kindasleepy Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 I adopted a tank that is in serious disrepair. Chemistry is way out to lunch and there's no ornaments or hides or anything in there. There's two clowns, a very stressed pajama cardinalfish, a brown banded goby and a massive turbo snail. I've seen a few "feather duster" worm things pop up every now and then and there this blobby thing. A quick online search mentioned "blob anemone", what do you guys think? Also, with the water chemistry being so very bad, (nitrates off the charts, phosphates of the charts, low pH, growing nitrite, some ammonia) do you guys have any incite on how the fish and inverts are going to respond to me changing it? I plan on taking it really really slowly. Thanks, Michele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 hmm,i dont have experience with saltwater,but as long as you do you water changes slowly it shouldent shock them. maybe do like 10-20% daily for the next couple days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindasleepy Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I was planning on going even slower than that (I tend toward being overly conservative). I'll probably do a 10% change as soon as I get the go ahead from the people that are actually in charge of the tank. Then do the filters as soon as they give me the cash to buy them, (next week maybe?) then do another water change after that. The tank has been in disrepair for a long time so I don't want to hurt any of the guys hanging in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 sounds like a good plan. but i would still think about doing 2X 10% water changes this week. and 2-3 10% next week. if it was me i would do 2X 25% WC this week, and a 40% wc next week. but i do freshwater and dont have too much experience with salt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Um... I'd take odds it's red (rhodo) algae. edit: maybe that's why your turbo snail is doing so well...(?) Edited February 7, 2012 by Fisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Have you posted on CanReef? Its definitely an algae - I doubt an anemone would survive at all in that water quality. You're right to take the changes slow. SW fish are not adapted to change. They're used to this water, and too quick of a change - even to good quality will kill them. 10% twice per week should be good. If you're gettin nitrites and ammonia, your biofilter isn't keeping up. That could mean it needs help, or that something has died recently and is rotting. See if you can find anything like that and get it out. When doing your WCs, try to get all of the mulm. Reduce feeding to every other day at most. What do you have for filtration? If its a canister, the sponges should be rinsed - if you can, rinse in a pail of aquarium water. This should be a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindasleepy Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I'm not entirely sure if they're being fed very often right now. The tank doesn't belong to me but I saw it and proposed to the owners that they let me fix and maintain it. I just couldn't stand to look at it like that. The fish are being fed nutrafin fresh water flakes and by the packaging I'd say the can is nearly 10 years old. The filter is a fluval 305 and from what I've been told the tank and filter were last maintained in November so I'm sure the inside of that filter is horrific. I submitted a proposal of my plans today and hopefully they get approved rapidly and they hand me some cash to buy new filter media etc. I attached a "before" shot of the tank below. Edited February 7, 2012 by kindasleepy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Definatly Reb Bubble Algae, this stuff spreads like wildfire. Don't burst the bubbles, they will release spores and spread every where. The only way I got rid of mine, was to take the rock out and dry it out. The problem with canister filters, is they become nitrate breading ground very quickly. My suggestion is to remove all the media from it, and put live rubble in it with carbon. If you need any other info, let me know. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Can you post what the levels are of the tank? If you don't have a full test kit, you can borrow mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strauss Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 What size is the tank? I managed a pet store for a while and so had to deal with red "devil" algae quite a few times in customers tanks. Your best friend will be constant water changes like everyone is suggesting here. Get the rock with the algae on it out of the tank the same time you do a major water change and try to get every single piece of red algae you can find. Even little bits repopulate easily. We usually had to nuke a tank but if you're meticulous and careful you can do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindasleepy Posted February 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Well here's the issue, the owners of the tank LIKE the bubbley stuff. I'm obviously going to cut down the nitrates and well, if good water chemistry kills it, so be it I guess. It's a 55 gallon. Current chemistry is as follows; nitrite-.8mg/L nitrate-off the charts 110mg/L + phosphate-off the charts 5mg/L+ ammonia- 1.2mg/L pH-7.8 iron-zero free, zero chelated KH-110mg/L Calcium-1540 mg/L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 if salt is anything like fresh.i would do 20% WC tomorrow and another 20% the next day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Sounds like you have your hands full. Obviously the "owners" of the tank didn't have a clue about keeping SW fish. Where's the live rock? You'd better look at getting at least 40-50lbs of CURED rock to act as your bio filter. Also gut your cannister filter and fill it with live rock rubble and a bag of carbon. What kind of water are you using? If you can, start doing your water changes with RO water. Tap water usually contains loads of phosphates which contribute to algae growth. Throw the food away and get some new stuff. Pull anything out that has the bubble algae on it and scrub it off, that's some real bad stuff. How old are the tank lights? Old dim bulbs will grow algae because of the swing into the red spectrum. Things will probably get worse before the start to get better, it's going to take alot of work to get it back into shape. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 if salt is anything like fresh.i would do 20% WC tomorrow and another 20% the next day You can't do that with Salt Water.... The delicate biological balance will be thrown out of whack, and it will start affecting allot of things. And if things start dying because the balance it throw too much out, then your corals will start to die and the inhabitants, which will cause an ammonia spike...and we all know where that leads down. I would recommend doing a 10- 20% water change every week, for max of 4 weeks. Just my 2 cents. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Also, what salt are they using? Cheap salts have their own issues. Also are they dosing with any chemicals? Here is the way I see it: Cheap salt = more dosing with chemicals More expensive = less dosing So it ends up being about the same cost in the end. MMax brings up a good point....lighting...what are they currently running and what k of bulbs? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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