How to achieve ultra low nutrients?

[snaza]

Hi,

my N03 is undetectable and my P04 is 0.03 (on hanna) but i still have algae on my glass (have to clean every day) and most of my SPS tissue is dark.

i dont want to get into zeovit because of the daily dosing. Id like to try prodibio but we cant get it in australia.

I tried vodka for about a month but didn't seem to help at all.

I run rowaphos in a reactor. Can that alone help get my P04 down to 0.01?

I really dont want to get a zeovit reactor but would the other basic 3 zeovit help me?

Is there anything else i could do that doesn't require daily dosing?

thanks

Aaron

 

[xJake]

Everyone has algae on their glass. It's just a part of captive reef husbandry. Getting your nutrient levels down to some magic number won't make all your algae troubles go away. Stop worrying about some arbitrary number that you have to achieve for your tank to be considered "successful."

Also, there is one very easy thing you could do that definitely doesn't require "daily dosing." A water change...

 

[seapug]

Algae on the glass is rarely completely eliminated for any extended period, but I had very good results with overall nutrient reduction by dosing AZNO3. It doesn't require additional equipment other than a good protein skimmer and costs about the same as a bottle of vodka. It brought my Nitrate from 50 to undetectable in three weeks. It's really improved the colors on my SPS as well. You can order it from marinedepot.com but I'm not sure if they ship internationally.

 

[snaza]

Yeah i know everyone has algae but i use to clean it every 5 days. now i have to clean it Every day.

 

[fireman676]

Have you tried leaving your lights off for a couple of days? Might definately help weaken it.

 

[seapug]

it might be a sign your Rowaphos is exhuasted. Refresh it and perhaps add a second reactor with carbon. I definitely notice a large improvement when I replace carbon and GFO media.

 

[snaza]

I replace carbon and rowa monthly. Had this probem for 3 months now.

 

[mat167]

How old are the bulbs? Old bulbs make a big difference. Don't forget that swapping them out once a year is kind of the cheap way out. Ideally we should change them every 6-8 months unless I'm mistaken.

 

[snaza]

new bulbs but thanks

 

[AtomHeart]

Add 50 more snails? How many algae eating snails do you have scouring the glass?

 

[jim.l]

It's winter here, isn't it summer down under? Did your temp go up as the season changed? Higher temp = more algae with the same nutrient loaf.

 

[NaH2Ofreak]

Is the algae you are referring to kind of a brown "dust". If so, it is most likely diatoms. Diatoms are fed by silicates. RowaPhos should help eliminate silicates as well as PO4. What do you feed? I have found that using frozen food sparingly (3 times a week maybe) and feeding Spectrum brand fish food the rest of the time, keeps diatoms in check. I've also found that spirilina enriched brine shrimp REALLY set off the diatoms. Maybe you should switch up the food? Do you add aminos? Some of them cause diatoms also.

Dennis

 

[michealprater]

Dialyseas may be an option if you have the money.

 

[snaza]

Lots of snails.

The temp is a constant 79 with my chiller all year round

No diatoms the algae on the glass is bright green.

I run rowaphos 27/7

 

[boxer385]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13966732#post13966732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seapug
Algae on the glass is rarely completely eliminated for any extended period, but I had very good results with overall nutrient reduction by dosing AZNO3. It doesn't require additional equipment other than a good protein skimmer and costs about the same as a bottle of vodka. It brought my Nitrate from 50 to undetectable in three weeks. It's really improved the colors on my SPS as well. You can order it from marinedepot.com but I'm not sure if they ship internationally.

What is AZN03?

 

[tdhz]

Do you do water changes the same as always? As your system gets older you might have to increase the amount or frequency of water changes. Somethings we just can't measure. Do you use RO/DI water with your salt mix? Have you checked the condition of each of the RO/DI filter components. They don't last forever. I also make it to about 5 days before needing to clean my glass. If you haven't changed anything else in your system, I would look to your RO/DI unit first for the problem. Assuming you figure it out, it might take a few weeks to notice the improvement. Do one thing at a time. Patience is the key.

 

[yongwooi]

I have the same problem as yours. Finally i found out that the culprit is from the top off water im using.

 

[snaza]

yes using ro water but have replaced the filters 2 months ago

 

[deeznuts]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14012836#post14012836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yongwooi
I have the same problem as yours. Finally i found out that the culprit is from the top off water im using.

Same here - changed all the filters on my RO/DI unit and everything cleared up nicely in week or so.

 

[LunarDDS]

What is your lighting setup? I ran a hamilton hood for years and could only get brown sps. Switched to new reflectors and things colored up. I had my lights way too high before to get the par the sps needed. Now I can run them high and get good light with the reflectors. The results were almost immediate.