steveomori
New member
1.023
Hair alge and vodka
- Thread starter steveomori
- Start date
steveomori
New member
although i do keep my tank 1.026 which is high i know but i feel the corals prefer it high and it helps keep the ick off the fisk. i could be way off but his is my understanding
Billybeau1
Premium Member
That may be part of your problem. 1.023 is a little low for a reef tank IMO. It is ok for a fish only tank, but a reef tank could use a little more.
Maybe you could buy a small box or bag of synthetic salt and bump your catalina up a little. I recommend at least 1.026
This will also raise your calcium level up automatically. And probably add a little more magnesium depending on the synthetic salt you choose.
Maybe you could buy a small box or bag of synthetic salt and bump your catalina up a little. I recommend at least 1.026
This will also raise your calcium level up automatically. And probably add a little more magnesium depending on the synthetic salt you choose.
steveomori
New member
lol so i am correct in keeping it at 1.026 
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Yes. Now you might want to concentrate on getting your calcium up to about 420 or so.
There are a number of commercial supplements designed for this as well as some diy bulk formulas.
Also you'll want to get your alk up and try and keep it between 7 - 11 dkh. Good old Arm & Hammer baking soda will take care of that for you.
There are a number of commercial supplements designed for this as well as some diy bulk formulas.
Also you'll want to get your alk up and try and keep it between 7 - 11 dkh. Good old Arm & Hammer baking soda will take care of that for you.
steveomori
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14754881#post14754881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
Yes. Now you might want to concentrate on getting your calcium up to about 420 or so.
There are a number of commercial supplements designed for this as well as some diy bulk formulas.
Also you'll want to get your alk up and try and keep it between 7 - 11 dkh. Good old Arm & Hammer baking soda will take care of that for you.
You got it Billy! I make my own 2 part cal and alk. mg and only my strontium is store bought. So in your opinion the cal and alk is the root of my GHA?
Billybeau1
Premium Member
No, I didn't say that. I would just like to start with better numbers for the big three in your reef first.
Hair Algae (micro) is usually caused by excessive nutrients. Overfeeding can contribute to this and not enough nutrient export which can be dealt with a number of ways. In some cases decreasing the light cycle can help as well if you are only seeing a small amount.
If you are not doing many water changes then it may be beneficial to get your skimmer to skim a little better. Maybe try a little wetter to export more of these nutrients that are causing your hair algae.
Hair Algae (micro) is usually caused by excessive nutrients. Overfeeding can contribute to this and not enough nutrient export which can be dealt with a number of ways. In some cases decreasing the light cycle can help as well if you are only seeing a small amount.
If you are not doing many water changes then it may be beneficial to get your skimmer to skim a little better. Maybe try a little wetter to export more of these nutrients that are causing your hair algae.
steveomori
New member
Excess nutrients are usually in the form of P04 and or nitrates correct? this is what is so puzzling to me i tested 0's across the board.
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Well, you've heard this before, but it is true.
In some cases the microalgae is using up the PO<sub>4</sub> as fast as it is being produced.
You could try running a little GFO and see if your hair algae subsides.
I run my GFO in a HOB canister filter. Works pretty good for me.
Otherwise, like I said you could cut an hour or so out of the light cycle and see if it improves since you are only seeing a small amount.
In some cases the microalgae is using up the PO<sub>4</sub> as fast as it is being produced.
You could try running a little GFO and see if your hair algae subsides.
I run my GFO in a HOB canister filter. Works pretty good for me.
Otherwise, like I said you could cut an hour or so out of the light cycle and see if it improves since you are only seeing a small amount.
steveomori
New member
I also run GFO in a reactor
steveomori
New member
rocks leaching pos, could that be the culprit, how does that happen? and how do i stop this from happening?
you really can't stop it from happening. If the rocks built up po4 over time and your water has less po4 than the rock, the rock will leach till it comes to equilibrium.
I'm actually going through this right now with some base rock I added to my system. My po4 is 0.01 or less (via hanna spectrometer) yet I'm getting algal grow on the new rocks. My GFO reactor holds about 9 cups completely fluidized, so its not like I'm skimping on GFO None the less the po4 is still there leaching out of the rocks.
Best thing to do is let itself burn out while you concentrate of manual removal of the algae along with keeping new po4 introduction to a minimum. some livestock that likes to graze on teh algae doesn't hurt either
If you are adventurous/experienced you might want to experiment with carbon dosing to help remove the po4 faster... although its no magic bullet for po4 removal.
I'm actually going through this right now with some base rock I added to my system. My po4 is 0.01 or less (via hanna spectrometer) yet I'm getting algal grow on the new rocks. My GFO reactor holds about 9 cups completely fluidized, so its not like I'm skimping on GFO
None the less the po4 is still there leaching out of the rocks.Best thing to do is let itself burn out while you concentrate of manual removal of the algae along with keeping new po4 introduction to a minimum. some livestock that likes to graze on teh algae doesn't hurt either
If you are adventurous/experienced you might want to experiment with carbon dosing to help remove the po4 faster... although its no magic bullet for po4 removal.
