probably a long shot...

[nicolicious]

does anyone use spectrum fish food pellets?

i have a diatom or algea problem and i have taken many other steps to fix the problem....from a new ro/di unit to adding more flow and refugum to lights out.....

one thing i havent changed is the type of food...i dont thing i overfeed but maybe other people have had issue with this specific brand of pellets?

also could you suggest another brand? i also use cyclopeese and that seems to be a universial aggreement

 

[jer77]

I use them sometimes. How much are you feeding and how much of what you feed is being eaten? I have no problems with them. I do believe that dry food seems to contribute more to algae growth than frozen though.

 

[nicolicious]

just a pinch

just a pinch

i have crabs that come out and eat it to....i only have 4 fish...

 

[drummereef]

Can you describe your algae probs, or have a pic? Diatoms are feed by silica usually from your water source. What's the TDS of your DI reading?

 

[nicolicious]

here you go....

here you go....

thanks for any help you can provide me.....by the way my di water is "0" and my ro is about 6-8

here is when the lights first come on:

and after my lights are on it looks like this

i will update this pic with a newer one but its the same....red brown dusty algea stuff....

 

[drummereef]

Well, let me first say your tank looks beautiful! How old is your DI resin? The reason I ask is even if it is reading 0TDS, there is still a chance silica/phosphates are getting through. I just went through this actually. After I picked up a new DI (nuclear grade 15 silica buster) my problems were a thing of the past. Just a thought....

 

[zma21]

I love your kenya tree colony!

It should pass, over time.

 

[nicolicious]

thanks

thanks

the kenya tree (i thought it was a leather coral) actually covered 4x's as much space about a month ago....dont have any pics but the thing grows like crazy...

as far as the di resin goes it a brand new ro/di system from filterguys....when i say new i mean im on the 70th gallon from the thing....where did you get this "nuclear grade 15 silica buster" resin? might as well try it, cause ive tried everything else....

zma: thanks i like your idea....ive put way way way too much money in trying to fix this problem.....i guess ill just wait.....although its been since march so hopefully it wont be too much longer.....

new skimmer
new return
new ro/di
new powerheads
new bulbs
new ballast......
no light for 4 days
horseshoe crabs (i was told they stir up the sand, but i dont see them move anymore probably stuck under a rock)
2 sand sifting gobys.....

thanks for the compliments on the tank....

 

[drummereef]

The "Nuclear Grade 15 Silica Buster Resin" is from The Filter Guys also. I used their stock resin for 5 months with no issues until about a week ago. Started seeing the diatoms coming so I replaced the resin. I suppose you could wait it out and see if the problem persists though.

Here's a link:
SILICA MASTER MIXED BED LAYERED DI CARTRIDGES
http://www.thefilterguys.biz/de-ionization.htm