stay skimmerless? algae problems after almost 1 year

[Clarkii3]

so my 24g AP have been up for a year running smoothy and no problems till now! im starting to see some ha and some green slime on the sand, here is my post regarding this issue, feel free to post your opinions.......
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1058768

i am going to up from my 2g w/c and now do a 4g w/c each week. im really deciding on getting a skimmer, let me know what you guys think about this and my algae issue

 

[sjm1978]

if i was you i would stick to a 2g weekly water change and get a sapphire aquatics nano skimmer AP24. that is what i do on my tank i do a 2g water change every saturday and run a sapphire AP24 skimmer and i have zero algae problems. without the skimmer i was getting brown diatoms but once i put the skimmer on its been clear ever since.i read your other post do you have a TDS meter to test your ro/di water? it should read 0 once it starts going up its time to replace your DI resin.another good thing with the sapphire skimmer onces its broke in there are zero micro bubbles in the tank. also if your tank in topless you can make a stand out of eggcrate to raise the skimmer up and you water level in the back up thats what i did.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

well all you mentioned for snails (that i saw anyways) was nassarius snails. Those guys dont even eat algae of any type. They stick to meaty foods only. Its good to have a few in case something dies in the tank. They're all over it when it dies so you normally dont get a bad spike due to it.

But for alga, i'd strongly suggest ceriths...they'll get the alga in the sand, the glass, and on the rock. I also get astreas too but ceriths are better imo.

but if you had to get a skimmer, the only one i've had experience w/that is close to your list is the regular aqua c remora. So i'd suggest them just because i had great luck with their regular sized model. I've heard a lot of good things about the sapphire one too tho.

 

[Clarkii3]

yes i know nassarius some don't eat algae, i have 4 astreas, a trochus, mithrax crab and a scarlet reef hermit.

 

[sjm1978]

in my tank for cleanup crew i have 11 ceriths 8 astreas 3 nassarius 10 blue legged hermits. the ceriths stay in the sand during the day and come out at night and goto the glass and rocks they do a very good job on the sand.

 

[Clarkii3]

i have LR rubble in the overflow chamber, will this interfere with the skimmer?

 

[salty3]

For a tank that size I would just stick with a cheap small skimmer. I bought the prizim deluxe and it was ok then I did the mods and its great for my 30 long. Just my opinoin.

 

[sjm1978]

i use to have LR rubble and a maxi-jet 900 in the first chamber and i moved all of it the the second chamber. overflow chamber now has heater and skimmer and return chamber has 2x mj900's and lr rubble and 2 bags of chemi-pure.

 

[Grey Reefer]

What fish and stuff do you have in the tank?
A skimmer will help, but it might not solve the problem. There are several factors that cause excess algae growth. The bad kind of algae is always in our tanks it just takes the right conditions to trigger the growth of it.
1. Excess nurtients in the water. Po4, No3, and organics. A skimmer would help with the organics and Phosban + Active Carbon would also take care of it. The No3 is usually exported by growing a Marco such as Chaeto.
2. Lighting, certain types of lighting promote algae growth, PCs that are old or MH.
3. Low PH, Ca, and Alk could also promote nusiance algae.

It is not uncommon for live rock to leach Po4. All that being said it could be any of those factors or a combo. You just have to figure out which. A turbo snail would not hurt to add to the mix. I would do some tests and if all the water Parameters are gold, then I would run some Acitive Carbon and Phosban. If the tank is still having problems then get a skimmer. It also could be your source of RO water. Alot of factors. Just have to go down the check list.

 

[Purple Penguins]

length of time the lighting is on can also play a big part in algae

 

[jacksonpt]

A skimmer won't cure the problem, only be a bandaid for it. You need to figure out what the source of your phosphates is. The most common sources are over feeding, over stocking, or bad "source" water.

 

[Clarkii3]

all my params are good except that 0.1 ppm po4. my ro/di water is 0 ppm. i have 3 fish, bicolor blenny,kupang damsel, yellow watchman goby. i can't think of anything else besides feeding cyclopeeze. i feed it every 2-3 days a a small pinch at that. the only thing is, i dont dip in in ro water and the feed it, i just break off a piece and toss it in. then maybe more food is released in that "ball" of food than i think

 

[calvin415]

If it were me, I'd cut back to 3-4 days on feedings, increase water changes and run phosban then reevaluate in 4 weeks... The algae is being feed from something, cut off the source and it will disappear on it's own... How old are the bulbs, is it the original ones that came with tank?

 

[Clarkii3]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9391117#post9391117 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calvin415
If it were me, I'd cut back to 3-4 days on feedings, increase water changes and run phosban then reevaluate in 4 weeks... The algae is being feed from something, cut off the source and it will disappear on it's own... How old are the bulbs, is it the original ones that came with tank?

the bulbs were 6 months old, i just replaced them a few weeks ago. i have a 96w powerquad over this tank. i think i need to start rinsing my frozen foods in ro water before i feed, and feed less! good advice calvin. im very close to ordering the tunze nano skimmer as well to back me up in case i forget a w/c or i overfeed

 

[Grey Reefer]

Your Po4 is high. Whenever you get a Po4 reading you also have to take in the fact that the Algae is sucking up quite a bit of it. I don't think your over feeding (unless you drop like a giant ball of food at a time). I would run some Phosban and reassess in a month. A skimmer would added some extra room for fault, but they are really not necessary on a small tank. I have a refugium on the back of my 20g with a bunch of different marco algae and I run it on a reverse photo period, this has help control PH swings at night.. I have also heard that if a tank has a sudden drop in temp it will bring on a bloom.

 

[laverda]

I have Macro algae in the back 2 compartments of all 4 of my nano cubes it it does a great job of cleaning the water even in my heavily populated 24 gallon. 2 yellow head Jaw fish, 2 clowns, A fancy Pseudochromis, Tail Spot blenny, neon Gobie, a 12" brittle star and several 3-4" brittle star babies

 

[b0wenj]

Looks like you have alot of opinions to go on here let me stir it up with one more, I voted skimmerless because I see no need in it. I think you should put your refugium back in place and get something to grow in it better than what you had in there. Personally for your sand bed if you are concerned about it I would get some worms in it to turn the sanbed naturally........fun to watch also. I think your photo period was fine and if did not affext your tank for the past year then of courde that was not the problem. I would not make so many changes at once otherwise you could cause yourself other issues on top of what you have. I think your best bet is to try and find out what changed when this all started......it could have been the cheato dying. But change slow I think.

FYI I have a 29 gallon tank that is skimmerless and has been running that way for a little over a year. I also have my lights on from 11:30am - 11:00pm. For me when I have any issues with cyan which has not been many it was because I overfed.......once I cut back a little it would go away. Here is my tank maybe this can help you in your issue.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1062070

 

[Clarkii3]

well my salifert kits arrived, here are my params...........
Ph-8.2
KH/Alk-6.8
Mg-1280
Ca-415
SG-1.026
PO4-0.1
NH3/NH4-0
NO2-0
NO3 0

my Mg is kinda low, and my Alk is very low as it seems, how can i bump these leveles up? im doing b ionic right now, should i add a little more alk to the mix?

 

[b0wenj]

to boost the alk I just using a teaspoon of baking soda and then check the settings after a day has passed. Of course I combine this with water before throwing it into my tank.

To raise the mag you could buy something at your lfs or you could get mag flake ........this is what has been suggested by Randy holmes farley in the chemistry forum. I use this when I use the 2 part mixture he has outlined. If you goto the chemistry forum you will see a sticky at the top explaining the two part mixture.

 

[Clarkii3]

heres what im dealing with