24G NC - Bryopsis & Cyno Bacteria - Protein Skimmer?

[Shrimp_Killer]

I am having problems with Bryopsis & Cyno Bacteria. (I have read alot about it, but it seems daunting)

I think it is from high nitrate lvls...it seems that no matter what I do my nitrates hang out at 10ppm.

I use RO water and it tests clean for everything (phosphates & nitrates too).

I am not running a protein skimmer, would this even help? If so which ones are best in 24G NC?

I really don't have room for for a sump or fuge...I currently have a stock deluxe 24G NC with a MJ1200 pump (BIO-Removed). I have seen where people mod this thing up and put lights in the back, but is that feasible with a stock lid?

Thanks

[ezcompany]

u cannot "test" RO water, except for a ppm measurement.
protein skimmer i would recommend a Coralife Super Skimmer.

[Shrimp_Killer]

what is a ppm measurement then..."A Test"


What I meant was that all lvls are undetectable.

[spline9]

I think what ezcompany meant was TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) measurement instead of PPM (parts per million).

[EMBRYOGUY]

you DO NOT need a skimmer. reduce your feedings, consider pellets/flakes, reduce light schedule, and MORE water changes.

you can put a fuge light in the back of the canopy, but if you are not a diy person, it will be involved. fill chambers 1/2 with live rock , add chemipure into chamber 3.

sand bed atleast 1 inch is essential.


i would highly recommend water change once a week.

[spline9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7441766#post7441766 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by embryoguy
you DO NOT need a skimmer. reduce your feedings, consider pellets/flakes, reduce light schedule, and MORE water changes.


Right. No need for a skimmer. I have 4 tanks and the 2 smallest ones are skimerless. They are doing fine. Heck, I'm even pretty lazy with the water changes but theres very low bioloads in both of them. The smallest of the two is less than a gallon and has been up for 1.5 years and doing well. I do water changes every month or few months, depending on how the water and HOB filter is lookin.

[Shrimp_Killer]

Thx for the advice.

[bennerkla]

You probably don't need a skimmer, but if you wanted one, it wouldn't hurt at all. Maybe an AquaC Remora.

A nitrate reading of 10, by the way, is not high at all. In fact, that is pretty low.

[DRC69]

I have two 10 gallons and a 12 JBJ NO skimmers at all on any of them.
Water changes every other month. BALANCE IS THE KEY TO SMALL SYSTEMS. Sand bed is important to.
Keep at it, will balance its self out.

[jjirsa78]

I have 5 fish (2 chromis, a false perc, a royal gramma, and a purple firefish - I know, I'm pushing it) in a 24G, and feed a mix of 6 different food (flakes, pellets, frozen prime reef, frozen formula 1, dried brine, dried plankton), and no skimmer - and not a spec of algae in sight.

You don't need a skimmer, you just need balance. If you feed heavily, you'll get a lot of waste - make sure you have the cleanup crew required to process the waste, and do regular (but not ridiculous) water changes.

[Shrimp_Killer]

Hey guys, Its been a while, but Here is an update.

I still have bad problems with Bryopsis...I have had the green crap crowd out several corals. (It would grow in between all my polyps and crowd them out, and it got too hard to manually remove so I had to throw some coral\rock pieces out.)

I don't think I am feeding too much...I usually only feed some flake daily, and weekly micro doses (zooplankton etc.) for filter feeders.

I do weekly water changes, and I "mow" the grass during the process. (I am using RO water...I still need to buy a TDS meter)

Here is a breakdown of my tank:

24G NC - Stock lighting; MJ 1200 pump

- 2 percula clowns; 2 firefish; 1 brittle star; 1 blue linca Star; 1 emerald crab

- 5-10 of each: margarita snails, bumble bee snails, cerith snails, turbo snails, dwarf blue leg HC, dwarf red tip HC, dwarf zebra HC

- hairy Mushrooms, starburst colony, colony polyp, cabbage leather, finger leather (devil's hand?)

When I get home tonight I am going to do every water test I have, and I will try and get some pictures.

I would like to try some mods to create a fuge, but I don't want to move away from the stock cover...any guidance to some good instructions would be great.

I would like to get an anenome and some more coral, but I want to get rid of this crap first.

[manse]

Test your phosphates. Your phosphates may read zero though, since the algae is consuming it.

I would run some phosban for a bit to see if it helps.

Ultimately, your problem may be 4 fish (even small ones) and no skimmer. It seems like a high bioload to me.

Just my $0.02

Good luck!