Hi guys, i am new on this site and English is not my native language so please forgive me if I write something stupid or do something wrong.
I know that there a millions of topics and texts about algae in reef tanks, but I still wish your opinion about my specific problem because I don't have any idea what's wrong and what to do.
Here is the thing I simply don't understand where my hairy algae are coming from - simply there's no reason for them to exist in my tank but they obviously exist in large amount so obviously something is wrong but I can't find a cause.
This is my system:
90 gallons display tank;
90 pounds of live rocks and 8 gallons of live coral sand bed;
30 gallons sump (with filters and live rocks);
3 power heads (950 gph) plus return sump pump 1060 gph;
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 2000 HOB (for 200 gallons tank) - hang on - working very good;
LED lights 2 x 165 Watts;
- 5 months old aquarium.
ONLY 3 SMALL FISH (Yellowtail Damselfish, small Hippo Tang baby and Banggai Cardinalfish) AND 1 CLEANER SHRIMP IN AQUARIUM ....and some corals!
I'm feeding them twice a day with frozen mysis shrimp cubes and some sea weed vegetables pallets (for hippo tang). I am very careful to give them only amount of food that they can eat right away - I am not overfeeding them for sure!
Water chemistry:
- Ammonia = 0
- Nitrite = 0
- Nitrate = 0
- Phosphates = 0.1 ppm
- Calcium = 500
- Alkalinity = 7 dKH (measured in the morning)
- PH = 8.0 (measured in the morning)
I dimmed LED lights on 60% and keeping it on for 9 hours plus one hour before and after actinic light only.
- I even started dosing Vodka two weeks ago (from this "prescription": http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php )
.....AND ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGES - ALGAE STILL GROWING EVERYWHERE :angryfire:
How the hell is possible that I have algae? Where the Phosphates are coming from?
I simply can't understand. This doesn't make any sense for me!
Please, any idea?
I know that there a millions of topics and texts about algae in reef tanks, but I still wish your opinion about my specific problem because I don't have any idea what's wrong and what to do.
Here is the thing I simply don't understand where my hairy algae are coming from - simply there's no reason for them to exist in my tank but they obviously exist in large amount so obviously something is wrong but I can't find a cause.
This is my system:
90 gallons display tank;
90 pounds of live rocks and 8 gallons of live coral sand bed;
30 gallons sump (with filters and live rocks);
3 power heads (950 gph) plus return sump pump 1060 gph;
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 2000 HOB (for 200 gallons tank) - hang on - working very good;
LED lights 2 x 165 Watts;
- 5 months old aquarium.
ONLY 3 SMALL FISH (Yellowtail Damselfish, small Hippo Tang baby and Banggai Cardinalfish) AND 1 CLEANER SHRIMP IN AQUARIUM ....and some corals!
I'm feeding them twice a day with frozen mysis shrimp cubes and some sea weed vegetables pallets (for hippo tang). I am very careful to give them only amount of food that they can eat right away - I am not overfeeding them for sure!
Water chemistry:
- Ammonia = 0
- Nitrite = 0
- Nitrate = 0
- Phosphates = 0.1 ppm
- Calcium = 500
- Alkalinity = 7 dKH (measured in the morning)
- PH = 8.0 (measured in the morning)
I dimmed LED lights on 60% and keeping it on for 9 hours plus one hour before and after actinic light only.
- I even started dosing Vodka two weeks ago (from this "prescription": http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php )
.....AND ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGES - ALGAE STILL GROWING EVERYWHERE :angryfire:
How the hell is possible that I have algae? Where the Phosphates are coming from?
I simply can't understand. This doesn't make any sense for me!
Please, any idea?