Quick question:
I am abandoning my main DT tank and moving my stuff to my 15G nano. I am concerned that the live rock is the main reason for the mess - is that possible? I seem to remember reading, over the years, that rocks can turn into PO4 factories, but i'm hoping that I could buy a reactor and run pellets or high GFO and reverse that? Or should I just get rid of the rock?
Also, the 15G tank is not very populated with micro fauna. Is it OK taking out algae (not sure what type... maybe see movie) and rinsing it in that tank to transfer them? The other tank is clean except for some hair algae. The DT may have dino's and definitely has bubble.
The salinity is 1.024/1.025 (based on evap), but other than that I have no readings. Other than WC's I do not add anything to the tank.
Outer tank shots and underwater shots of algae
Longer story:
I picked up a used tank (47G H) in 2008 and I have been battling major algae issues time and time again with times were things balanced out, but for the past year things have been horrible.
I have had to physical take all of the rocks out 5 times and scrub them dry. Two scrubs ago I went bare bottom and removed the 5-8 yr old crushed coral bottom.
After each time I follow these practices:
- 75-90% WC - 2 times and then 30-40% on the weekend for 6 weeks.
- skimmed wet (but the skimmer is horrible)
- bagged GFO/Carbon in the sump with 900GPH return
- 2 x K2 powerheads in the tank.
- fish were fed 1 to 2 times a week for the past 1-2 years and only a small pinch that they can finish without it falling to the bottom.
Tank is littered with micro fauna - I can see it 24/7 even with the lights on and the fish look very healthy, so I have no doubt they have plenty of food. When I pull out a piece of algae (2"x2" or so) there usually 10-20 big copopods with tons of babys.
Anyway, if you watch the quick movie you'll see that the algae is out of control and that's what I experience if I let it go 5-6 weeks. Then again, that was always my experience after moving from PC to T5 lights. At the same point, the coral growth shrank.
Thanks for your feedback!
I am abandoning my main DT tank and moving my stuff to my 15G nano. I am concerned that the live rock is the main reason for the mess - is that possible? I seem to remember reading, over the years, that rocks can turn into PO4 factories, but i'm hoping that I could buy a reactor and run pellets or high GFO and reverse that? Or should I just get rid of the rock?
Also, the 15G tank is not very populated with micro fauna. Is it OK taking out algae (not sure what type... maybe see movie) and rinsing it in that tank to transfer them? The other tank is clean except for some hair algae. The DT may have dino's and definitely has bubble.
The salinity is 1.024/1.025 (based on evap), but other than that I have no readings. Other than WC's I do not add anything to the tank.
Outer tank shots and underwater shots of algae
Longer story:
I picked up a used tank (47G H) in 2008 and I have been battling major algae issues time and time again with times were things balanced out, but for the past year things have been horrible.
I have had to physical take all of the rocks out 5 times and scrub them dry. Two scrubs ago I went bare bottom and removed the 5-8 yr old crushed coral bottom.
After each time I follow these practices:
- 75-90% WC - 2 times and then 30-40% on the weekend for 6 weeks.
- skimmed wet (but the skimmer is horrible)
- bagged GFO/Carbon in the sump with 900GPH return
- 2 x K2 powerheads in the tank.
- fish were fed 1 to 2 times a week for the past 1-2 years and only a small pinch that they can finish without it falling to the bottom.
Tank is littered with micro fauna - I can see it 24/7 even with the lights on and the fish look very healthy, so I have no doubt they have plenty of food. When I pull out a piece of algae (2"x2" or so) there usually 10-20 big copopods with tons of babys.
Anyway, if you watch the quick movie you'll see that the algae is out of control and that's what I experience if I let it go 5-6 weeks. Then again, that was always my experience after moving from PC to T5 lights. At the same point, the coral growth shrank.
Thanks for your feedback!
