Things to add to a 20G and algae/sludge questions

[naturenutty]

Hi all! I'm relatively new here. I signed up a long time back but I don't think I ever posted. I'm really a newbie to SW. I got an established tank last fall (wow... almost a year ago) from a friend. It has been established with pretty much the critters in it for at least 5 years. I have kept FW fish for a number of years, off and on.

I've had a bit of an off and on problem with green algae forming a slime coating on the sand/rocks and glass. I was doing water changes every 10-14 days, and my guess is when it goes 14 it's just a bit too much. I'm now going to make sure H2O is changed every 7-10 days, and I also have recently decreased the temp and photoperiod and I'm hoping that will help solve this. Any other suggestions and ideas are welcome. I won't be going to RO, though, so even though I know that will be something everyone suggests, it isn't happening. hehehe

There also seems to be a continuous greyish white sludgy/silty substance that covers EVERYTHING when I clean the tank. Am I just disturbing the bottom too much? Not enough?

My other problem, if I can call it that, is that I need to add something to it and I'm not sure what. It just needs a bit more... something. hehehe Anyhow, here's the specs on it, and any and all input will be much appreciated.

-20g tall
-live sand bottom
-live rock (really not sure how much, I never understood how it's weighed, but there's a fair bit)
-Aquaclear mini with filter floss
-Rio Nano skimmer that sometimes skims (if ANYONE has a solution for this, please let me know... I've found this to be the most finicky thing I've ever dealt with)
-Coralife fixture with actinic and 10K tubes. (10K tube is due for a change. I've heard actinic can run a long time without change, is this true?) now on for 10 hours/day (down from 12)
-Temp around 24C (down from 25-26)
-submersible fan-type power head that I move around to 'blow' in different ways when I'm inspired
-I use tap water for water changes, treated with Prime and Instant Ocean to 1.025 specific gravity
-I add Kent Marine nano reef A/B about 2-3 times a week

home to (might have names wrong... I apologize):
-a small herd of snails
-an unknown number of tiny brittle stars
-2 small and 1 large blue-leg hermit crabs
-did have 2 peppermint shrimp, but they haven't been seen in a few weeks, so I'm presuming they've expired
-open brain coral
-small finger leather coral
-green star polyps
-a collection of coral fragments that hang out on the bottom of the tank and make me wonder what they are
-assorted other unidentified salty objects (USOs)
-Royal gramma
-yellow-tail damsel

I feed NLS pellets almost daily (with occasional fasting days), a liquid food for the reef critters a couple of times a week, and once in awhile I put in bits of frozen brine shrimp.

I'm not sure if I'm missing anything important there.

Things I've been thinking of are low light easy keeper reef type organisms to add some colour and/or movement and general interest to the tank and something to help sift/clean the sand a bit... maybe a goby? I actually had a person from what I believe is a fairly reputable SW store tell me that I could have a few more fish in here, though I thought it was best to keep the numbers low. He succeeded in getting me to take home a goby, which lived all of 2 days before it died of unknown causes (salinity was fine, ammonia and nitrites 0 and nitrates barely measurable, I did the slow acclimatization, and was feeding it some frozen brine shrimp daily on the advice of the salesperson). I'm a bit nervous about adding another fish now.

ANYHOW, I'm looking forward to learning from you all. I will be reading through as much as I can, but I thought I'd throw out my situation for your perusal and input.

[gbeef]

what kinda water are you using? TAP? RO? if you using TAP, then that maybe your problem it could be phospates. If you wanted to go RO but dont wanna spend the cash consider going to the gorcery store and getting those large water containers for water coolers. its only about 5 bucks a jug. THe problem is now the phospate have already sunking into the rock.. it will take a long time to recover

[rocketlily]

I used the Rio Nano Skimmer on my 20 gal for 6 months and I will agree that it is a very finiky piece of equipment. All I can say, is what I did was adjust it until it worked, carefully back away, and pray it would keep working. The next time I came into the room and it wasn't running, I did the same thing. Eventually, over time, it did work until the next water change, then I started all over again.

[Floop70]

I started with a Rio Nano on my 25 gallon tank at first and found the same thing as you. It was very temperamental and required a lot of adjustment. I figured I couldn't expect a whole lot more out of a $35 skimmer. I eventually just bought a Red Sea Prizm Skimmer (http://www.redseafish.com/Prod126.asp). I'm glad I did, it seems to skim better and I don't have to worry about it between cleanings.

Another thing I added to my filter (It's a Fluval 204) a few weeks ago is Chemi Pure Elite (http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=bd-cpree10). It seems to have pretty much removed the trace amounts of phosphates and nitrates that I always seemed to have. Like you, I try to do a water change every 7 - 10 days, although I do use RO/DI water as opposed to tap water. Any reason you won't entertain the idea of switching to RO? The filters can be had for a reasonably cheap now, or you could even buy bottled water. That's the way I started. Can you post your water params for us? That might help.

A nice addition to your tank may be a sand sifting goby (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+195&pcatid=195) of some sort. It could help with your algae problem on the sand as it sifts, and they are really fun to watch "eat" the sand. :biggrin:

[lorenz0]

Cut down your lighting

remember algae is also photosynthesis. I am just finishing up getting rid of red slim and a week and a half ago the tank was in rough condition because of it. I just cut down my lighting to 11:30-8:45 and now its almost gone.

should work the same, i really wish i took some pictures to show how effective cutting down your lighting works on nano's

[naturenutty]

Thanks everyone, for the input. I'm going to change the water there today so I'll do a bunch of tests and give you the most current water parameters I can. :) When I have those I'll fully respond to everyone's feedback.

[naturenutty]

Changed the water today. It was 7 days from the last change and there was no significant algae on the glass, bottom or anywhere but the one rock I missed last time. I'm glad that hadn't spread. I'm guessing the decreased photoperiod and cooler temps are helping. That and it not going for 14+ days between changes. ;) So here's hoping that THAT is under control. I did add some phosguard to the filter because some of the growth I get on the glass looks like diatom which increases with silicate, and phosguard removes that as well. I'll take it out mid week and put it back in after the next water change.

Parameters today:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate trace (barely showed a colour, but enough that I'd have to call it a trace. Nowhere near the 5 mg/L level on the comparison card, though)
Phosphates 0
Calcium 420 mg/L (typoed this the first time... edited to correct it)
Specific Gravity 1.025
Temp 24C

As for why I won't go to RO water, most systems for making RO water waste a gallon to make a gallon. I can't quite wrap my head around creating that much waste water if there's any way I can get away without it, which it seems I might. I know tap water can have parameters change, but I'll use the phosguard and hope that keeps it beat down. I really suspect I had the lights on for too long and that combined with a couple of delayed water changes creates a mess.

I will also look into the Chemi-pure elite. Thanks for that suggestion!

Rocket... I really had to laugh at your description of dealing with the Rio Nano... that's EXACTLY what it's like here. Only thing you missed was when it starts bubbling up between where the collection container meets the filter and slowly leaks down all over the floor, and the part where I give up and just let it run as a second filter.

SOOOO on to the next part! Any suggestions for easy keeper critters to add? I definitely like the idea of a sand sifting goby. I also read somewhere about snails that burrow down (seem to be similar to the Malaysian trumpet snails of the FW world?) and keep things stirred up. I might have to look for those. And then any ideas for corals? I'm using that as a general term... I'm open to anything that will add interest to the tank.

I saw there's a vendor on this forum who aquacultures corals in Calgary. I might try to connect with him. I think a big part of maintaining interest in any hobby is finding things to make it more fun... right now my tank is a bit dull... I need more pretties! :D