hawiian black sand issues

you should be lucky that you just have hair algae, I got a bryopsis problem that is slowly causeing me to die. Yes thats right it is turning my hair gray and i think it might even at time cause my blood preassure to rise so high I have a heart attack. dip those rocks in peroxid 50/50 water salution use a clean cleaning brush and go to town then rinse in clean salt water. start on one side of the tank and try not to do all the rocks at once, because you tank could recycle. But you have to remember that you have to find the true cause of the phosphate causeing the growth weather its over feeding inproper lighting or live sand or rock loaded with phosphates. try running some gfo
 
I have read a lot of good stuff about algae scrubbers and i think this is my next move. Does anyone think i should go ahead and pull the sand and replace it? I only put 60lbs of sand in to start with so im not working with too much. Could it be 'full' after only a year or so like my lfs is suggesting. They said its a pointless endevour to even try to get rid of the algea without replacing the substrate first. Thanks everyone who has replied so far, i appriciate the help very much

No I dont think its a good idea. anything in the sand could cause problems. Could cause a recycle. Could release nitrates. Treat the algae issue
 
you could replace the sand but it might not be a bad idea to try reducing phosphates. because as somebody said earlier API test kits reall just arent accurate. you probably have alot more phosphates then you know try scrubbing/ syphoning as much of the algea out do a large water change and get som GFO and run that for a month and seee where it goes
 
Ok so get a hanna checker first thing. Ive been changing water like crazy lately. Usually 20-30g a week. Its certainly getting better. And i almost never have algae on the glass. I feed once a day in the evening, twice a day when im off, and they eat everything with in a minute except the flakes. I see flakes laying on the sand alot. Maybe i will cut back on that for a while. Also my bulbs are a year old now, should i replace them?
 
If you want to remove the hair algae quickly and safely, use API AlgaeFix Marine. Here is a thread about the success stories here -

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1595003

Once you have it under control, look into somehow removing your nutrients. An ATS is a great way to go. Many success stories of them too. You just have to remember you use it to remove nutrients, not grow hair algae.

I had hair algae for at least 8 months. I used this product, and it was gone in 10 days. I put in an ATS, and I have not had a return of the hair algae in the dt. I just clean it out of the ATS now. All of my corals have rebounded.
 
You havent replaced your bulbs in a year? What kind of bulbs? That could very well be feeding the growth of algae.

Not sure if you knew, but once the bulbs start to get old, their spectrum changes and promotes the growth of algae.
 
Also using, bandage products such as algae fixes, are more or less a waste. Verify your phosphates with a hanna checker, keep doing water changes and run some phosphate media in a reactor. Change the media once a week and possibly cut back on feeding.

And give it time and youll have it under control
 
Also using, bandage products such as algae fixes, are more or less a waste. Verify your phosphates with a hanna checker, keep doing water changes and run some phosphate media in a reactor. Change the media once a week and possibly cut back on feeding.

And give it time and you’ll have it under control

I think Sponger0 said it best right there. You can’t just dump some algae remover in and forget about it. You got to get to the bottom of the problem to fix the problem, plus you’re putting chemicals into your tank that could have adverse affects. Change to LEDs and do water changes you could also look into getting some NO3 PO4 remover made by red sea. This product is more of a vodka vinegar mix I’m assuming. You might be familiar with it as vodka dosing. From what I understand is that it helps increase the beneficial bacteria thus reducing nutrients and phosphates, but I think it is important that you run a skimmer to help remove these nutrients, and oxygenate the water. I’ve been battling bryopsis algae and I use it in my system it defiantly gets rid of algae just Bryopsis is such a pain to get rid of.
 
You dont need to switch to LEDs but you can. Or just get new bulbs.

Vodka dosing can be done but it has to be done continually or your tank can bomb. So look into it carefully.

And bryopsis is a royal pain
 
trzabka have you tried to increase your mag to 1500 it killed my bryopsis in 3 days. never came back.

VWguy have you tried to start with a little carbon dosing and give the bacteria in your tank an advantage over all that algae to consume nutrients. Over the long run I think it will work but you need to start slow and be consistent.
 
trzabka have you tried to increase your mag to 1500 it killed my bryopsis in 3 days. never came back.

VWguy have you tried to start with a little carbon dosing and give the bacteria in your tank an advantage over all that algae to consume nutrients. Over the long run I think it will work but you need to start slow and be consistent.

I did ive been running at about 1800 the max i can take it to most of my coral is getting pretty stressed and receeding. the bryopsis looks like it has its days.
 
changeing to LEDs will help you in the long run. your going to spend atleast 40 dollars on any decent t-5 lighting and they need to be replaced every 6-9 months and LEDs claim to last 50,000 hours. it seems benificial to switch over
 
You havent replaced your bulbs in a year? What kind of bulbs? That could very well be feeding the growth of algae.

Not sure if you knew, but once the bulbs start to get old, their spectrum changes and promotes the growth of algae.

I didnt know this about the bulbs. I only got into the hobby when i got this tank a year ago, so im still learning the longer (semi annual and annual) maint. Ordering new bulbs and gfo today. Stay on water changes, siphon, blow detritus off rock, ect. Ride this out and see how its goes. Thanks everyone for your time
 
Yup that should do it. In a month or 2 you should see a decline in algae.

Just replace the phosphate media weekly at first. This will help strip the nutrients fast.

And yes bulbs should be replaced 6 month to a year. Your keeping softies it appears to be so 9 months to 1 year should be good. I change mine after 6 months cause I keep high lighting requirement corals.
 
I think Sponger0 said it best right there. You can’t just dump some algae remover in and forget about it. You got to get to the bottom of the problem to fix the problem, plus you’re putting chemicals into your tank that could have adverse affects. Change to LEDs and do water changes you could also look into getting some NO3 PO4 remover made by red sea. This product is more of a vodka vinegar mix I’m assuming. You might be familiar with it as vodka dosing. From what I understand is that it helps increase the beneficial bacteria thus reducing nutrients and phosphates, but I think it is important that you run a skimmer to help remove these nutrients, and oxygenate the water. I’ve been battling bryopsis algae and I use it in my system it defiantly gets rid of algae just Bryopsis is such a pain to get rid of.

any type of organic carbon dosing requires a skimmer to be effective...

please read before considering http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/
 
Well for anyone who was following this here is some updated pics. Ive been trying to keep the rocks as clean as possible and doing water changes about every 3-4 days. My gfo and ATI bulbs came from BRS today. Unfortunately all 4 bulbs broke during shipping. But the tank is looking much better and once its stable i want to start filling it with lps


 
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