Opinions wanted on phytoplankton and UV sterilizer

[Captain Squid]

1st I have a 180 fish and reef tank. a mix of corals from zoos to SPS.

About 9 fish, snails of various types, two rose bubble anemone, one purple tip sebae, one green carpet ( hes got to go! )

Anyway, feeding of phytoplankton yay or nay?

Ive been feeding phyto about twice a week. I shut my skimmer and remove my filter sock for an hour or so. I do this at night. Then start it all back up again.

I also feed my anemones small pieces of fish every few days. RB already split once.

Ive been having a new issue with a rusty looking brown algae on my sand and glass that Ive been cleaning every night. Its not there in the am, but appears as the day goes on.

Phosphate is .1
Nitrates 20
Nitrites 0
Nova Extreme Pro T5 lighting
Stunners at night.

Does a UV kill good bacteria as well? That is my concern. I do want to do something about the algae but not sure how to proceed.

TIA

[bertoni]

The phosphate level is very high, and the nitrate level is getting there. Stony corals, if there are any in the tank, might have a problem. The algal or bacterial film likely would be reduced if those levels were brought under control. I'd look into reducing feeding.

Phytoplankton is fine food for small animals (directly and indirectly), so it can be useful in creating a food chain.

The UV unit won't help with the algae, but it won't hurt beneficial bacteria, either.

[Captain Squid]

The phosphate level is very high, and the nitrate level is getting there. Stony corals, if there are any in the tank, might have a problem. The algal or bacterial film likely would be reduced if those levels were brought under control. I'd look into reducing feeding.

Phytoplankton is fine food for small animals (directly and indirectly), so it can be useful in creating a food chain.

The UV unit won't help with the algae, but it won't hurt beneficial bacteria, either.

Thanks Jonathan. I had added a ChemiPure Elite bag last week to bring phosphates down. What is acceptable level if not 0? I thought .1 was low. All my corals are looking great, actually going through a growth spurt keeps dropping my calc every two to three days by nearly 100 pts. Fish are very healthy too and ravenously hungry, especially my Vlamingi ..she cant get enough, and makes up for it in huge dumps. :(

[Captain Squid]

oh and tons of copepods! Maybe I should let the fish feed on them for a while? The Vlamingi might not get enough though.

[bertoni]

The phosphate level should be 0.03 ppm or lower for stony corals. For most other animals, the key issue is the algal growth. The Chemi-Pure Elite should if enough is used, but something like PhosBan or RowaPhos likely is a lot more cost-effective.

The Vlamingi can get very large, and likely would prefer a bigger tank. The smaller fish can get at the copepods, but the tang needs something larger. :) An algae clip might be useful.

[Captain Squid]

The phosphate level should be 0.03 ppm or lower for stony corals. For most other animals, the key issue is the algal growth. The Chemi-Pure Elite should if enough is used, but something like PhosBan or RowaPhos likely is a lot more cost-effective.

The Vlamingi can get very large, and likely would prefer a bigger tank. The smaller fish can get at the copepods, but the tang needs something larger. :) An algae clip might be useful.

Ok Im confused a bit - sorry, the API test kit I am using has the lowest reading of course at 0 the next lowest is 0.1. That is where I am at. 0.1 According to the test kit instructions 0.3 is the absolute max for a reef tank.

Do we have our 0's and decimals in correct places ? Hope I didnt mislead and certainly not trying to be argumentative, just want to be sure we are on the same page.

The Vlamingi already secured me one upgrade :) I KNOW I am not getting another ( this year :) Right now she is about 5 inches so we got some time to talk about that. I do use an algae clip and give her green and purple seaweeds. Actually my next upgrade was to seal off the house and fill it with water :fish2:

[Captain Squid]

Johnathan

Need to throw more into this mix. I had added about 100 lbs of dry base rock to my tank and sump , Tonga, etc , after curing it for 3 weeks in vats. I did notice those pieces turned a bright green then brown ( in the tank ) very soon after adding. Could this be the source of my phosphates? Should I remove these pieces where possible and cook them some more?

Buying cured live rock is easier but we worry about hitchikers
Buying dry rock is a lot of work so far...

Maybe Im doing it all wrong???

[bertoni]

The API kit is, well, optimistic:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

The new live rock might have added some phosphate, but I wouldn't remove it now. I'd just add more GFO to the mix.

[Captain Squid]

Thanks Johnathan. The link is perfect and I see that the number API is telling us according to that is 10X the acceptable amount. ugh.

I decided to add GFO later today. After my post this am I tested another vat of rock rubble I have curing. The phosphates in that vat tested to be .50

Sure is getting scary to put anything at all in the tank! Have a good day.

[bertoni]

Hopefully, the phosphate level in the new rock will drop. The number during the curing phase isn't all that critical. I'd get a better phosphate test kit. I've used the Salifert and the Hach, and they seem fine for our purposes. The Elos gets good reviews, too.