Need guidance please!!!
- Thread starter likefish
- Start date
raidendex
Well-known member
Perhaps reverse psychology on the algae? Pretend you really want it to grow and of course it will start dying like anything prized in our tanks usually does 
Anyhooo...
To sump up my suggestions
- Make sure algae in the refugium is getting
- - more "correct" light than algae anywhere else
- - exposed to same amount of water as algae in the rest of the system
Killing lights in the DT would give sump algae upper hand for a time, but I'm not sure if the issue would not simply return eventually when the lights in DT go back to their normal settings. Of course if algae is not established in the DT and is in the sump, that may be enough even with higher light in the DT.
For dusting off rock work, you could a power head (probably weakest option, but easiest to do), hose connected to the return line, or just drop in spare pump not connected to anything and just blast the rocks. This would work a lot better than a turkey baster and would be much faster.
Of course this is assuming everything is attached securely and you do not point it directly at the sand bed (unless sandstorm is ok
Anyhooo...
To sump up my suggestions
- Make sure algae in the refugium is getting
- - more "correct" light than algae anywhere else
- - exposed to same amount of water as algae in the rest of the system
Killing lights in the DT would give sump algae upper hand for a time, but I'm not sure if the issue would not simply return eventually when the lights in DT go back to their normal settings. Of course if algae is not established in the DT and is in the sump, that may be enough even with higher light in the DT.
For dusting off rock work, you could a power head (probably weakest option, but easiest to do), hose connected to the return line, or just drop in spare pump not connected to anything and just blast the rocks. This would work a lot better than a turkey baster and would be much faster.
Of course this is assuming everything is attached securely and you do not point it directly at the sand bed (unless sandstorm is ok
Thanks for all of the advice and help.
All tanks are algae free!! Here is what i did:
Reduced photoperiod on my T5 lighting.
Reduced intensity on my LED's
Reduced feeding
Removed about 3/4 of my FILTHY!! sandbed a little at a time during water changes
Continued manual removal until i started to see the algae reducing on its own.
I also brought my Refugium online. At first the chaeto i put in faded and looked like it was doing nothing but slowly it colored up and as the algae reduced in my displays the Fuge came to life!
It was a slow process and just required patience and persistence. I get a bit pushy with my tanks and want them fixed NOW!
The downside to all of this tinkering was a drastic reduction in coral color and many of SPS "browning out". I ahd always thought that browning was a result of excess nutrients.
I believe it to be a result of low nutrients and low light. I am slowly ramping up my feeding and ramping up photoperiod and intensity. Planning on getting back to where i was only now i have a refugium to assist with nutrient removal.
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
All tanks are algae free!! Here is what i did:
Reduced photoperiod on my T5 lighting.
Reduced intensity on my LED's
Reduced feeding
Removed about 3/4 of my FILTHY!! sandbed a little at a time during water changes
Continued manual removal until i started to see the algae reducing on its own.
I also brought my Refugium online. At first the chaeto i put in faded and looked like it was doing nothing but slowly it colored up and as the algae reduced in my displays the Fuge came to life!
It was a slow process and just required patience and persistence. I get a bit pushy with my tanks and want them fixed NOW!
The downside to all of this tinkering was a drastic reduction in coral color and many of SPS "browning out". I ahd always thought that browning was a result of excess nutrients.
I believe it to be a result of low nutrients and low light. I am slowly ramping up my feeding and ramping up photoperiod and intensity. Planning on getting back to where i was only now i have a refugium to assist with nutrient removal.
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Perhaps reverse psychology on the algae? Pretend you really want it to grow and of course it will start dying like anything prized in our tanks usually does
Anyhooo...
To sump up my suggestions
- Make sure algae in the refugium is getting
- - more "correct" light than algae anywhere else
- - exposed to same amount of water as algae in the rest of the system
Killing lights in the DT would give sump algae upper hand for a time, but I'm not sure if the issue would not simply return eventually when the lights in DT go back to their normal settings. Of course if algae is not established in the DT and is in the sump, that may be enough even with higher light in the DT.
For dusting off rock work, you could a power head (probably weakest option, but easiest to do), hose connected to the return line, or just drop in spare pump not connected to anything and just blast the rocks. This would work a lot better than a turkey baster and would be much faster.
Of course this is assuming everything is attached securely and you do not point it directly at the sand bed (unless sandstorm is ok
All of this was spot on!! Great advice. Thanks Michael!
raidendex
Well-known member
Good to hear. Brown corals are a sign of them needing more "food".
Brown color comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiodinium that corals host. As the light gets too high, these guys produce more and more sugars, grow faster etc. Coral does not like that and shields them with their color proteins like an umbrella, thus giving coral its various colors.
So in a sense really bright coral means that it's getting way too much light than it needs and you could be on a verge of giving it too much, at which point coral gives up and just expels all protists and becomes white - bleached. This can also happen with sudden increase in temperature, which causes increased activity which coral may not like as well.
In both situations coral can recover its color. Browned out need more light (slowly), bleached - less light and some sort of feedings as while bleached coral relies only on its polyps to get food.
Brown color comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiodinium that corals host. As the light gets too high, these guys produce more and more sugars, grow faster etc. Coral does not like that and shields them with their color proteins like an umbrella, thus giving coral its various colors.
So in a sense really bright coral means that it's getting way too much light than it needs and you could be on a verge of giving it too much, at which point coral gives up and just expels all protists and becomes white - bleached. This can also happen with sudden increase in temperature, which causes increased activity which coral may not like as well.
In both situations coral can recover its color. Browned out need more light (slowly), bleached - less light and some sort of feedings as while bleached coral relies only on its polyps to get food.
Similar threads
