Tanks falling apart. Need Help

good advice matt.
im going to do everything u said also.
your right about the canisters- been there done that!
i ran 2 on my 125g and never cleaned them.
this time iv got a sump/refug.
the only thing i wont do above is use ro water...not for 180 gallons of water haha ill use the hose!
good luck everyone
 
Are you running phosphate remover? Id get some of that just in case. Bulk reef supply sells it for pretty cheap . Reactors to put it in are only like 30 bucks.
 
Your nitrates and phosphates are reading zero because algae is really efficient at using those for food. Once you find the source of these, the algae will go away.

What are you feeding? Does sunlight hit the tank through a window? Do you have algae all over the tank or just in spots?

It doesn't look like you have any powerheads in the tank. What's providing circulation?
 
so isnt algae good in a sense lol?
i just dont like how the green algae covers my glass and sand every 5 mins (literally)
i feed frozen everyday (mysis) and spectrum pellets about once or twice a day. sorry for the thread steal, just trying to get the same info
 
Soaking the food in fresh RO/DI water for 5 minutes and then discarding that water before feeding the food tends to leach out the phosphates so they don't end up in your tank.

Just another thing to add to the list. :)

And yes, algae is good. It's part of the final step in the nitrogen cycle. Converting nitrates into nitrogen gas which can escape the water. We just don't want it in our tanks! :lol:

In the fuge is fine. Paul B built a pretty ingenious device where he trickles water across acrylic (or was it pvc pipe cut in half) and lets the algae grow on it. Every so often he wipes the acrylic clean and lets it start over again. He is using algae to help control the nitrates and phosphates but does it by specifying where he permits it to grow. Algae prefers to grow in well lit, shallow water like the thing he built.
 
i just use my tank water to soak the food in lol.
and i use tap water which im sure has alot to do with it.
but have a phosphate reactor and my testings for phos are low, im going to add another reactor to ensure it =)
 
The phosphate media has a definitive saturation level. Once it's trapped all the phosphates it can absorb, it won't take out anymore. You might just need to change your media.

I had high phosphates and I started running phosban. In three days the phosphates were cut in half. Then they stopped going down. I changed the media and three days later, phosphates were gone.
 
most media can be regenerater very easy and mines onky been in for about 2 weeks and there really low... once they are gone you can regenerate about every 3 or 4 months in my exsperiance thats about how long the media last.. and if they come back sooner in a fresher tank just regenerate agin.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12466168#post12466168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by weluvfish54
most media can be regenerater very easy and mines onky been in for about 2 weeks and there really low... once they are gone you can regenerate about every 3 or 4 months in my exsperiance thats about how long the media last.. and if they come back sooner in a fresher tank just regenerate agin.
Click to expand...

Are you referirng to GFO?
If so, how do you regenerate this media?
 
not sure what gfo is?
the kind i have is bightwell aquatics and u have to buy "regenerator" it tells u all what to do ..
the stuff in a mesh bag that u set in ur tank can be revived once or twice by baking. i dont recomend that stuff though as i prefer phos reactors. cheap, less to look at, and more successful.
 
GFO is Granular Ferric Oxide, basically, rusty iron.
It's what most people use as a phosphate remover.
I run it in a TLF reactor.
Never heard of regenerating it though.
 
critter quantity

critter quantity

i think if mdog3000 can repost letting us know exact quantites of fish we might also have a better idea, i only have 2 fish and feed very small amounts, no green algae, im wondering if hes over feeding? hopefully he can let us know:)
 
I was having the same prob. The GHA and the red slime was alot worse few months ago. I also was seeking advice from the experienced RC's. Listen to these guys they know what they are talking about. I did and my algea prob is almost gone. Up your flow, clean any and all filters frequently, cut back on feeding and lights,do at least 20% wc a week. I use carbon and Phoslock. And most importantly, be patient. The prob did'nt start overnight and it is'nt going to end overnight.
 
Algae is just like a phosban reactor, or an type of media that gets rid of nitrates and phosphates. Media and algae both live off of nitrates and phosphates. The difference between algae and media, is no one wants a tank full of algae. Yeah, it gets rid of the nitrates and phosphates, but thats not how most people like to get rid of it. I'd guess bec. a tank full of algae isn't so pleasant. That's the only difference.

What I did also, was let the tank go a week or 2 and didn't touch the rocks. Everything was covered, top to bottom, left to right in algae. By letting the algae grow it ate all the nitrates and phosphates in the tank. Then, in one fellow swoop, I took out ALL the algae during a water change. Since then, I do get some algae, but not half as much as I did before.

The phosban reactor when I first hooked it up didn't look like it was doing much. Given a week, the brown algae on the glass literally started peeling off. I didn't quite realize it bec. I'm looking at the tank every day, but I realized that its peeling off. Add a few snails to the mix to eat the left over algae, and your good to go.

Words of wisdom,
Mappelbaum37

:)

Good luck
 
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