Live Rock Issues

[piranha_trader]

Hi there, Ive been posting kinda regularly in the nano forum and just realized this one existed...duh.

Anyways I just started my 13 gallon nano and introduced some live rock recently (4 days ago).

Anyways, Ive noticed a white gel or slime on one of the rocks and I cant remember if it was there before. It seems to be spreading but it could be just my eyes. I will keep a closer look on it.

Ive also noticed brown algae spots on the plexi glass. I assume it has to be because of the live rock and other flora matter its brought with it thats causing such quick growth. Im safe to assume also that this is a nuisace algae and should be getting rid of it right?

Also the water has clouded up some.

Basically in a nutshell, Im wondering what the heck is going on and should I be concerned. Id like to know what that white gel/slime is especially. It actually looks like cobwebs on the rock but I have no idea what this is.

Live rock die off?

And just so you know, Ive added a phosphate removal filter media in the refugium as well as high grade charcoal.

What is the best clean up crew invert that I should have in the tank to combat this brown algae?

 

[nanocubeking]

A few snails and hermit crabs. Mexican turbo snails have done the best for me. Scarlet reef crabs are good, along with mexican red legs and blue leg hermits.

 

[piranha_trader]

A few snails and hermit crabs. Mexican turbo snails have done the best for me. Scarlet reef crabs are good, along with mexican red legs and blue leg hermits.

You have any secrets about keeping the snails in your tank. Ive already had one hitchhiker crawl out on his own die drying up.

 

[nanocubeking]

I had the same problem last night! No joke. I have no secrets at all just make sure they have enough any algae to keep them content in there environment.

 

[Adrinal]

If you just added it a few days ago... your getting dye off. Don't worry what it is, just don't add anything to the tank till the slime stops.

I always cover my tank, and other than waterchanges don't even look at it for 6 weeks.

 

[piranha_trader]

If you just added it a few days ago... your getting dye off. Don't worry what it is, just don't add anything to the tank till the slime stops.

I always cover my tank, and other than waterchanges don't even look at it for 6 weeks.

thanks bra.

crap. I already ordered my polyps and mushrooms via Ebay.

 

[piranha_trader]

Where the heck is the option to attach photos? This is weird.

 

[piranha_trader]

Well I couldnt solve the photo attachment issue in this post. Doesnt seem to have that option for some reason.

Anyways, I posted photos of the 'slime' in the Nano folder entitled "My Refugium"

If you think you can help at all and would like to check out these photos, please by all means give it a go.

Would be much appreciated.

 

[dilbert]

What is the best clean up crew invert that I should have in the tank to combat this brown algae?

The brown algae probably appeared because of the silica that came with the sand. They normally disappear without doing anything. It may take two weeks or so.

Astrea/Turbo snails like them but if those brown algae have gone they will discover your live rock, too.

Sometimes people come up with huge estimates as 2 snails per gallon and so. At the beginning there might be much things to clean up but later there won't be that much anymore. I mean it's a marine and not a sewage tank.

Starving snails won't be a great problem but crabs crowded in territories too small and then even hungry, too, can turn out quite nasty.

With the already ordered stuff that might be OK as most people don't run immediately into problems. Only if you would it is much easier to deal with a tank almost empty than with the burden of some delicate inhabitants.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

Just sit back and relax. Do your weekly water changes and watch your NH3, NO2, and NO3 levels. These levels will tell you when the tank is cycled and when it is safe to start adding marine life. As for the polyps and mushies, they are pretty hardy but you might what to set up a small Q tank to keep them in while the main tank cycles. Or find someone with an established tank that will host them for you. Better safe then sorry and out the money.

In the first week after adding your LR and LS will you see a big climb in NH3 and a small climb in NO2. Between the second and third week you will see a decline in NH3, a peak in NO2, and small climb in NO3. About weeks three or four you should start to see NH3 coming down closer to 0, NO2 slowly coming down, and NO3 at a peak. Then at about 4 to 5 weeks NH3 should be 0, NO2 really close if not already 0, and NO3 coming down even more. Between weeks 5 and 6 all 3 should be at zero. NO3 has a tolerance as high as 20 ppm but should be kept lower to be safe. My tank is always about 2.5ppm of NO3.

As soon as you can during the cycling add RowaPhos to your filter setup or use a PhosBan Reactor to keep PO4 below 0.1ppm ( below 0.05 is even better. High levels of PO4 will help fuel a lot of bad algae problems for you.

Don't forget about about the rest of your water parameters either, it is good practice to check them often in the startup and cycling process as well.

It is going to take months and sometimes upto a year for your tank to fully mature and become even more stable. Dont rush things, enjoy watching the fruits of your labor and ask lots of questions. There is such a plethora of knowledge in these forums that every question should get a good answer.

OK. Once the NH3 and NO2 level hit 0 then start adding more life to the tank. About one species a week is generally excepted method. Doing so will allow you to monitor the tank and species for adverse reactions and give you the ability to act quickly and save the rest of tank and the inhabitants.

Remember have fun, and go slow. There is going to be a lot of cool and interesting things happening inside the tank. Enjoy them.

Astrea and Mexican Turbos are really good. So are Wavy Tequila Turbos and Margarita snail. As for the crabs Scarlet Reef and Blue Leg Hermits.

Hope this post helped. The about time frames on the water parameters are just an estimate and will vary tank to tank.

 

[piranha_trader]

Thanks for that friend...really appreciate it.

Got another question....is distilled water use not a good thing? I hear some use it while others say no way.

 

[Lynden]

Distilled should be just as pure as RO if I am not mistaken.

 

[piranha_trader]

Distilled should be just as pure as RO if I am not mistaken.

Well I did a water change in my new tank using distilled water and guess what....Im experiencing a lot of die off. Water is somewhat cloudy and I can see baby crabs, nematods, and brittle stars waving in the current (dead). The two turbo snails I bought just went out on me. Tank is 13 gallons and I did a 5 gallon change. I bought the packaged live sand (which Im now being told isnt so live) and the live rock and let that sit for about a week or two thinking that would be enough time to add the turbo snails. The other critters were hitchers. Hermits hitchers are now lookin a bit queezy. Dont worry guys...I wont be killing anymore animals. Just going to wait this one out.

This is sad. The water in it before was not distilled so I guess I completely shocked the critters. Any suggestions...especially for future water changes?

 

[poopsydrew]

Distilled should be just as pure as RO if I am not mistaken.

Well I did a water change in my new tank using distilled water and guess what....Im experiencing a lot of die off. Water is somewhat cloudy and I can see baby crabs, nematods, and brittle stars waving in the current (dead). The two turbo snails I bought just went out on me. Tank is 13 gallons and I did a 5 gallon change. I bought the packaged live sand (which Im now being told isnt so live) and the live rock and let that sit for about a week or two thinking that would be enough time to add the turbo snails. The other critters were hitchers. Hermits hitchers are now lookin a bit queezy. Dont worry guys...I wont be killing anymore animals. Just going to wait this one out.

This is sad. The water in it before was not distilled so I guess I completely shocked the critters. Any suggestions...especially for future water changes?

Sorry to hear that, but I have never had any problems using distilled water. If im close to the lfs, then ill go get some RO water, if not then I used distilled. Have never noticed any ill effects.

Anyway you could get your current stats up?

Drew

 

[piranha_trader]

Well I did the change because the ammonia was off the charts. Ph was about 8.3 which is good and salinity was about 1.023

The ammonia was so high because of the live rock die off I was experiencing prior. Now its critter die off.


See...I live in Hawaii and I got the live rock from a nearby beach so it was really uncured. Id like to get more hitchers without killing them so Im wondering what would be the best way to do this.


If I get additional live rock now, theyll die. If I get more uncured rock later, Ill have another spike.

Any suggestions?