eliminating detritus

[Mappelbaum37]

Well, I've been battling diatoms-detritus-green/brown hair/slime algae for about 5 months now ever since I re-did my tank. I added 20 lbs. of rock and switched from crushed coral to 40 lbs. of non live sand and 20 lbs. of live sand.

I've done loads of research, read tons of articles, and taken all the advice I can on getting rid of hair algae and diatoms and put it to use. Everything has helped me, but not actually gotten rid of the algae.

I'm that type of guy that wont ever be able to start another tank, neither quit on this tank without finding out the "fuel to the fire" or in my case, the source of the algae. I'm pretty impatient, and at the same time desperate, especially after a tedious 5 month battle.

So like I said, I've done mostly everything. And I'm now down to detritus. other then increasing flow which I've already done, and scrubbing the rocks and using a turkey baster on them during water changes, are there any other ways of eliminating the detritus? I have no sump, and was thinking of adding a filter sock to either the output of the skimmer, or in the fluval 405 I have hooked to the tank...


Thank you

 

[rbursek]

What is your water source for the tank?

 

[Mappelbaum37]

RO from the fish store. But I did forget to mention before I re-did the tank, I was using spring. When I re-did the tank I did use a good amount to finish topping off the tank with new water. I switched from using spring to RO water I'd say about 2 to 3 months ago.

 

[cbrownfish]

^Curious about that too.

Do you siphon with tubing? The turkey baster is good but you need to be sure that it doesn't just settle somewhere else. If you can, increase your turnover while you blow off the rocks. That way you are more likely to get the detritus to the filter sock.

 

[demonsp]

Water source?
Whats used for flow?
Whats tested for and there readings?
Water change amount and scedule?
All stock from CUC and coral and fish?
Do you add anything? Listing as much info under your profile would help.

 

[Bruno3047]

Use a diatom filter. Squirt your live rock and sand with the return, then suck out the detritus you kicked up with the intake.

Rig up a couple of 3' (approx) pieces of vinyl tubing, one to each side, before you start.

 

[Mappelbaum37]

Here we go...

*I just edited the above post about the water source

I use a python attached to a hose outside. As soon as I blast the detritus off I try and get as much out of the tank as I can. I dont have the filter sock yet, just a thought.

As I said, water source is RO from the fish store
flow is a koralia #3 (850 gph) and a maxi jet 1200 (295 gph *I believe)

Ammonia: .25
nitrate: 0
nitrite: 0
phosphates: undetectable
pH: 8.4
Calcium: 480 I believe

10 gallon water change once a week

corals: mushrooms, polyps, yellow leather, frogspawn, torch coral, rafta leather, zoanthids. Pretty much, the easier corals to care for.
Corals have never looked better.

Fish: bangaii cardinal, 2 occelaris clowns, powder brown tang, yellow tang, coral beauty, flame hawk, 6 line wrasse
Fish are all healthy and eating

*I will be getting rid of the flame hawk due to getting shrimp in the near future. So I am at 8 fish right now, soon to be 7.

Switched from oceanic sea salt to red sea salt mix which includes calcium.

I sometimes add pH buff (reefbuilder) but the pH is mostly pretty constant at 8.4

Lighting= 6 hrs-used to be 8 hrs of daylight. (just some more info even though it wouldnt relate to detritus)

Thanks

 

[demonsp]

Its take a combination of things working together for any tank to work.
Flow is a little low but placement very important.
Water surce isnt trustable.
Do you have a skimmer?
Amount of LR and LS?
Any CUC?

 

[Bruno3047]

Why ammonia? You should have ZERO ammonia.

?????????????????????????

 

[demonsp]

He didnt list any skimmer, could be it.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12527459#post12527459 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bruno3047
Why ammonia? You should have ZERO ammonia.

?????????????????????????

 

[Mappelbaum37]

sorry about that... I had a prism protein skimmer and I was repeatedly told to get a new skimmer rated for the size of my tank. I got the octopus bh300f. It's been running for a week and a half. It's just starting to kick in a few days ago. I'm starting to empty the collection cup quite often.

Also another reason could be that I took out the ceramic noodles from my fluval... I was told that the noodles had beneficial bacteria in them which helped lower ammonia, but also kept nitrates a little high. I took them out pretty recently, so hopefully the ammonia should be back to 0 within a week or two. especially with the new skimmer...

I have 100 lbs. of live rock. I did have 80 lbs, and when I changed the tank, I added 20 lbs. I have 60 lbs of sand. 20 is live, 40 is non live.

I dont know what CUC's are.

the flow cant really get much stronger for where I have room for the powerheads. The corals all have perfect currents. A little on the strong side, but it's really good where it's at. I see the little strands of hair algae on the bottom rocks of the tank being pushed pretty strong, so the current cant be that weak.

Also, I have been re-stocking on my clean-up crew lately..

-turbo snails, nass. snails, hermits, green emerald crabs, serpent star, sand sifting star, other types of snails also.

thanks

 

[Mr James]

by rbursek
What is your water source for the tank?

Before I read any further, this was going to be my very first question. The reason I ask that first......is because I consider myself a little bit experienced. But when I was battling HA for a month or three, I started to wonder what I was doing wrong. Well after I checked everything else, I checked my DI water one day and discovered it was like 50 TDS... I kicked myself in the butt and not only changed resin, but added an additional DI to my system, making it a double DI. I believe that was my problem.

So, what is your TDS meter reading of the "RO water from the fish store"?? I wouldn't trust that one bit. As you mentioned, you got a new skimmer. Your next purchase should be an RO/DI system, IME. Then worry about lights, livestock and the other things.

 

[Longchamp]

Flow seems low to me as well, my roommate has 2 koralia 3's, 1 koralia 1 and a 500gph return and its still not enough. I vote you pick up a Sure-flow for that maxi jet.

 

[Bruno3047]

CUC=clean up crew.

I assume that you do your detritus clean-up at the same time that you do your water change?

In theory, this sounds like a great way to "kill two birds with one stone", but in practice, it's kind of weak.

What usually ends up happening is you take out all the water you want to before you've done a complete clean-up on the detritus.

If you don't want to invest in a diatom filter (about $100), you can accomplish the same effect with your Fluval.

Get a fine sock, (10 micron or less) and attach it to the intake nipple inside of your cannister. Now use your return to stir up the crap and the intake hose to suck it up.

A nice little mod on this would be to use a gravel washer head on the intake to increase the surface area of the suction.

GL.

 

[Mappelbaum37]

Whats a sure-flow for the maxi jet?

I can't install an RO/DI system, so thats why I get it from the store. There water probably isnt as perfect as most, but you cant argue the fact that its a lot better then spring or tap water. I personally havent checked the ro water for TDS'. I dont even know what A TDS is. I have checked for nitrates and phosphates, and both tested for 0

Thanks

 

[Mr James]

by Mappelbaum37
I can't install an RO/DI system, so thats why I get it from the store.

Why, do you live in an apartment?? Regardless, you can get even a cheap unit that mounts under the sink or to the faucet.

by Mappelbaum37
There water probably isnt as perfect as most, but you cant argue the fact that its a lot better then spring or tap water.

Yes, I can argue their water isn't the best. It needs to be perfect if you want a stellar system!! Don't trust the fish store for good, clean water. The water has to be 0 ppm (TDS = Total Dissolved Solids) for DI water and 15 - 20 ppm for RO. You need to be responsible for your own system.

 

[Mappelbaum37]

you make a good point mr james. I'll look into an ro/di system. I will also test for tds' in the stores ro water...

Thanks

 

[Mr James]

Did you solve your hair algae problem?? Or are you asking about detritus??

I still vacuum out my bare bottom tanks with a small hose to this day. When I do a water change, I'll blow the rocks with a turkey baster and then open the drain for the water change. I understand you probably have space issues and cannot have a sump, but it might be something to think about in the future as you can put a larger amount of cheato in there under some light.

 

[Gdevine]

Off subject: But when you go to 7 fish pick up another bangaii cardinal; these fish really should be paired. Sad to see just one...

 

[pex]

Do not trust the RO/DI from the LFS. Years back I used it and had some problems and I narrowed it down to the water. Sure enough I asked the store I was getting water from to see their TDS readings, and they did not even have a meter. They told me that they change the filters every 3 months. With the massive amounts of water they were selling I knew that it was definetely not pure. I then found a fellow reefer with an RO/DI set-up who I got water from and my problems went away. You can get 5 stage units for $150-$175 from many vendors. They are definetely worth the initial cost.