I hate Live Rocks

[zaitmi]

Tank Specn : 8 months old 30 Gallon Sumpless FOWLR, RO Water, Remora Protein Skimmer with china made 1400 L/Hr powerhead., substrate : crushed coral or sand dont know bought in dry form, 1 t5 18 watts light and 1 blue 18 watt aqua coral light 7hrs. a day, covered plastic hood on top, 2 powerheads one 700lph and one 1200 lph.

Live Animals : 1 Percula, 1 Electric Blue Damsel, Yellow Tail Damsel & 1 Green Carpet Anemone.

i am tired of algae in my live rocks from the last 1 year, they are dirty brown/some green hair type. i have lost the battle and i dont want to fight anymore. So i have finally decided to take out 90% live rocks from my tank at least for 3 months. And keep my tank look clean with blue background and white sand with anemone and fishes.

Now the problem is that i want to keep my live rocks for 3 months in another dark container with power head so that they remain alive and all the dirty algae will die in a dark environment within 3 months. And will be reuse it again in my tank.

Can i keep the rocks with a powerhead in a dark environment for 3 months in the same container with no water replacement.

Or should i sell the live rocks to my LFS. i hate them. they are so difficult to clean and look so dirty. i have cleaned several time taking them out of tank with saltwater but of no use they come back again after 1 week. I hate live rocks. Getting coralline algae is so difficult. damn it.

Suggestions plz...

[orion251]

So, you do not have a clean up crew? Get some snails. They will be happy with the algae that they are eating and you will be happy with the clean tank.......

[zaitmi]

i don't want to spend anymore on cleanup crews. They die a lot. How about Algaefix.

oh no i am going positive again, oh no i am not going to keep my rocks in the tank.

i want my tank to be neat with sand,anemone & fish (not with live rocks). This combination looks great.

Suggestions plz..

[shenbec]

Depending on the type of algae maybe something like a lawnmower blenny or other algae eating fish might be able to clean it up for you.

[Palting]

Yes, you can keep the rocks in a separate tank with heater and powerheads, and no light for 3 months. The algae will die off. You'll still have to keep an eye on parameters since biological processes will continue on the live rock and essential elements will continue to be consumed. That tank will still have to be treated like a regular tank, with water changes, temp control, aeration, etc, except that there will be no light.

[James404]

Are you using RO/DI? How long do you leave your lights on? Do your run GFO and Carbon? Are you overfeeding? I would try to figure out the source of the problem before wasting time putting all your rock in a container for 3 months. Unless your rock is leaching phosphate I doubt thats your problem.

[shifty51008]

my guess is that even if you do cook your live rock to get rid of the algae it will still come back if your parameters are still not inline, or the type of water you use.

[Conrad25]

How old are your bulbs on your light? I know that most places run the bulbs till they see algae start growing, than they change them out as the spectrum is out of wack and is a fuel for algae growth. So that you could be your main issue all along. If they are more than 12months old or you don't know. Than change them and leave the rock in it for a bit and see

Conrad

[rbredding]

my guess is that even if you do cook your live rock to get rid of the algae it will still come back if your parameters are still not inline, or the type of water you use.

^^ Agreed..

regular water changes and a couple (or 10) turbo snails should take care of your algae issues (and being able to keep an anemone with that lighting is surprising)

do you have coralline algae?

[njudson]

I would recommend you setup a sump and put all your rock in it. That way you don't have to look at it but you can still get all the benefits of having live rock. Also why does you clean up crew always die? is it a temperature issue?

[zaitmi]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

My LFS is offering me good rate for my live rocks. Should i sell it to him. they(live rocks) have lots of dirty brown hair algae. My tank will be neat and much easier to clean.

Suggestions plz.

[DeepSeaBeauti]

Learn from me, Because of the great saport here on RC i discoverd Vodka doseing. I was in the same boat as you. And with over 125g of display tank, and at least 200 lbs of live rock, you can imaogein how my weekend went scrubing, and cleaning. It was a never ending battle trying to get my rocks to look like they did when i bought them.

But now after only 3 weeks of using a small $2.00 bottle of vodka and a very small dose my rocks are now brighter, and growing more coraline algae then ever.

I do have a small cuc, but they dont do much. I truly belive it was the boost from the vodka that got the bacteria i needed in the tank to clean everything up.

I wish i would have taken a picture of my sump glass. It was all brown and thick with hair algae. This morning i looked in there and its almost clean. And i can see all kinds of critters crawling around eating off the sump glass.

Check out the artical and give it a try before you disasemble your aquascape. For almost no money, and little time youll be glad you did.

[agreeive?fish]

it sounds like this is the answer you want.

sell your live rock back to the lfs

nowi have the same issues because i cant have viable clean up crews becauseof puffers and triggers my clean up crews are just an expensivemeal for my tank and i have the same algea issues i know my bulbs are old but iam waiting on replacing them because iam debating on new light fixtures for my fowlr tanks, i have considered sumping my rock or getting rid of it but i still need something for fish homes/hidouts ect and suspect i will have the same issues nomatter what i have in the tank so iam looking at an ro system as well... bottom line its your tank and if you want to change the look of your tank its up to you but personaly i would sump the live rock for the the bio filtration it provides but i still think you would need something for homes/hide outs for your fish to feel safe and secure but thats just my opinion

[Levito]

I'd be careful removing all your live rock in one shot. There's a lot of natural filtration going on in there, and without the rocks, there might not be enough bacteria to handle the bioload. Removing it all at once is asking for a tank crash.

[cdeboard]

Yeah. You are avoiding the issue like this. If your water/phosphates are the issue it will all just eventually come back. To each his own though.

Sell it back to the lfs.

[100%hydrophylic]

ive heard of minimalist aquascaping, but no rocks is pushing it.... if you just dont like live rock and dont want any rocks in your tank, just do a fish only tank..... get rid of the anemone, and set up a wet/dry filtration trickle filter with bio balls. this would be the only time ever i would suggest bioballs. but this way you can put any decor (thats not living) in your tank and you dont have to worry about cleaning live rocks. fake decor you can take out and rinse in the sink with tap water.

[Chris27]

Removing all your rocks at once is a big hit to your biological filter, what do you have in place to account for that?

Algae is natural and it happens, the key is to limit the nutrients in the water column to ensure it can't grow out of control. Perhaps you could tell us a little more about your tank and your specific husbandry efforts such as feeding habits, water change schedule and test results. How about ansillery equipment such as media reactors?

What it sounds like is old tank syndrome, sometimes after the tank being established for a while, nutrients slowly build up which can cause problems for you....your problems may be as simple to solve as just doing a large water change, and a through cleaning of the substrate....

[chimmike]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

My LFS is offering me good rate for my live rocks. Should i sell it to him. they(live rocks) have lots of dirty brown hair algae. My tank will be neat and much easier to clean.

Suggestions plz.

you were given suggestions. apparently they weren't what you wanted to hear.

the live rock isn't the issue. Your husbandry skills are not up to par, and therefore your tank is suffering via algae growth. It's not your fish, your live rock, or your sand. This is not an insult to you, but you're looking for issues in all the wrong places.

1) Why does your clean up crew keep dying? Your parameters must be off. Your fish are very hardy and not as susceptible to dying from off parameters like snails are.
2) Do you know what your parameters are?
3) What's your water source? Secondly, what's the total dissolved solids (tds) of your water source? How many water changes do you do?
4) You really have no filtration to speak of. Just a remora skimmer. Your crushed coral (or sand, as you put it) is probably not deep enough to be effective in helping reduce nitrates.

Regardless, something is feeding the algae in your tank, and it's not the live rock.

So go ahead and sell the live rock, buy some more, and you'll get the same problems again until you find the actual source.

[lars on live]

The live rock isn't the problem. The HA is there because of something else and is growing on the rock. If you remove the rock you will lose some of your filtration and unless you find the source the HA will just grow somewhere else.

[phenom5]

chimmike is asking the right questions, and it was the first thing that came to mind as I read through this thread. It's not the live rock that is causing the algae. It's NO3 & PO4. Lower those and you'll love your rock again.

If you really want to go the rock cooking route, it'll take a little more work then just throwing them in a dark tub for a few months.

Here are SeanT's instructions on rock cooking from the How to go Barebottom (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=650985&highlight=how+to+go+barebottom) thread.

The purpose of "cooking" your rocks is to have the bacteria consume all (or as much) organic material and PO4 stored on, and in, the rock as possible.

The first step to this is commitment.
You have to be willing to remove your rock from the tank.
It doesn't have to be all at once, but I feel if you are going to do this do it all. In stages if that is easier but make sure that all of it gets done.

The new environment you are creating for your rock is to take it from an algal driven to a bacterial driven system.
In order to do this, the rock needs to be in total darkness to retard and eventually kill the algae's on the rock and to give the bacteria time to do the job.

So basically you need tubs to hold the rock.

Equipment needed.
1. Dedication.
2. Tubs to cook rock in. And an equal amount of tubs to hold the rock during waterchanges.
3. A few powerheads.
4. Plenty of buckets.
5. A smug feeling of superiority that you are taking it to "the next level."
6. Saltwater, enough made up to follow the instructions below and to replenish your tank after removing rocks.
Here are the steps:

1. Get into your head and accept the fact you will be making lots of salt water if you aren't lucky enough to have access to filtered NSW.
2. Explain to significant other what is going on so they don't flip out. This process can take up to 2 months. Prepare them in advance so he/she can mark it on the calendar and that they won't nag about it until that date arrives.
3. Setup a tub(s) where the rock is to be cooked. Garages are great for this.
4. Make up enough water to fill tub(s) about halfway and around 5-7 buckets about 60% full.
5. Remove all the rock you want to cook at this stage. (The rock can be removed piece by piece until you are done.) I suggest shutting off the circulation beforehand to minimize dust storms.
6. Take the first piece of rock and dunk it, swish it, very, very well in the first bucket. Then do it again in the 2nd bucket, then the third.
7. Place rock in the tub.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 to every piece of rock you want to cook at this time. The reason I suggested 5-7 buckets of water will be evident quickly...as the water quickly turns brown.
9. Place powerhead(s) in the tub and plug in. Position at least one powerhead so that it agitates the surface of the water pretty well. This is to keep the water oxygenated. You can use an air pump for additional oxygenation if you wish. Only one powerhead per tub is needed. Remember the powerheads main responsibility is the oxygenation of the water.
10. Cover the tub. Remember, we want TOTAL darkness.
11. Empty out buckets, restart circulation on main tank.
12. Wait.
13. During the first couple of weeks it is recommended to do a swishing and dunking of the rocks twice a week.
What this entails is to make up enough water to fill up those buckets and the tub the rock is in.
First, lay out your empty tub(s) and fill buckets the same as before.
Then, uncover tub with the rock in it. Take a rock and swish it in the tub it's in to knock any easy to get off junk.
Then, swish it thru the 3 buckets again, and place in the empty tub..
Repeat for all your rocks.
Then empty the tub that all the rocks were cooking in, take it outside and rinse it out with a hose.
Place tub back where it was, fill with new saltwater, add rocks and powerheads, and cover.
Wait again until the next water change.
You will be utterly amazed at how much sand, silt, detritus is at the bottom of the tub and every bucket. It is amazing.
At times the stench was so strong I gagged.

How it works:

Some FAQ's.
When re-introducing the rock to my tank, a month or two from now, should I do that in parts to help minimize any cycling effect(s)...if there are any?
I never have. Really after a very short while, the ammonium cycle has been established. That's not what you're worry about though, it's the stored phosphates and that you have to wait it out.
When they are producing very little detritus - you'll know - then I would use them all at once.

Would running Carbon filtration and/or a PO4 reducing media help/hurry/hinder the process?
I wouldn't fool with it. You don't want the detritus to sit there long enough to rot, release water soluble P again. You want to take it out while it's still locked up in that bacterial detritus.

I would say that 85% of my exposed rock had Bryopsis (hair algae) covering it.
There isn't a single visible strand on any rocks my tank now.
Remember, the key is patience. Let this process run its course.

And a few last minute tidbits I remembered.
Your coralline will die back, recede etc.
My thoughts on this are GREAT!
Now my rock is more porous for additional pods, mysids, worms etc.
Coralline will grow back.
Throughout this process the sponges, and pods on my rock have not died off.
Every time I do a water change they are there and plentiful.

[Reefer82]

Like it has been said before, take care of your tank right and you will enjoy it. End of story.

I recently purchased a 20h off of a coworker extremely cheap because of similar issues as you are describing. The difference is that I followed direction in the past and learned from the people on here that know a great deal more than myself.

I got a fully stocked tank w metal halide lighting, all his drygoods, ect for $100.

All I did was a massive 50% change when setting tank back up, let things ride for a day or and then took care of it like it should have been. I started vodka dosing three weeks ago and its a night and day difference. I suggest reading up on it but don't attempt it if you aren't going to follow through with traditional maintenance as well. I saw phosphate drop ftom over 1ppm to nothing inside of a week and nitrates from about 80 down to the current levels of 10ppm.

[dwculp]

you were given suggestions. apparently they weren't what you wanted to hear.

the live rock isn't the issue. Your husbandry skills are not up to par, and therefore your tank is suffering via algae growth. It's not your fish, your live rock, or your sand. This is not an insult to you, but you're looking for issues in all the wrong places.

1) Why does your clean up crew keep dying? Your parameters must be off. Your fish are very hardy and not as susceptible to dying from off parameters like snails are.
2) Do you know what your parameters are?
3) What's your water source? Secondly, what's the total dissolved solids (tds) of your water source? How many water changes do you do?
4) You really have no filtration to speak of. Just a remora skimmer. Your crushed coral (or sand, as you put it) is probably not deep enough to be effective in helping reduce nitrates.

Regardless, something is feeding the algae in your tank, and it's not the live rock.

So go ahead and sell the live rock, buy some more, and you'll get the same problems again until you find the actual source.

+1,000,000

The problem is not your rocks, they are not producing algae, the algae is growing on your rocks because of some sort of husbandry issue.

1. How often and how much do you feed your tank? Decomposing, uneaten food will fuel algae blooms.

2. How often do you do water changes? What is your water source (RO/DI, tap, distilled etc?)

3. Do you test for phosphate? If so, what are your levels? Do you run any type of phosphate reducing media?

4. What is you light cycle? What type of lights do you have and how long ago were they changed?

5. What type of filtration do you have?

6. Do you carbon? How often do you change it?

Those rocks are providing a very beneficial biological filtration and removing them could have detrimental effects on your tank.

[zaitmi]

Learn from me, Because of the great saport here on RC i discoverd Vodka doseing. I was in the same boat as you. And with over 125g of display tank, and at least 200 lbs of live rock, you can imaogein how my weekend went scrubing, and cleaning. It was a never ending battle trying to get my rocks to look like they did when i bought them.

But now after only 3 weeks of using a small $2.00 bottle of vodka and a very small dose my rocks are now brighter, and growing more coraline algae then ever.

I do have a small cuc, but they dont do much. I truly belive it was the boost from the vodka that got the bacteria i needed in the tank to clean everything up.

I wish i would have taken a picture of my sump glass. It was all brown and thick with hair algae. This morning i looked in there and its almost clean. And i can see all kinds of critters crawling around eating off the sump glass.

Check out the artical and give it a try before you disasemble your aquascape. For almost no money, and little time youll be glad you did.

Thanks,

I am dosing from more than 2 months, my nitrates and phosphates are almost invisible, but no help in algae control.

I dont have silicate test kit so i gave some water of my tank to my LFS. he tested all the test and said everything is fine except my silicates which are very high even though i use Kent Marine drinking water purifier water for my tank.

Now what ???

[zaitmi]

it sounds like this is the answer you want.

sell your live rock back to the lfs

nowi have the same issues because i cant have viable clean up crews becauseof puffers and triggers my clean up crews are just an expensivemeal for my tank and i have the same algea issues i know my bulbs are old but iam waiting on replacing them because iam debating on new light fixtures for my fowlr tanks, i have considered sumping my rock or getting rid of it but i still need something for fish homes/hidouts ect and suspect i will have the same issues nomatter what i have in the tank so iam looking at an ro system as well... bottom line its your tank and if you want to change the look of your tank its up to you but personaly i would sump the live rock for the the bio filtration it provides but i still think you would need something for homes/hide outs for your fish to feel safe and secure but thats just my opinion

hey u can use barnacles instead of rocks to hide them.

I just bought last night Algaefix Freshwater from my LFS coz Algaefix marine was not available, so i dosed 42 drops of on my 30 gallon as recommended. though worried about my carpet anemone.

[lars on live]

Your Nitrates will appear fine on the test because of all the HA growth in your tank.

[James404]

Thanks,

I am dosing from more than 2 months, my nitrates and phosphates are almost invisible, but no help in algae control.

I dont have silicate test kit so i gave some water of my tank to my LFS. he tested all the test and said everything is fine except my silicates which are very high even though i use Kent Marine drinking water purifier water for my tank.

Now what ???

Im guessing your not using a RO/DI, this is one of your main problems, drinking water purifier is not going to remove silicates from your water. Also why would you use the freshwater algaefix, theres a marine version for a reason...

[shifty51008]

Thanks,

I am dosing from more than 2 months, my nitrates and phosphates are almost invisible, but no help in algae control.

Now what ???

the reason your nitrates and phosphates read good is because the algae is using them up before your test can read them. the bottom line is, if you have algae you have ntrates and phosphates, they need those things to survive and grow.

can you tell us what all your parameters read use numbers please.

do you know the TDS of your water?

how often do you do a water change and how much?

how big is your tank?

what type of lights, how long do they run per day, how old are the bulbs.

the more we know about your system the better we can help.

[Toddrtrex]

What type of "carpet" anemone?

I would be concerned about using any algae reducing "stuff" with one. Though, I would be more concerned about your lights and any type of "carpet"

[floydie83]

Im guessing your not using a RO/DI, this is one of your main problems, drinking water purifier is not going to remove silicates from your water. Also why would you use the freshwater algaefix, theres a marine version for a reason...

The algaefix are the same, just a different bottle. Highlandreefer posted something about this a bit ago.

On the more important point, I agree about the RO/DI. Get one, do some water changes and keep at it.

[James404]

The algaefix are the same, just a different bottle. Highlandreefer posted something about this a bit ago.

On the more important point, I agree about the RO/DI. Get one, do some water changes and keep at it.

Ah ok I see, I was unaware of that. I have used the marine version before and I thought I had read there was a difference in formula. My bad :)

[DeepSeaBeauti]

Again: Vodka!!!! It saved my rock, and sanity.

[NirvanaFan]

It sounds like you're not using RO/DI or distilled water. I'm willing to bet all your problems are coming from your source water. Every time you do add water to the tank from evaporation, you are probably adding phosphates and a bunch of other undesirable things. These are fueling your algae and causing it to expand. Either invest in a RO/DI or buy distilled or RO/DI water from somewhere else.

I would do a hefty water change (~40-50%) with good distilled or RO/DI water. Every other week do a 20% water change. That should start to control the algae. Maybe then you can get a snail or two to see if they live in your tank.

[KafudaFish]

Your choices are:

1. Quit the hobby all together.
2. Sell your LR back to your store and buy fake corals and/or rock so you can take them out every two weeks to bleach like people did in the 70's and 80's.
3. Spend some money and take some people's advice.

You may get lucky and somehow your tank will become in balance or it will continue on the current path and you will continue to hate your rocks.

Basically until you address the causes of the situation the magic in the bottle won't work well.

Good luck though.

[zaitmi]

Thanks a lot for all your replies my tank specn. is in my first post. I do 10% water changes twice a month. i think i will move to Algaefix thread last page and will continue from their:)
I will fight with a weapon i.e. Algaefix. Both are same for marine and freshwater reeflander told me so.

But how much light does my carpet anemone needs, right now i have around 50 watts in my tank including blue light.

what say bro?

[chimmike]

1) Algaefix isn't going to solve your problem, we've already told you what will
2) No, that's not enough light for your anemone!

[Sugar Magnolia]

But how much light does my carpet anemone needs, right now i have around 50 watts in my tank including blue light.

what say bro?

What does that mean? 50 watts of what type of lighting and what is the blue light? Please be more specific.

[shifty51008]

i am guessing they are regular T5 and not HO's because they are only 18 watts each. and that is only 36 watts of light total and that surely isn't enough. you will need a good T5HO unit 4 bulbs 39 watts each with good individual reflectors per bulb. unless you go will MH then a 150-175 watt unit will work fine

Algaefix is just a band aid it will not cure the problem long term. you have to change your husbandry to fix the problem or you will be spending a fortune on Algaefix

[Falconeer]

hey u can use barnacles instead of rocks to hide them.

I just bought last night Algaefix Freshwater from my LFS coz Algaefix marine was not available, so i dosed 42 drops of on my 30 gallon as recommended. though worried about my carpet anemone.

Would delete but I can't: I 1) Didn't realize that there were more comments and 2) my comment was addressed by others earlier

[dwculp]

Thanks a lot for all your replies my tank specn. is in my first post. I do 10% water changes twice a month. i think i will move to Algaefix thread last page and will continue from their:)
I will fight with a weapon i.e. Algaefix. Both are same for marine and freshwater reeflander told me so.

But how much light does my carpet anemone needs, right now i have around 50 watts in my tank including blue light.

what say bro?

There is NO magic potion in a bottle that is going to fix your algae problem, Algaefix will not help you, it may work on a short term basis but it is NOT a long term solution.

Learn proper husbandry techniques and you will not have to dump chemicals into your tank to control algae.

[dwculp]

Thanks a lot for all your replies my tank specn. is in my first post. I do 10% water changes twice a month. i think i will move to Algaefix thread last page and will continue from their:)
I will fight with a weapon i.e. Algaefix. Both are same for marine and freshwater reeflander told me so.

But how much light does my carpet anemone needs, right now i have around 50 watts in my tank including blue light.

what say bro?

Not enough light for an anemone.

[zaitmi]

Okay i will try to increase the lights to 120 watts. They say 4 watts per gallon so 30 gallon x 4 watts =120watts for anemones, my target would be to reach 120watts at the earliest. Follow my thread in Algaefix hair algae with reeflander. Plzzz...

[chimmike]

Okay i will try to increase the lights to 120 watts. They say 4 watts per gallon so 30 gallon x 4 watts =120watts for anemones, my target would be to reach 120watts at the earliest. Follow my thread in Algaefix hair algae with reeflander. Plzzz...

Why are you avoiding what we're telling you regarding the water?

algaefix is not going to help you. :hammer::hammer::hammer:

[Toddrtrex]

Okay i will try to increase the lights to 120 watts. They say 4 watts per gallon so 30 gallon x 4 watts =120watts for anemones, my target would be to reach 120watts at the earliest. Follow my thread in Algaefix hair algae with reeflander. Plzzz...

"They" are wrong. Not sure who told you about watts per gallon, but that is an outdated rule. There are too many variables for that rule to be meaningful. What type of bulbs?
Do the fixtures have individual reflectors?
What color temp for the bulbs?
What are the dimensions of the tank?
What type of "carpet"?

In my 33 cube, I have an S. Haddoni "carpet" and it is under an 250 watt MH.

[rale2001]

How long have u had the nem under tha lighting

[zaitmi]

"They" are wrong. Not sure who told you about watts per gallon, but that is an outdated rule. There are too many variables for that rule to be meaningful. What type of bulbs?
Do the fixtures have individual reflectors?
What color temp for the bulbs?
What are the dimensions of the tank?
What type of "carpet"?

In my 33 cube, I have an S. Haddoni "carpet" and it is under an 250 watt MH.

I have 2 nos. 14 watts t5 fluorescent white tubes and 1no. blue (aqua coral) 20 watts light.
no reflectors but white shiny sticker is under the tubes.
colour temp no idea but 6500kelvin.
Yes it is S.Haddoni carpet.

i am keeping my anemone from last 2 2 weeks.

[zaitmi]

Here is the current picture of my tank.

[chimmike]

I have 2 nos. 14 watts t5 fluorescent white tubes and 1no. blue (aqua coral) 20 watts light.
no reflectors but white shiny sticker is under the tubes.
colour temp no idea but 6500kelvin.
Yes it is S.Haddoni carpet.

i am keeping my anemone from last 2 2 weeks.

That 'nem is not going to survive.

[Sugar Magnolia]

You need to either upgrade your lighting ASAP or return that carpet anemone. They require intense lighting to survive and thrive. Your lighting is insufficient. Upgrading to 120w is not enough.

[chimmike]

You need to either upgrade your lighting ASAP or return that carpet anemone. They require intense lighting to survive and thrive. Your lighting is insufficient. Upgrading to 120w is not enough.

honestly, the way the OP has responded in this thread, I highly doubt his husbandry skills are up to par with keeping any kind of 'nem other than aiptasia.

[zaitmi]

The anemone is doing good he is gone bigger.

Hey, chimkmike bro, my water parameters are all well.

Nitrates : less than 5 ppm
Phosphates : 03. mg/l
Ph : 8.4
Salinty: 1.023
Ammonia 0 ppm

[lars on live]

We have already told you your nitrate reading won't be correct because of the HA growing in your tank. Your tank is not the right environment for the Nem at this point. If it stays in your tank it will suffer because of the poor lighting and the water quality.

[chimmike]

The anemone is doing good he is gone bigger.

Hey, chimkmike bro, my water parameters are all well.

Nitrates : less than 5 ppm
Phosphates : 03. mg/l
Ph : 8.4
Salinty: 1.023
Ammonia 0 ppm

go back and re-read this entire thread. Not just the posts you want to read, but the whole, entire thread.

And you may want to raise your salinity to .024 or .025, too. That's a tad low.

[sslak]

Sumpless

Suggestion: Remedy that. Grow some chaeto in a fuge and get a decent skimmer and call it a day.

[sslak]

The anemone is doing good he is gone bigger.

Hey, chimkmike bro, my water parameters are all well.

Nitrates : less than 5 ppm
Phosphates : 03. mg/l
Ph : 8.4
Salinty: 1.023
Ammonia 0 ppm

You're missing a few...

Calcium?
Magnesium?
KH?

My guess is if you bring your Ca and Mg up to where they belong you will see your cleanup crew stop dying and a big reduction in algae.

[NirvanaFan]

Sometimes when anemones aren't getting enough light, they will expand and seem to grow. They do this to increase their surface area and capture more light. Unfortunately, you don't have enough light to make this anemone survive long term. I would suggest you upgrade to t5HO with individual reflectors or metal halide.

[manix man]

It's just how many times you can say it I guess.

If you have have no nitrate / phosphate you can't get hair algae it's as simple as that.

If you have hair algae you must have nitrate / phosphate in the tank.

I don't even have snails in my SPS tank, totally no need for them.

[Uncle Salty 05]

I'd be careful removing all your live rock in one shot. There's a lot of natural filtration going on in there, and without the rocks, there might not be enough bacteria to handle the bioload. Removing it all at once is asking for a tank crash.

+1
By removing all of your live rock you are removing the bulk of your biological filtration. Depending on the bioload the tank will crash sooner or later.

[njudson]

Hey guys I hope this isn't out of line to say but last year I followed a 37 page build thread on another forum started by this poster where he was dealing with many of the same issues and had many of the same solutions suggested. The guy is in a tough situation because where he lives he doesn't have access to some of the affordable equipment but you are wasting your time with your suggestions he simply will not listen and put in the effort / money.

[James404]

Makes me wonder, why bother posting questions if you don't want to hear the answers?

[jefathome]

To the original poster....
If your tank has been up for a while then your substrate will have a lot of the same affect as the rocks as far as converting waste to Nitrates. You do not seem to have a good way of exporting the nitrates though. The 10% changes just won't cut it.

You either need to do 40% changes for a few months and then continue with 2 25% or more changes... get a sump and grow some macro algae (chaeto) or dose some vodka. Or all of the above. I would also add more light as mentioned or your Nem WILL die. Also make sure your water you use for changes has under 10ppm TDS.

Algaefix is only temporary as a fix... as all have stated.
Take this to heart if you want.. if not, no big deal to me. We are all trying to help you, but Id wager we care about the Nem more than you. ;)

[zaitmi]

okay guys thanks a lot for ur suggestions i will try to follow all of them by heart. I have learnt a lot here.

Test results :

Calcium : 450 ppm
Alkalinity : 10 dkh
Magnesium : No test kit:( (Not available in india, but in Sept my friend is getting me from abroad).
I am dosing vodka from last 2 months.

I will be buying lights very soon to make it upto 150 watt. yes i will do it.

My light timings were very bad 4pm to 12 midnight. i think that was the problem, now i am doing 10am to 6pm lighting timing. hope it will help. my lights not yet 1 year old they 10 months old.

My LFS is running a marine tank without live rocks from the last 5 years:( i dont know how he manages, when i asked him about husbandry and he changes 10% water after 2 months thats all no tests nothing:(. i go and sit every evening in his shop. He has 2nos. 20 gallon tank and lots of other freshwater. He has suggested me to go with as he says your sand will control everything like mine. but i wont listen to him.:)

[James404]

okay guys thanks a lot for ur suggestions i will try to follow all of them by heart. I have learnt a lot here.

Test results :

Calcium : 450 ppm
Alkalinity : 10 dkh
Magnesium : No test kit:( (Not available in india, but in Sept my friend is getting me from abroad).
I am dosing vodka from last 2 months.

I will be buying lights very soon to make it upto 150 watt. yes i will do it.

My light timings were very bad 4pm to 12 midnight. i think that was the problem, now i am doing 10am to 6pm lighting timing. hope it will help. my lights not yet 1 year old they 10 months old.

My LFS is running a marine tank without live rocks from the last 5 years:( i dont know how he manages, when i asked him about husbandry and he changes 10% water after 2 months thats all no tests nothing:(. i go and sit every evening in his shop. He has 2nos. 20 gallon tank and lots of other freshwater. He has suggested me to go with as he says your sand will control everything like mine. but i wont listen to him.:)

I am glad to hear you are following advice. Cutting down your light period will help for sure.