Tank Problems

[bill1282]

I have an established tank for about a year and for the last three months I have had a bad algae problem. When the lights come on it seems like the algae triples. The algae coats the rocks like skin and if I wave my scraper over it peels off. From my test kits the nitrates are about 10 the phosphate is close to zero. I am running a 75g saltwater with a Refugium (live sand and macro algae), Coralife Super Skimmer 125, Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer, I keep the temp about 80 degrees, I do 2 water changes a month with RO water from the local fish store. I leave the lights (260watts new bulbs) on about 8 to 10 hours a day with the light on the refugium when the lights go off on the tank. I have started Kalkwasser calcium drip and treated the tank with Maracyn with no improvement. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Bill

[mistergerardob]

IMO it is better if you get you own RODI unit. Using Ro from the fish store maybe it is not enough.
Even if you readings in phosphate are close to zero there is more than what you think.
Also, Are you feeding too much?

[bill1282]

I am feeding 1/2 cube of brine shrimp for about 7 small fish. The food is gone in about 2 minutes. Trying to get the wife to let me buy my own RODI unit! LOL

[racrumrine]

Welcome to Reef Central

You might want to look through these articles.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=102605

Glad you mentioned the brine shrimp. Many people thaw and rinse the cubes because they contain a lot of excess nutrients.

Also, 7 fish in a 75 is quite a lot. You probably have a high bioload which is contributing to your problem. You might want to consider feeding the fish less often. Many people only feed every other day (for example).

What type of macro algae do you have? I have found chaetomorpha to be the best for reducing nitrates.

Best of luck,

Roy

[bill1282]

Thank you,
I am using Caulerpa. I will try feeding them every other day and see if that helps. Is there anything I can do to clear the tank of the algae faster? I have heard that you can put your live rock in a tank of salt water in the dark for a couple of days and it will kill the algae

[joekr]

What does your clean up crew look like? I am getting ready to stock my 90 soon and I plan on at least 20-30 snails...

You can pick up a RO/DI unit from these guys for 125 shipped..I have ordered from them in the past and they have been great..

http://stores.ebay.com/Filter-Direct-store

[fareforce]

Your phosphates could be reading zero because the algee is using all of them to grow. If the algee is "peeling off" when you wave your scraper over it. There is a good chance the flow in your tank is too low.

What is your flow turnover rate?

[bill1282]

Refugium 635 gallons per hour I also have one power head in the tank. Had 2 but one stopped working. I have about 10 snails, 6 hemit crabs, 2 sea urchins

[badpvtdan]

Try a po4 reading of the RO water. I used to get it from the LFS but stopped when I saw their po4 was super high.

[arowanadream]

Yes, If you problem start without you change anything in your tank. It have to be the RO/DI water from LFS. Man think about it the filter that I use need to change every 3 month in my area and they cost so much .Would you LFS change them all the time. How much he is charging you for the water!!!!

[bill1282]

I am paying $24 a month for saltwater 50 cents a gallon

[eddie c]

increase your flow, have fish that will eat the algae like a kole tang and some sort of algae blenny, and you are not overfeeding i feed 4 cubes daily in my 75g and it's gone in minutes and i have no algae problems whatsoever, make sure your skimmer is working properly, maybe run it a little wetter, maybe try and run some carbon also and start doing weekly water changes until you get it under control.

[trae]

Low light is good. you can't stop algae but to control it you need a hungry pack of snails and crabs. Lettuce nudibranches and lawnmower blennys will do the job. 10% weekly with the water also. Look for a biological balance instead of chemicals for answers.

[mistergerardob]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9611562#post9611562 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bill1282
I am paying $24 a month for saltwater 50 cents a gallon

just buy a rodi unit, you can buy a unit that you can drink from it too, and then you can talk to your wife about how good the rodi unit is going to make you drinking water :)
24 dollars a month for bad ro water is not worth it, a rodi unit is more money a front, but it will pay itself in the future

[nhlives]

What kind of snail. Mexican Turbos are HA eating machines. I love the little guys.

[bill1282]

I have about 5 mexican turbo snails going to pick up some more today and a lawnmower blenny

[bill1282]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9612286#post9612286 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eddie c
increase your flow, have fish that will eat the algae like a kole tang and some sort of algae blenny, and you are not overfeeding i feed 4 cubes daily in my 75g and it's gone in minutes and i have no algae problems whatsoever, make sure your skimmer is working properly, maybe run it a little wetter, maybe try and run some carbon also and start doing weekly water changes until you get it under control.

I have added an extra power head down by the live rock. Should I add the carbon to the Refugium? Sorry for all the questions I should have read this forum before I started my tank!

Again thank you everyone for your help I was pulling my hair out!
Bill

[eddie c]

put the carbon in a high flow area such as the return from the tank to the sump/refugium, i would also use a filter sock, scrape all algae off off everything and it will end up in the sock just be sure to clean the sock often, you could also put the carbon in the sock, and good luck!

[bill1282]

Should I take the BioBalls out of the Refugium?

[eddie c]

use only live rock, take out the bioballs, they will cause nitrates to rise which could fuel the algae growth, take them out slowly though or your ammonia or nitrites levels will rise, make sure you have enough live rock i believe the rule is one pound per gallon, but iv'e seen tanks with less but it all depends on your bioload.

[Fast Eddie H]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but will carbon really help with hair algae? I've got a ton in my 90 right now and the snails, hermits, and 1 lawnmower blenny are barely making a dent.

[eddie c]

carbon wont help rid hair algae but it will take out impurities in the water which could be fueling the algae growth, the best luck for hair algae is taking the rock out and scrubbing it off, if it's only a few pieces, you could leave them out of the water for a week or two and that will kill it off completely, then you will basically have base rock but after adding it back to the tank, it will after a little time repopulate and you will have nice clean live rock, thats what i did and it work well.

[bill1282]

I have carefully removed the Bioballs, added more flow, switched to wet skimming, I am picking up 10 more Mexican Turbo snails and lawnmower blenny(They are on hold at the LFS) and I am going to add carbon to the return from the tank to the refugium. I am still working on my own RO unit. If there is anything else that might help let me know.

My specs:
Nitrate between 0-20
Nitrite 0
Alkalinity 300 but stick was blueish color
PH 8.4
Amonia 0
Phosphates 0

Also does it help with micro bubbles to wrap a sock around the return pump?

Again thanks for all the help this forum rocks!
Bill

[Frick-n-Frags]

I wonder if you are starting to have fouled substrate issues?
the timing is about right where that could start happening (IF you have a substrate, that is :D)

regardless, the whole game is garbage out > garbage in to your system. waterchanges, cleaning, harvesting algae, starve the fish for a week once a month and cut back all normal feedings, are just a few of the things to try to shift the balance back in your favor. And you will know too, because all of a sudden the algae loses its will and sort of fizzles for a few weeks until it vanishes.

this game may take months, so be prepared to stay the course.

[bramjansen]

In regards to RO/DI, I see systems that are just a 100 bucks and sometimes even less, is this what I should be looking for? Everyone seems to say that these things are so expensive.

[Nano Chris]

Maybe it would be good to reduce your lighting period from 8-10 hrs a day to half that, i would also say get an RO/DI unit and run phosphate remover.

[bill1282]

I cut the amount of light down till I get rid of the problem(Only turning on 130watts of 260. How long can I do that with soft coral in the tank and will this help?

Also thinking about getting this RO/DI unit http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html
Thank you Bill