brown sand

hey guys, im back... youll hafto bear with with me, computers are not my friend

can someone tell me how to post a picture

can someone tell me how to post a picture

Underneath this post is the "Quick Reply" box. Hold your mouse cursor over the little boxes above where you type... click on the box that says "Host an image". click on the "Browse" button.. choose your pic. Click the "Host it" button... three different choices will come up. I "High-lite" (copy & paste) the middle one.. and here you go

Here's a link that discribes in detail how to post a picture.
Posting pics to ETAK!

ok!!! i finally got it up...

Got pics!

Looks definitely like Dinoflagellates to me, I'm posting a link below on control, you might try turning your lights off for a couple of days and or raising your PH up to 8.4, anyway, read the article below and go from there.

Problem Dinoflagellates and PH

will changing the PH effect the fish? i test my water to make sure the PH is rite where its sopost to be ... but i don't know what exactly the PH does

Do you have any corals? Either way, I would try leaving the lights for a couple of days and see how that affects it. As for the fish, raising PH slowly will not harm them. Remember, do any and all changes gradual. What is the PH of the tank? Salinity? any other water parameters you have, how about temp? What type salt and how often do you change it and how much. Do you check Alkalinity and calcium? Give us more to work from so we know what we are dealing with.

First, welcome to the forums. Glad to have you aboard.

I agree, looks like Dinoflagellates. These are fairly common in new tanks and I've had them in both of my tanks. First of all, no need to panic. It looks nasty, I know, but that brown slime is using up phospates and another nutrients that you don't necessarily want in your system. Looks like you've gotten lots of good advice so far.

There are a couple of methods for treatment that vary in degree of difficulty. The easiest (and cheapest) is to do a 72 hour lights out. Most corals will not suffer any harm from having lights out for that period of time. I've done it once on each of my tanks with no ill effects.

There is also a product called chemi-clean which I have used with amazing success(I noticed they are selling it at Petco now). It's better for treating cyanobacteria, but also works for dinos. It's "reef safe" but I would caution to follow the directions to the letter to protect your tank inhabitants. I've also read on some forums of people that have success with Hydrogen Peroxide treatment. I don't have the links handy at the office, but If you would like more info on that, let me know and I can get it to you or you can google it.

Keep in mind, these are only treatments...it is not a cure for what is causing the outbreak. If you can't/don't get to the bottom of what is causing the outbreak then you will suffer re-occurrence. That being said, dinos and diatoms are very common in new tanks, and usually once they use up the excess nutrients, they go away, so I would be careful about jumping to any expensive treatments right out of the box.

Here's an article on algae and their control from wetwebmedia. It contains some good information on both the good and bad forms of algae. Doesn't really contain detailed information on treatment, but does contain some good information.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm

And another article on some general prevention items:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm
(I know "problems" is spelled wrong, but that is the correct address)

I would agree with Donnie, get us some more details on all your water parameters, type of salt, water change schedule, etc. In addition, provide us what, how much, and how often you are feeding as this is a common way to introduce excess phosphates into your system. Also, what are you using for flow in your system? Algae tends to build up in areas of low flow.

Finally, be patient and work the issue slowly. Get us some more information and we can help from there. Nothing good comes from rapid changes in a saltwater tank.

Sorry!! It's been a while since I replied, lots going on!!! Thank y'all for all the tips, and suggestions. I went with the 72hr lights off suggestion, (since it's the cheapest) , it's only been about 40 so far! But things are certainly looking better!! I'm going to continue to make sure it ALL goes away! ! But again thank yall!