience.
 
Mennazeher,

It was briefly mentioned, but how much flow do you have in the tank? The cyano (red) algae is a good sign of stagnant water. Do you have some powerheads in there? If not, you should get a few and point in dead areas to help fight the cyano.
 
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