Phosphate Reactor.

[racer69]

Chris, I don't really know what I measure for. It is just your run of the mill phosphate tester. I am looking between .25 and .5. If this is acceptable, maybe I will just see if the Hair Algee receeds on its own now.

 

[Deuce67]

.25 is pretty high. Normally .03 and below is acceptable.

 

[murfman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8779674#post8779674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by racer69
Chris, I don't really know what I measure for. It is just your run of the mill phosphate tester. I am looking between .25 and .5. If this is acceptable, maybe I will just see if the Hair Algee receeds on its own now.

Todd, your tangs don't eat the HA?

 

[racer69]

Paul, so far they don't eat it. I usually feed nori every day, but now I am going to quit until they work on some natural algea.

 

[murfman]

Good call. I think as they get hungry, they will start grazing.

 

[reefkoi]

You know I have never had hair algae before, had all the slime algaes but never hair. I heard sea hares eat it, scott had one a while back it was less than $20 maybe thats an idea? Also are the bulbs old? or did you recently change them?

 

[racer69]

I changed the bulbs within 30 days. I don't want to add anything else to this tank. What test kits show smaller values? All my other kits are salifert, maybe the phos should be also.

 

[Joe69]

I have a very hard time reading the blue scale on my Salifert kit. I have heard that Merk and Hatch were much better but also much more expensive. Does anyone have experience using either of these brands?

 

[Deuce67]

Joe, the easiest way I found out to read the Salifert is to put the vial over the colors on the chart. Start on the highest and if you can see the color on the chart, keep moving it to the left till you cant see it or have a close match. Does that make any sense?

 

[Joe69]

Thanks Russ, I will give that a try.

 

[reefkoi]

so you changed the bulbs within 30 days, when did you see the hair algae? just wondering if the increase in intensity may have indirectly caused it? the phos maybe being the culprit and the lights pushing it over the edge?
Chris

 

[racer69]

I saw some ha before the change. The two old lights were 14k and were replaced with 1-14k and 1-20k xm. I think the xm is just now done burning in and the 14k has been in for around 30 days. It could be a number of things, I think as things stabilize a little and I keep manually pulling algae, it will all come back to normal.

 

[fuzzyt]

There is an interesting thread on RC about using Mollies to help with HA. Not sure if thats the way to go as you're fixing the symptom and not the source problem. Either way, here is the link if you're interested.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=965490&highlight=mollies

 

[reefkoi]

Yeah Todd, algae problems are a bear. Hope you get a handle on it, BTW hows my gigas doing?

 

[racer69]

MY gigas is doing great and starting to grow a little. Have fun in Florida, I lived there for many years.

 

[racer69]

Well everyone, I think I was just getting a little anxious. In the last two days the HA has really receded. My orp is up around 385, and my water is of the clarity I am used too. My vodka dosing is at 20ml with no bacteria bloom and my no3 and phos are very low. I haven't seen this kind of polyp extension ever in my tank. It looks like the type of extension I reported in Joes tank last month.

I think it just took time for the bacteria to eat all the nutrients from feeding my big fatties. Now I am going to monitor closely and slow down on my dosing. I don't believe you have to have a bacteria bloom before you can level off on the dosing, but we will see. This has been an experiment since day one and I believe that if done properly and slowly, it can really help a tank with excess nutrients.

 

[Deuce67]

Good to hear Todd.

 

[racer69]

Yea Russ, I have been running azone for over 6 months and my orp reading never has been above 295-305. Then about a week ago it was around 325 and last night 375 with today being 387. My controller has now turned the generator off for the first time since I put it in service.

 

[Deuce67]

Sounds like you got what everyone tries to achieve. A nutrient poor system.

 

[calvin415]

Have you been cleaning your OPR Probe? Usually when they get dirty the ORP will go through the roof... Just a precaution as it might not be as high as it's indicating... Vinegar and a tooth brush works great for cleaning the probe.