Ok. My tank has been set up for about a month. I never saw a ammonia spike. had a brown algae problem, went away, now green hair algae everywhere in the main tank.

I also have slimy black looking mats big circle mats on top of the sand in the refugium.

I have a 90 gallon tank, 38 gallon sump / refugium. 3 green chromis in tank.

I put a piece of raw shrimp in the refugium for 2 days, a clear jelly looking slime formed all around it then i removed it.

Maybe I have a hard time reading the slight color differences in the test kits. the ammonia looks like zero, nitrate and nitrite also look like zero.

I changed 1o percent of the water today.

any input would help!!

( is the slimy algae in the refugium normal, and the slimy mats normal???)


thanks,
David

Sounds like we have some Cyanobacteria growing there. And of course the Green Hair Algae. Can be a sign of Phosphates. You using tap water? Snails and Sea Hares can take care of that problem.
Cyano:
Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria) - Description, causes and cures for Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria)

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I am using RO / DI water right from the start. I ordered snails from garf.org, but seems to be a problem with delivery.

Can I wait, and it will correct, like the brown algae??

You could wait, but its not the same as a Diatom Bloom. But no worries, even when you do get the snails, they will take care of it.

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I would strongly recommend Boyd's Chemi Clean to remove the bacteria causing the slime to grow. In addition to the product you must physically remove the algae. I recommend Boyd's as they do not use erithromycin.