tank crash..help!

flowergirl · #1 12/26/2007, 10:22 PM

i moved my tank 3 months ago and though all was fine but i am now experiencing melting coral, huge red algea bloom and the lose of 2 fish due to ick. i am really discouraged and not sure what to do now.
the last month was busy and i must say i didn't keep up on my water changes.

i have a friend with a tank and i was thinking of giving her my corals until i get things back on track somehow. i am affraid to infect her tank with ick if i give them to her. is this a posibility?? i would like to give her my toadstool and leathers but they are atatched to large rock. what should i do??

my tank ran great for 2.5 years..until the move. i change the sand bed anc i am assuming that the new sand bed wasn't able to keep up...even with reg water changes. strangely enough my levels remained normal.

any advice is appreciated

thank you!

Graf-X · #2 12/26/2007, 10:28 PM

Are you skimming?

rigleautomotive · #3 12/26/2007, 10:31 PM

without more info all i can suggest is 25 percent weelky water changes with aged,parameter matched sea water,increase protein skimming,and increase flow.the red algae will starve the tank of oxygen and possibly cause all your problems.keeping ph high with kalk also helps.

flowergirl · #4 12/26/2007, 10:42 PM

thanks for getting back to me so fast!

i am skimming about a cup every two days.

i will try amd increase my flow. i have a 65 tall and everything i have is HOB i have tree power heads and a flow bar from my pump.

any ideas on infecting my friends tank woth ick if i give my corals to her??

rigleautomotive · #5 12/26/2007, 10:48 PM

i am not sure,but i think it is only able to pass from fish to fish.all tanks have ick causing bacteria IMO,bad water quality is what brings it on.

wrott · #6 12/26/2007, 11:01 PM

If your fish have ich, then the water that the corals would be transferred with would infect any other tank.
Yes, your friends fish would be in jeopardy of catching ich.
Could you treat the fish in another tank for a month or so? And do massive WCs(20g at a time). If you did 3-4 WCs over the next 10 days, and no food, your tank should be fine.

ycnibrc · #7 12/27/2007, 01:34 AM

when you move did you use any old water or you change 100% new water?If you change 100% new water your tank is cycling again that's why your corals die off. Don't put anymore fish or coral for a while and do 15% change of water everyweek until the tank settle down.

chrissreef · #8 12/27/2007, 02:39 AM

what wrott said regarding ich. can you remove them to quarintine them? (careful... last thing you want is more shock). ich multiplies in sand beds primarily but rockwork also works.

100% water change won't cause the tank to cycle "again" but it can cause some heavy stress on the bacteria. ESPECIALLY since you "change the sand bed "

what are your water parameters??? (ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphates, salinity, temp etc.) we need to know current parameters, not yesterday or last week. When you replace sand, the parameters can stay the same until amonia etc. starts going into the system so it may not show in tests for several days.

what is " have tree power heads and a flow bar from my pump. "

do you have a sand bed and did you replace it during the move? or scrub any live rock?

how far was the move?

what HOB filter/filters are you using?? did they dry out during the move?

is the skimmer output very dark? you should barely be able to see through it.

"experiencing melting coral, huge red algea bloom "

cyano or red hair? if cyano there's probably a phosphate issue... this will pass with good husbandry (water changes, skimming, herbivores) cyano often has air bubbles in it and is maroon in color.

melting? which corals? is it white and lps corals? or softies?

above all - remember not to make too many changes to the system and be consistent. you can't "knock" things out in 1-2 days like a cold or flu... things take time and it could be a few weeks of good husbandry.

flowergirl · #9 12/27/2007, 10:20 AM

i run a rena xp 3 filter with no meia in it. i was told it was a phos trap a while back so now it is just used for more flow. should i go and buy the media and run it for a while? perhaps iwth carbon?

and that was 3 power heads

my skimate is thick and dark brown..the good stuff!

it is definatly red cayno

i'll check my prams and post back

thanks again!

rigleautomotive · #10 12/27/2007, 12:20 PM

the media would create some nitrate not phos. you can run some carbon,but i think your best bet would be the water changes like i suggested earlier with rodi and match parameters.siphon out all the cyano as you do the water change.poly filters can help,but there is no magic bullet.i think your tank is going thru a cycle and good water quality will help in time.