20 long build

[petere1989]

sorry been so long, i've been really busy recently. Since i changed the times that my lights are on i can tell a difference in the coral. they all seem to actually be doing better. I am having the two blue lights turn on at 10:00am, then the fiji purple and blue special turn on at 1:00pm, then blue specials turn off at 6:00pm then the two blues turn off at 9:00pm. that seems to be working ok. I am still having a lot of hair algae problems but other then that all my other algae has receded. i'm not sure how to get rid of hair algae so any advice will be appreciated.

this coral did NOT look good but now its looking better and a few places where the tissue was coming off has grown back. It is now placed lower on the sandbed instead of up top where it was before. I think it likes being where it is.

You can see the hair algae in this picture. Its covering a lot. Also my hammer coral has really grown since i got it.

here is a turbo snail. those little things are impressive. you can see the line of algae thats gone.

but ya thats where the tank is right now. Its looking pretty good really besides all the algae. any advice on hair algae will be great!

and here is my candycane coral it went from this:

To this:

It looks much better as if you noticed, the angle is the same in both pictures.

 

[petere1989]

sorry been so long, i've been really busy recently. Since i changed the times that my lights are on i can tell a difference in the coral. they all seem to actually be doing better. I am having the two blue lights turn on at 10:00am, then the fiji purple and blue special turn on at 1:00pm, then blue specials turn off at 6:00pm then the two blues turn off at 9:00pm. that seems to be working ok. I am still having a lot of hair algae problems but other then that all my other algae has receded. i'm not sure how to get rid of hair algae so any advice will be appreciated.

this coral did NOT look good but now its looking better and a few places where the tissue was coming off has grown back. It is now placed lower on the sandbed instead of up top where it was before. I think it likes being where it is.

You can see the hair algae in this picture. Its covering a lot. Also my hammer coral has really grown since i got it.

here is a turbo snail. those little things are impressive. you can see the line of algae thats gone.

but ya thats where the tank is right now. Its looking pretty good really besides all the algae. any advice on hair algae will be great!

and here is my candycane coral it went from this:

To this:

It looks much better. if you noticed, the angle is the same in both pictures.

 

[Veganbrian]

You really have to take care of your algae issues asap. You need to lower your phosphates and nitrates.

 

[petere1989]

You really have to take care of your algae issues asap. You need to lower your phosphates and nitrates.

I know, i'm at a loss for what to do. the nitrates are low. they're 0, where they should be. I did find that my ph was way low. it was reading 7.4. i've been doing my dosing every other day and occasionally skipping a day (i no, bad) but i'll be watching it more closely now.
the phosphate are reading 0.25:

and nitrates are reading 0. kinda hard to tell in the picture:

I really don't know what to do. also my salinity is 0.25. (idk if that does anything with algae or not, guessing not but thought i'd throw it in)

 

[Veganbrian]

you should take some tank water to your LFS and have them test it for you. They can probably help you out also. The API test kits for phosphates are garbage IMO.

 

[petere1989]

ok ill do that tomorrow then.

 

[petere1989]

sooo today I went to the LFS to get my water tested. He was shocked at how GOOD my water is. 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, no ammonia, ph was a little low but i haven't been dosing but he said it wasn't a big deal, and then salinity is 1.025. He said that everything looked good and i told him about the algae problems i've been having. he said that the hair algae is feeding off the nitrates.
I ended up buyin a few things while i was there. i couldn't resist.
LFS guy said this little guy will be good for the algae cleanup, plus i've always wanted one!

heres a full shot of the tank as of today.

and then this. its green but hard to tell in the blue lights.

 

[petere1989]

so today I combined my 10 gallon tank into my 20 gallon. I got some pictures but their from my iPhone so please excuse the quality.

here is before....

and here is now....

 

[petere1989]

The clownfish seems to really like the extra space in there. Also, I KNOW my algae is very bad. I'm still trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

I also did water testing today. here is what I got. (if anybody thinks any of these has to do with the algae please let me know how to fix it)

calcium: 240ppm
kH: 35.8ppm
phosphates: 0.25
PH-8.4
nitrates-0
nitrites-0
ammonia-0
salinity- 1.025

 

[Forrest3320]

Looks good

 

[petere1989]

on another thread i have, maybe you saw it, i was discussing my hair algae problem. from what it sounds like my water my be the issue. I have to get RO water from my grocery store. I do not have the option to put in a RO/DI unit because it isn't my house and no mods can be done like that. So i ordered a phosphate sponge and GFO to run. I am going to take out the filter pad and use the housing to hold the media bag. From what it sounds like, it may help the situation a little bit. I'm kinda in a holding period right now until I can get a better grasp on the algae before adding anything else to the tank.

 

[JasonBJones]

You can run an RO/DI without really doing any mods, I have used one in every apartment I have lived in. Get an adapter to go on the kitchen sink that allows you to hook up a water filter when you pull out a little knob and plumb that to your RO unit. Something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Faucet-Adap...tem-Quick-Connect-Kitchen-74138-/380371179797

Your phosphates are currently high. I would expect them to test low with your current algae load using the phosphates up, so if you have phosphates present beyond the amount being taken up by your algae, you have a serious phosphate problem. I would certainly place a phosphate absorbing material in the tank, but start slow so as not to shock things. Also, consider using hydrogen peroxide to kill some of the algae and get a foothold on it. There are some great threads in this forum about using it as an algaecide. Do not just go pouring it into the tank until you have read about the proper procedure lest you kill everything.

 

[petere1989]

i will look into the RO/DI unit then. It would make it a lot easier and save money in the long run not having to haul water to and from the store every time. if it really is that easy and will not mess with to much, i will look into it. i did order the phosphate sponge and then a gfo mix to run after that. will for sure work into it slowly, great advice! will post pictures when i get everything!

 

[Veganbrian]

I just got my own RODI unit today. I live in an apartment myself and bought the unit from BRS with the sink adaptor that just screws on and you're done. Make sure to get the flush kit and dual line TDS meter. You are having a Phosphate issue. You could look into getting a single VRS reactor and run a 50/50 mix of Carbon/GFO. Would help out your system a lot. good luck

 

[petere1989]

I got the phosphate sponge today. I put it in the filter hob and in 2 days hopefully it will do something. After I take that out i am going to run GFO and probably a carbon mix. I got a tip today from somebody I know about a place that has a RO/DI unit and sells the water for very cheap so I may start getting water from there. I'm still looking into the RO/DI unit for my place. Its gotta be the right unit in order for me to buy it and it has to have the sink adaptor. anyway here are some pictures and then before pictures of the algae. I'll check my phosphates tomorrow to see if they are going down at all.

question: will you see a decrease in algae with the sponge in there if it is working properly?

 

[JasonBJones]

It will take some time for you to see a decrease in algae. Just keep testing your phosphates and make sure they are staying low. You will likely need to get them to zero and maintain them there for some time to starve out the algae. Once you get them to zero, consider turning the lights off for 72 hours, it helps weaken the algae.

BTW, just because a place has an RO unit does not mean that they maintain it and that the water is good to use. Most fish stores do not maintain their units and their RO water has higher TDS than what we want. It is much better to maintain your own unit so you can ensure you are getting 0 TDS water. Bulkreefsupply has great RO units w/sink adapters at a good price. An RO unit is not a place to skimp.

 

[petere1989]

It will take some time for you to see a decrease in algae. Just keep testing your phosphates and make sure they are staying low. You will likely need to get them to zero and maintain them there for some time to starve out the algae. Once you get them to zero, consider turning the lights off for 72 hours, it helps weaken the algae.

BTW, just because a place has an RO unit does not mean that they maintain it and that the water is good to use. Most fish stores do not maintain their units and their RO water has higher TDS than what we want. It is much better to maintain your own unit so you can ensure you are getting 0 TDS water. Bulkreefsupply has great RO units w/sink adapters at a good price. An RO unit is not a place to skimp.

true. although this is one of those natural only grocery stores but still, they may not keep up on maintenance. very good advice. n yeah hope everything works but i'll post pictures as i start noticing algae disappearing. Do you think running the sponge then gfo/carbon will be good enough to kill it off and maintain? I also got a ALK buffer coming because I read that gfo can throw alk way off as well, mines already low but that will help it be where its supposed to be. and as for the ro/di system, i will definitely look at bulk reef supply. they seemed like a good site when i was on there before.

 

[petere1989]

alright so i just ordered a RO/DI unit from bulkreefsuply.com. the price was just to good to pass up. thank you JasonBJones for telling me about that. I have a bar in a room in the house here, and I will install it on that sink since it is out of the way, and then use my water jugs to hold the water. The price was shockingly affordable and if it will save me time and potentially money in the long run its way worth it. no more lugging jugs to the store. thanks!

 

[Veganbrian]

we probably bought the same RODI unit. Im filling up my first 5 gallon bucket right now . it's rather exciting...lol

 

[petere1989]

we probably bought the same RODI unit. Im filling up my first 5 gallon bucket right now . it's rather exciting...lol

ya probably. did you get the 3 stage? i had a question about the system as a whole. The DI means De-ionization filter correct? lol just checking. i was watching the youtube videos by bulkreefsuply and they said that some impurities still get through so you want to run the water through the de-ionizer. im assuming thats what the DI stands for? i sound like a total idiot. haha. but ya let me know how you like it veganbrian. sounded very easy to install and now I wish i did it earlier.