chitownmarine21
New member
OK everyone, I am at my whits end with how to solve by algae problems. Ive read hundreds of forums and tried just about everything I can think of to fix this problem. Here is the details:
I have a red sea reefer 450. The tank has been set about about 2 months. I transferred everything from a 75 gal that I had previously had running for about 3 years. The diatoms have actually improved somewhat, since starting the new tank, but they are still abundant. I typically to stick my hand in the tank every couple days to move the sand around because I can stand all the brownness and I also vacuum the sand with every water change (which i have always done, so Im not worried about releasing "bad stuff.")
I have roughly 90-100 pounds of aragonite sand. Most of that was moved over from the old tank but I did add an additional 40 pounds.
I figure there is at least 100 pounds of rock in there.
Skimmer: Reef octopus classic 150-INT in the sump.
BRS Dual reactor with GFO and carbon.
Flow: 2 ecotech MP 40's plus Ecotech M1 return pump.
Water changes: 6 stage RODI unit w/inline TDS meter always kept below 5 TDS. I do at least 10 gallons a week.
Salt: Red sea coral pro
Testing done with red sea test kits as follows:
dKH: 8.68
Cal:470
Mag:1520
pH:8.1 (per apex recently calibrated)
Salinity:1.025
ORP:420
Nitrate:2
Phosphate: .04 (possibly reading low if algae is using nutrients?)
I haven't tested ammonia or nitrite in a long time
Temp:77
Livestock: 2 engineer gobies, 3 pajama cardinal, flame angel, foxface
Ive cut back on feeding to the point where I feel like I'm starving the fish, but it hasn't helped. I typically feed every couple days. Either Reef frenzy frozen food, or a cube of mysis, mixed with some pellets. I do add nori strips more frequently. 1 brittle star. Lots of hermit crabs. Various snails (probably not enough though because they keep disappearing, but thats a whole different problem).
Lighting is 3 AI hydra's mounted 10" above tank.
Current settings:
Ramp up: 9:00 to 11:00
Ramp down: 18:00 to 21:00
Peak settings:
UV:83
Violet:83
Blue:83
Deep Blue:83
Green: 18
Red:10
White: 50
Again, these are just my current settings. Ive tried adjusting the intensity as well as the duration. At one point I was only running the lights about 4 hours a day. That still did not help anything. But then I also read to LITTLE light can contribute to algae growth.
The tank is on a wall that is Appx 8 feet from the nearest window. So I do not think that the direct sunlight plays an issue, not to mention it's winter right now and I havent seen the sun in months.
If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate. I finally have my "dream tank" and the fact that I cant get these diatoms under control is killing me. I know that there are some chemicals that I could throw at the problem but I would rather NOT do that. My work schedule would make a proper consistent dosing regiment damn near impossible, plus I would really like to get to the root of the problem. TYIA
I have a red sea reefer 450. The tank has been set about about 2 months. I transferred everything from a 75 gal that I had previously had running for about 3 years. The diatoms have actually improved somewhat, since starting the new tank, but they are still abundant. I typically to stick my hand in the tank every couple days to move the sand around because I can stand all the brownness and I also vacuum the sand with every water change (which i have always done, so Im not worried about releasing "bad stuff.")
I have roughly 90-100 pounds of aragonite sand. Most of that was moved over from the old tank but I did add an additional 40 pounds.
I figure there is at least 100 pounds of rock in there.
Skimmer: Reef octopus classic 150-INT in the sump.
BRS Dual reactor with GFO and carbon.
Flow: 2 ecotech MP 40's plus Ecotech M1 return pump.
Water changes: 6 stage RODI unit w/inline TDS meter always kept below 5 TDS. I do at least 10 gallons a week.
Salt: Red sea coral pro
Testing done with red sea test kits as follows:
dKH: 8.68
Cal:470
Mag:1520
pH:8.1 (per apex recently calibrated)
Salinity:1.025
ORP:420
Nitrate:2
Phosphate: .04 (possibly reading low if algae is using nutrients?)
I haven't tested ammonia or nitrite in a long time
Temp:77
Livestock: 2 engineer gobies, 3 pajama cardinal, flame angel, foxface
Ive cut back on feeding to the point where I feel like I'm starving the fish, but it hasn't helped. I typically feed every couple days. Either Reef frenzy frozen food, or a cube of mysis, mixed with some pellets. I do add nori strips more frequently. 1 brittle star. Lots of hermit crabs. Various snails (probably not enough though because they keep disappearing, but thats a whole different problem).
Lighting is 3 AI hydra's mounted 10" above tank.
Current settings:
Ramp up: 9:00 to 11:00
Ramp down: 18:00 to 21:00
Peak settings:
UV:83
Violet:83
Blue:83
Deep Blue:83
Green: 18
Red:10
White: 50
Again, these are just my current settings. Ive tried adjusting the intensity as well as the duration. At one point I was only running the lights about 4 hours a day. That still did not help anything. But then I also read to LITTLE light can contribute to algae growth.
The tank is on a wall that is Appx 8 feet from the nearest window. So I do not think that the direct sunlight plays an issue, not to mention it's winter right now and I havent seen the sun in months.
If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate. I finally have my "dream tank" and the fact that I cant get these diatoms under control is killing me. I know that there are some chemicals that I could throw at the problem but I would rather NOT do that. My work schedule would make a proper consistent dosing regiment damn near impossible, plus I would really like to get to the root of the problem. TYIA
