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makers marc · 02/14/2018, 10:31 AM

Id like to keep this discussion going. Hopefully Sk8r and others can chime in..

My 180g upgrade is going on 2 months wet. Quick background: Used dry pukani and dry reef grade sand to start fresh.
In addition, I soaked my pukani in Lanthamum Chloride for a month (so no phosphates) and have been running 1 cup of BRS HC GFO and 1 cup of GAC since day 1. Skimmer is on 24/7 and collects a half a cup of skimmate each wk. No other dosing.

I feed relatively heavily 3x a day for my 10 small fish right now.

A month ago, the expected diatom bloom occurred. Weeks later, the diatoms converted to green algae that can be blown easily off the rocks. Now, the rocks are covered in a similar white, stringy bacteria that looks like clumps of dust.

The rest of the tank looks too clean and I only need to clean the glass weekly. Even what grows on the glass is clear/white.

So I just turned off my GFO reactor for now, as Im concluding my phosphate:nitrate ratio is unbalanced?

Any thoughts ? Just let it mature more? Is this bc po4 limited bacteria?

02/14/2018, 10:31 AM	#8
makers marc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 283	Id like to keep this discussion going. Hopefully Sk8r and others can chime in.. My 180g upgrade is going on 2 months wet. Quick background: Used dry pukani and dry reef grade sand to start fresh. In addition, I soaked my pukani in Lanthamum Chloride for a month (so no phosphates) and have been running 1 cup of BRS HC GFO and 1 cup of GAC since day 1. Skimmer is on 24/7 and collects a half a cup of skimmate each wk. No other dosing. I feed relatively heavily 3x a day for my 10 small fish right now. A month ago, the expected diatom bloom occurred. Weeks later, the diatoms converted to green algae that can be blown easily off the rocks. Now, the rocks are covered in a similar white, stringy bacteria that looks like clumps of dust. The rest of the tank looks too clean and I only need to clean the glass weekly. Even what grows on the glass is clear/white. So I just turned off my GFO reactor for now, as Im concluding my phosphate:nitrate ratio is unbalanced? Any thoughts ? Just let it mature more? Is this bc po4 limited bacteria? __________________ 75g SPS dominant (Ca= 400ppm, Mg = 1350ppm, Kh= 8.5dkh) 2xJebao wp25/Kessil Ap700/Kalk via Tunze ATO/GFO (6 tbsps every 2 wks); Carbon (6 tbsps per month)