I have about 3/4 inch of sand,(i like the look) only thing is I CAN NOT GET HAIR ALGEE OUT OF MY TANKKKKKKKKKKKKK. I slowly took out the bio balls, would it help if I reduced the sand bed? And yes, I do water changes, have a skimmer and dont overfeed. Just cant seem to get it out. I live the light on 7 hours dailey, maybe a little more on weekends
Algee problems
- Thread starter wvcleaner
- Start date
Altpers0na
ARS Caesar
crabs
and phos remover for your water..
and phos remover for your water..
firefish2020
New member
What is your make up waters TDS?
Your pH?
Your Ca?
Do you maintain a stable SG?
What kind of Rock are you using?
What kind of sand?
What salt mix are you using?
That should help narrow it down a bit.
Your pH?
Your Ca?
Do you maintain a stable SG?
What kind of Rock are you using?
What kind of sand?
What salt mix are you using?
That should help narrow it down a bit.
coralreefer
No Pistons
Re: Algee problems
A few more questions if you don't mind
What kind of skimmer do you have and how much does it remove?
What do you feed and how often?
Do you have a clean up crew?
If you're not already blow you rock off frequently with a turkey baster or power head, manually remove as much hair algea as possible and set your skimmer to run wet.
A few more questions if you don't mind
How often and how large are your water changes? Do you clean your sand bed when you change water?
What kind of skimmer do you have and how much does it remove?
What do you feed and how often?
Do you have a clean up crew?
If you're not already blow you rock off frequently with a turkey baster or power head, manually remove as much hair algea as possible and set your skimmer to run wet.
I have a small clean up crew, thats the only thing that keeps dying. There over eating, lolo,
p.h. 8.3
salt .0124
temp 79
amon. very little
what ever kind of sand jo-mars sells
feed small amounts 2 to 3 x dailey
protien skimmer is coralife venture for 220 gal .
55 gal tanks
water source is most of the time distilled bottled water. I do use some tap
and finally, the salt is what jm sells.
hope that got it
p.h. 8.3
salt .0124
temp 79
amon. very little
what ever kind of sand jo-mars sells
feed small amounts 2 to 3 x dailey
protien skimmer is coralife venture for 220 gal .
55 gal tanks
water source is most of the time distilled bottled water. I do use some tap
and finally, the salt is what jm sells.
hope that got it
firefish2020
New member
A few more...
Water flow GPH?
Light scheduel?
Last time you changed bulbs?
What type PC, Halide, etc, and what Kelvin ratings
Frequency of water changes (be honest)
Water flow GPH?
Light scheduel?
Last time you changed bulbs?
What type PC, Halide, etc, and what Kelvin ratings
Frequency of water changes (be honest)
coralreefer
No Pistons
Or how long have you been doing weekly 10-15 gallon changes and what was your schedule before?<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11878018#post11878018 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefish2020
Frequency of water changes (be honest)
If you've only recently increased the amount/frequency of water changes keep them up. I'd be tempted to do at least 20 gallons weekly for now. Blow off your rocks and stir the tank up good before your water change. Remove as much hair algae manually as you can too.
Unless you're keeping fish that require frequent feedings like anthias or juvenile chromis cut your feedings to daily or no more than 2x a day for now. Trust me they aren't really starving
What are you feeding? If you're feeding flake it's usually loaded with phosphates. Try a high quality frozen or at least a good pellet if such a thing exists now that vibro-gro is gone.
How much skimmate are you getting from it daily/weekly. Can you adjust it to get more?
Basically you're importing more nutrients...phosphates than you're exporting. Or the rock is loaded with phosphates and its leaching it back out. Depending on it's age and maintenance your sand could be a problem. Do you do anything to your sand bed at all? Stir, siphon etc.? A phosphate reactor would probably help but you need to fix the underlying problem.
I'd also like to know how much flow you've got?
I'm one that doesn't believe old bulbs cause algae
but they can encourage it's growth if excessive nutrients (PO4) are present.Personal experience...last year my 6 year old bare bottom 20 gal had a massive hair algae bloom for the first time ever. My father had some medical problems and I really slacked on water changes and general maintenance in this tank for a few months. When the tank "tanked" so to speak the PCs were ~10 months old. Started basting the rocks daily and resumed weekly water changes and detritus siphoning but bumped them up from 2 gallons to 5-10. Yes Ron I really did weekly changes on the nanos at the time
Kept the skimmer running as wet as I could, its a sea-clone :lol:.
After ~ 4-5 weeks the algae melted away even with old bulbs.
Altpers0na
ARS Caesar
are you growing macro in your sump?
my bulbs are mixed, some my two t-5s are about 2 months old, then I have two overdriven pc's. both of the overdriven twice. so there is 4 bulbs over all and 10 moon lights. I have the a double slot wisper, a maxi jet (the largest one) and one that I don't know what it is. plus the one that fows out in the back then down to where my bio balls where, cant rember the name of it now just drew a blank but that pump is about the size of a quart jar. With all that it blows my zenia side ways. So in short I am not sure how much but appears to be pretty good/
I get about half a cup of sludge a week out of the skimmer.
when I do a water change I sifon some of the sand, but I can only get to very little of it from all the rock and other corals.
I have been feeding them flake food for the most part. every now and then I either give small amounts of cyclopez or one cube of frozen brine.
I get about half a cup of sludge a week out of the skimmer.
when I do a water change I sifon some of the sand, but I can only get to very little of it from all the rock and other corals.
I have been feeding them flake food for the most part. every now and then I either give small amounts of cyclopez or one cube of frozen brine.
firefish2020
New member
Hmm I don't recommend siphoning your live sand at all.
Your water flow needs to be around 10X tank volume per hour minimum, more livestock more water flow. I think it's a simple matter of nutrient import/export as Amy said, filtration is not keeping up with the system. As the biotope grows it is falling out of balance, it's a common problem really. It's why some tanks do well for years then start to have problems. Nothing has changed on the outside but increased biolode and mass tax the limits of the static filtration.
Your water flow needs to be around 10X tank volume per hour minimum, more livestock more water flow. I think it's a simple matter of nutrient import/export as Amy said, filtration is not keeping up with the system. As the biotope grows it is falling out of balance, it's a common problem really. It's why some tanks do well for years then start to have problems. Nothing has changed on the outside but increased biolode and mass tax the limits of the static filtration.
I have seemed to have slowed it down some, I started cutting back on the flake food and tried a little different aproach on lights being off. When My tank light is off I have a light on the sump tank. I read where some algees have to have periods of no light to grow. I have done this and increased water change and it seems to be helping some.
Tazbader
New member
In your sump make sure you are exporting some algae from time to time. You would be surprised how many people don't take out old algae for new to grow. It is called nutrient exporting for a reason. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that this is not a reef and that is why you are feeding it so much. If it is a reef cut way back (a couple of times a week, not a day IMO) on feedings till the skimmer melts the algae away or the fish eat it. I always keep a kole or bristletooth type tang around as a grazer. Phosban or a similar type of media or even a "Polyfilter" brand filter pad will help out. Strange how in the phosphate thread the person is having the same problems and is using dried flake-type foods also. I never feed flake food to any fish FWIW. Is your skimmer working steadily or does it skim well one day than not another? I am not familar with that kind but if it is dependant on the level of the water it is sitting in or beside then an osmolator would be the way to go. #1,2,and 3 things I can tell you for sure is stop feeding you tank so much and make sure you skimmer works perfectly and use a high quality carbon when you use it, not the cheap granular kind for fresh water. It's gotta be coconut based pellets, they leech no phosphates. everythig I said and everything everyone else has said will help you alot. You may want to take a look at the phosphate thread too..... good luck
Similar threads
