bitwise's Red Sea Reefer 170
- Thread starter bitwise
- Start date
I do have a problem with alkalinity dropping. I am having to dose KH at a higher rate than Ca and MG. I thought it was due to being a new tank, but maybe it's the GFO.
I have the chaeto in the display because I don't have a sump. It's not the most beautiful thing, but better than hair algae. I have it a little hidden but getting light and good flow.
I thought you transferred your crabs from the old tank. My emerald had to go back to the store after he got rid of the hair algae. He was hungry and picking at the coral, not sure if he was hurting anything but I figured I should be safe. If it starts growing again, I will buy another small emerald crab.
One more thing that I think helped, using floss to clean the glass and getting the algae out of the tank.
I think export is key, chemical or manual.
Do you have any experience with bubble algae? I had a piece of coral I didn't catch it on and when I did, tried to get rid of it an popped it. Now I have 5 small bubbles in various places. I'm afraid to try to manually remove again.
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I transferred 1 hermit from my old tank. About 2 dozen crabs (porcelain, gorilla, and 1 unknown) came with the TBS rock.
I do have some experience with bubble algae. Someone told me that emerald crabs are manually removing it too, so they are doing the same thing: popping them. They may be popping new growths so fast that it seems like you never have bubble algae.
I have very small amounts of bubble algae on my frags. I tried to remove any traces before putting the frags into the new system, but I'm seeing some growing now. I'm going to try careful manual removal outside the aquarium.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about bubble algae. Ideally, you wouldn't have it in your aquarium but it's not that bad.
Phosphates were at 0.09 ppm today. I changed out the GFO. Probably won't test again until Sunday because I'm out of town.
I also changed the lighting schedule. Down to 5.5 hrs for all 6 bulbs instead of 7 hours.
I do have some experience with bubble algae. Someone told me that emerald crabs are manually removing it too, so they are doing the same thing: popping them. They may be popping new growths so fast that it seems like you never have bubble algae.
I have very small amounts of bubble algae on my frags. I tried to remove any traces before putting the frags into the new system, but I'm seeing some growing now. I'm going to try careful manual removal outside the aquarium.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about bubble algae. Ideally, you wouldn't have it in your aquarium but it's not that bad.
Phosphates were at 0.09 ppm today. I changed out the GFO. Probably won't test again until Sunday because I'm out of town.
I also changed the lighting schedule. Down to 5.5 hrs for all 6 bulbs instead of 7 hours.
Here's a cool shot from this weekend.
Overall the system is doing well. Parameters are stable at:
Calcium 420 ppm
Alk ~8 dKH
Magnesium 1155 ppm
Nitrates ~2 ppm
Phosphates are a little on the higher side at ~0.06 ppm
I battled a type of brown hair algae for about 2 months. It was infuriating, 95% of the algae was of this brown variety, I don't think any other algae had a chance.
I lost 3 LPS pieces over the past couple of months, all in a similar way: tissue recession. I'm not sure what caused this.
Overall the system is doing well. Parameters are stable at:
Calcium 420 ppm
Alk ~8 dKH
Magnesium 1155 ppm
Nitrates ~2 ppm
Phosphates are a little on the higher side at ~0.06 ppm
I battled a type of brown hair algae for about 2 months. It was infuriating, 95% of the algae was of this brown variety, I don't think any other algae had a chance.
I lost 3 LPS pieces over the past couple of months, all in a similar way: tissue recession. I'm not sure what caused this.
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ssick92
New member
My guess is your alk keeps dropping quickly because your mg is low. I would try to increase your mg to around 1350-1400 slowly. Once your mg is up higher, it will help maintain your alk and calc with less dosing required. What is your temp and salinity at?
The LPS loss could be a few things, one of which could be your low mg as stated above, or it could be either flow too direct or not enough flow (didn't look to see what flow you had), or your lighting schedule with only 5.5 hours of light. Most people have their lights on around 12-14 hours, with around 8-10 of those hours being at peak brightness. I do more of a ramp on mine, but I still have what I would consider "day light" intensity for about 10 hours. Your corals are probably only getting 1/2 of the amount of photosynthesis that they need.
Out of curiosity, why did you decrease your lighting schedule to 5.5 hrs from 7? I would have gone the other way and bumped it up to 10ish hours.
The LPS loss could be a few things, one of which could be your low mg as stated above, or it could be either flow too direct or not enough flow (didn't look to see what flow you had), or your lighting schedule with only 5.5 hours of light. Most people have their lights on around 12-14 hours, with around 8-10 of those hours being at peak brightness. I do more of a ramp on mine, but I still have what I would consider "day light" intensity for about 10 hours. Your corals are probably only getting 1/2 of the amount of photosynthesis that they need.
Out of curiosity, why did you decrease your lighting schedule to 5.5 hrs from 7? I would have gone the other way and bumped it up to 10ish hours.
Salinity is 1.025 - 1.026, temp is ~80F.
I'm planning on bringing the magnesium up, going to start tomorrow when I get the Kent Tech M bottle I ordered.
Flow is moderate to moderate-high.
My photoperiod is currently 8 hrs of 4 bulbs, and 5.5 hrs of all 6 bulbs. I shortened the photoperiod because of algae issues earlier on.
I'm planning on bringing the magnesium up, going to start tomorrow when I get the Kent Tech M bottle I ordered.
Flow is moderate to moderate-high.
My photoperiod is currently 8 hrs of 4 bulbs, and 5.5 hrs of all 6 bulbs. I shortened the photoperiod because of algae issues earlier on.
I upped my magnesium level to 1335 ppm. I'm going to target 1300 ppm.
I have pretty high phosphate levels right now at 0.08 ppm. I'm going to try to bring this down to 0.02 - 0.03 ppm.
On a side note, I bought the Korallen Zucht nano power package. This contains 4 different KZ products in small vials. I've been experimenting with these supplements very sparingly.
I have pretty high phosphate levels right now at 0.08 ppm. I'm going to try to bring this down to 0.02 - 0.03 ppm.
On a side note, I bought the Korallen Zucht nano power package. This contains 4 different KZ products in small vials. I've been experimenting with these supplements very sparingly.
It's been a really long time since I've posted on this thread. I took down the tank for some time while moving from one state to another and resetting up my life. During that time all my livestock was in a 20g long holding tank with a HOB filter.
I've had the Red Sea up and running since mid-summer 2017 but haven't posted any updates. I'm planning on getting this thread up and running again. I'll post some photos soon.
I've had the Red Sea up and running since mid-summer 2017 but haven't posted any updates. I'm planning on getting this thread up and running again. I'll post some photos soon.
I've been trying to work through some pretty bad algae problems. I'm seeing green algae on the rocks, brown algae on the sand, more than ideal amounts of bubble algae, and stringy brown algae on the glass and back wall.
I've cut back feedings to every other day, I'm running my skimmer 24/7, and I'm running about 1/2 cup of GFO in a filter bag. Last time I tested phosphate it was at 0.05 ppm, nitrate was at 0.2 ppm.
I'm in the process now of trying to eliminate variables and keeping up with the husbandry. I started up my automatic water changing system about 3 weeks ago. I'm changing out 1 gallon per day. Ironically, the brown stringy algae seemed to get worse after I started up the system. This lead me to a deep dive on RODI systems and I realized how little I know about these things. It turned on my DI resin was completely exhausted (I bought the RODI system 4 years ago). Even so I was producing 0 TDS water. I've replaced the sediment filter, carbon block, and DI resin. I'm hoping this is the problem, but I don't know yet.
Interested to hear if anyone has any tips. This is a bummer. I'm trying to sort this out so I can experiment more with coral foods, etc, as most of my SPS are brown. I'm running the system very simply right now, just keeping the big 3 stable and feeding the fish.
I've cut back feedings to every other day, I'm running my skimmer 24/7, and I'm running about 1/2 cup of GFO in a filter bag. Last time I tested phosphate it was at 0.05 ppm, nitrate was at 0.2 ppm.
I'm in the process now of trying to eliminate variables and keeping up with the husbandry. I started up my automatic water changing system about 3 weeks ago. I'm changing out 1 gallon per day. Ironically, the brown stringy algae seemed to get worse after I started up the system. This lead me to a deep dive on RODI systems and I realized how little I know about these things. It turned on my DI resin was completely exhausted (I bought the RODI system 4 years ago). Even so I was producing 0 TDS water. I've replaced the sediment filter, carbon block, and DI resin. I'm hoping this is the problem, but I don't know yet.
Interested to hear if anyone has any tips. This is a bummer. I'm trying to sort this out so I can experiment more with coral foods, etc, as most of my SPS are brown. I'm running the system very simply right now, just keeping the big 3 stable and feeding the fish.
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I started dosing MicroBacter7 on Saturday. There are reports of this stuff helping with algae. My bottle is from Nov 2016 though, so it’s old, we’ll see.
I also moved the location of the vortech and that has helped deliver more flow. I have a second one that I have sitting in my basement that I could wire up.
So far so good, I don’t see the algae getting worse.
I also moved the location of the vortech and that has helped deliver more flow. I have a second one that I have sitting in my basement that I could wire up.
So far so good, I don’t see the algae getting worse.
mndfreeze
Invert Sexy Time!
Do you have a fuge system setup that you can grow cheato or some other macro in? If you get a fast growing variety and keep on top of the other algae you might get it to the point it can out compete the bad algae for nutrients. That and a bonus pod population will also help mow it down on the micro level.
Might be worth looking into some additional clean up crew options. I like to get more then just one type of snail for example. For nano tanks I get trochus, cerith (flordia and dwarf if possible), nerite, nassarius (not for algae of course), and sometimes the zig zag periwinkles or planaxis. When I had my 40 breeder setup I also used turbo snails, a chiton and a few limpets. Everything I listed here can be found on reef cleaners.
Having more then one species of snail really made a big difference for every algae issue I've had to deal with. Seemed like even though they all eat roughly the same algae, they really don't and some prefer or handle larger bits better, the smaller ones get it when its barely a film, etc.
Are your bulbs old? I run LED now and my last reef with a bulb system was 8 years ago but I swore I remember reading something about older bulbs getting goofy with the spectrums or something. That could be just a metal halide thing though or just me remembering wrong.
Might be worth looking into some additional clean up crew options. I like to get more then just one type of snail for example. For nano tanks I get trochus, cerith (flordia and dwarf if possible), nerite, nassarius (not for algae of course), and sometimes the zig zag periwinkles or planaxis. When I had my 40 breeder setup I also used turbo snails, a chiton and a few limpets. Everything I listed here can be found on reef cleaners.
Having more then one species of snail really made a big difference for every algae issue I've had to deal with. Seemed like even though they all eat roughly the same algae, they really don't and some prefer or handle larger bits better, the smaller ones get it when its barely a film, etc.
Are your bulbs old? I run LED now and my last reef with a bulb system was 8 years ago but I swore I remember reading something about older bulbs getting goofy with the spectrums or something. That could be just a metal halide thing though or just me remembering wrong.
Thanks for the tips mndfreeze. I don’t have a fuge right now. My sump is more-or-less stock: I ditched the undersized Red Sea ATO reservoir and the micro bubble trap.
My bulbs are in good shape. They are T5s and have been replaced in the last 3-4 months.
The algae is slowly getting better. I’ve made a number of changes, probably too many at once.
- added a second vortech
- decreased lighting photo period slightly, decreased lighting intensity significantly (only running 4 of 6 bulbs), swapped out a purple plus bulb with a blue plus bulb
- using MicroBacter7
- switched from Rod’s to rinsed mysis
- added a turbo snail, a few nassarius snails, and 6 hermits
- temporarily using phosguard to try and strip any silicates
I’m probably forgetting something. One thing to note is nassarius don’t seem to like my tank - they seem lethargic and eventually die off. I had nassarius in a reef tank before I took a break from the hobby and they did great.
My bulbs are in good shape. They are T5s and have been replaced in the last 3-4 months.
The algae is slowly getting better. I’ve made a number of changes, probably too many at once.
- added a second vortech
- decreased lighting photo period slightly, decreased lighting intensity significantly (only running 4 of 6 bulbs), swapped out a purple plus bulb with a blue plus bulb
- using MicroBacter7
- switched from Rod’s to rinsed mysis
- added a turbo snail, a few nassarius snails, and 6 hermits
- temporarily using phosguard to try and strip any silicates
I’m probably forgetting something. One thing to note is nassarius don’t seem to like my tank - they seem lethargic and eventually die off. I had nassarius in a reef tank before I took a break from the hobby and they did great.
mndfreeze
Invert Sexy Time!
Buy nassarius when they are small. A lot of stores seem to sell them as full grown adults and they don't seem to have the best lifespans. I just lost one yesterday in fact, though its very possible my tiger pistol killed him for wandering down into his hole. He does that sometimes. Terrible manners to guests. 
My nassarius get lazy when I over feed. I've noticed they pop out less and less if I'm feeding meaty stuff too often. So much so that I went and bought more because I thought my original 8 was down to 2...came home with 5 new ones, fed a meaty mix and out come 7 large adults I haven't seen in a month lol.
IMO I still think some sort of macro algae to out compete the undesirable algae is something to consider. If you can't nail down the reasons causing it to begin with at least minimize the effects of that unknown while you slowly make other changes. Too many changes at one time lead to not knowing what is doing what when stuff does change, for the worse or better.
A tiger tail cucumber might help with algae growing on your sand. They poop out perfectly clean little sand piles.
I have a lot more rock in my 24G tank than you, and my tiger pistol is such an active digger that the entire front and sides of my tank get its top layer turned over every few days. The only spot he never puts an entrance is at the back and my nassarius seem to hit that spot enough.
In the end though you need to figure out the root cause of your algae. Since you took the tank down and put it back up again, it could just be that first rough year of new tank syndrome as the lengthy many tiny stages of balance haven't yet been achieved.
My nassarius get lazy when I over feed. I've noticed they pop out less and less if I'm feeding meaty stuff too often. So much so that I went and bought more because I thought my original 8 was down to 2...came home with 5 new ones, fed a meaty mix and out come 7 large adults I haven't seen in a month lol.
IMO I still think some sort of macro algae to out compete the undesirable algae is something to consider. If you can't nail down the reasons causing it to begin with at least minimize the effects of that unknown while you slowly make other changes. Too many changes at one time lead to not knowing what is doing what when stuff does change, for the worse or better.
A tiger tail cucumber might help with algae growing on your sand. They poop out perfectly clean little sand piles.
I have a lot more rock in my 24G tank than you, and my tiger pistol is such an active digger that the entire front and sides of my tank get its top layer turned over every few days. The only spot he never puts an entrance is at the back and my nassarius seem to hit that spot enough.
In the end though you need to figure out the root cause of your algae. Since you took the tank down and put it back up again, it could just be that first rough year of new tank syndrome as the lengthy many tiny stages of balance haven't yet been achieved.
I'm seeing less algae compared to two weeks ago. I think things are headed in the right direction again.
The three notable changes over the past 2 - 3 weeks are:
- added a full size GFO reactor (historically I've run GFO passively)
- started skimming wetter
- stopped doing water changes
I stopped doing water changes due to lazyness and visually things improved during that time so I've basically been continuing the experiment. I will pick up the water changes again soon.
The three notable changes over the past 2 - 3 weeks are:
- added a full size GFO reactor (historically I've run GFO passively)
- started skimming wetter
- stopped doing water changes
I stopped doing water changes due to lazyness and visually things improved during that time so I've basically been continuing the experiment. I will pick up the water changes again soon.
