Advice/Help

[dangerbird]

Hey all,

I've had my 90g tank for about 5 years. I have this algae problem that I can't seem to beat. I change my lights every six months. I use only RO/DI water, and make my saltwater from that. The algae is pretty much all green hair. I have about a 150lbs of Fuji live rock in there. My system is"

90 Gallon Reef Display
70 Gallon Sump
Current T5 8x54 - 4 10k and 4 actinics 460nm
3 Koralia power heads 2 older K2's and a new Evo 750
Bare Bottom.
Modded G4 skimmer with Sendra 5000

Parameters:
Water Temp 78
Nitrites .001
PH 8dKH
Oxygen 7mg/L
Nitrates 0
Phosphates 0
Magnesium 600 (high to try to slow down the growth)
KH/Alk 8dKH (2.86 meg/L)
Calcium 340 ppm
Silicates 0
Salinity 1.024

The algae is mostly growing on the rock, I have noticed it growing on the returns as well. I'm starting to think my rock might be saturated. I really would like to avoid months of cooking rock, but I'm starting to think that's my next move. Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks
Dave

 

[magic]

Dave, get yourself a seahare. They mow down hair algae. Their butt ugly but they do the job. The only draw back is they will starve when they are done. Some lfs have a 'rental' program where you can buy them for around $20 and bring them back when their done and get $10 back.

Bob

 

[downbeach]

What are you using for test kits? Have you confirmed these readings with someone else? If this is a reef tank both your Ca and Mg are too low, Ca should be about 380 to 420 and Mg should be at least 1200, but 1350 would be better.

 

[MadReefer]

If the hair algae is long the seahare will not touch it. You can try adding more Mg. Also, peroxide dosing will kill it but its a long process. If you have SPS don't bother with peroxide.

 

[NikkiT]

Hi dangerbird,
I have a couple of questions.
What kind of salt mix are you using? What are you mixing your saltwater in? When was the last time you checked the TDS on the water coming out of the ro/di? Are you using ro/di for your top-offs?
What livestock do you have in the tank?
You said the skimmer is modded; could you please explain?

 

[Fish Brain]

In addition to all the questions above, what is your bio load like, what do you feed, how much and how often?

 

[The_Codfather]

If it's just growing on the rocks.. maybe something is leeching from the rocks even after 5 years..( it don't take much)... most people even me when have a HA bloom it grows where there is much flow also... like overflows, Power heads or glass where both are

 

[redfishbluefish]

Wow! Too many questions. Can Dangerbird plead the fifth?


I have to believe that after five years, all the leaching that is going to occur has already happened. I do believe it’s a nutrient problem, but not from the rocks.

 

[The_Codfather]

I guess the the million dollar question is... when did it start?

 

[qwik]

Try peroxide with as much manual removal as possible. Peroxide helped me in less than two weeks . I believe its 1 ml per 10 gallons but please read up on it first and make sure you are ok with it. There is a post of someone overdosing by a lot and still not having bad results,thats what made me try it,lol. Good Luck, Paul

 

[dangerbird]

Sorry, the Mg was a typo 1600. I only have soft corals in there

 

[dangerbird]

I use instant ocean salt mix, I mix my salt water in a rubbermade 30 Gtrash can, I have a TDS meter on my RO/DI and its 0, replaced all filters about 6 weeks ago. Yes Ro/DI for top offs, I have a Purple tank a watchman Gobi, a lawnmower blenny, 2 small Chromies, two clowns, and two pajama cardinals. I feed about every other day, the fish are all fat and happy, I have lots of pods. When I feed I alternated between Formula one flakes, about a pinch, and on the next feeding I feed 2 Marine Cuisine cubes. My skimmer is modded to recurculate the water. It's a pretty common mod and everything indicates that it is working well.

 

[dangerbird]

When did it start?


At least a year ago

 

[dangerbird]

Yeah, I have tried Sea Hairs, they do eat it, but I would need an army of the. My lawnmower blenny eats it too. He's so fat I think he will explode one of these days!

 

[dangerbird]

I use Salifert and I picked up a couple of other brands just to verify. I have sent my water out for analysis, and everything looks pretty good.

 

[MadReefer]

If all you have are softies than as stated before try peroxide dosing with manual removal. I believe the dosage of 1ml per 10g is correct. The HA should turn reddish and than white. Once white it is easy yo remove. Once it was red I was able to scrape it off the overflow easier and scrub rocks easier. Just don't add any SPS until you do some massive water changes after all the HA is gone.

 

[dangerbird]

If all you have are softies than as stated before try peroxide dosing with manual removal. I believe the dosage of 1ml per 10g is correct. The HA should turn reddish and than white. Once white it is easy yo remove. Once it was red I was able to scrape it off the overflow easier and scrub rocks easier. Just don't add any SPS until you do some massive water changes after all the HA is gone.

OK, I'll look into that. Thank You

 

[NikkiT]

If this has been going on for a year, all signs point to something resulting in excess nutrients in your tank.
You do not sound like you are overstocked, and you do not sound like you are over feeding. From what you said about the lights, it does not sound like they are the problem. I am inclined to agree with Paul that your rocks are not the problem.
That leaves the following possible sources for the pollution (that I can think of):
1. Frozen food
2. Skimmer not working properly
3. TDS meter on ro/ri giveing inaccurate reading
4. Rubbermaid leaching (which I doubt but is possible)
4. Bad salt (which I doubt but is possible)

So a few suggestions: check the newly mixed salt water and the ro/di with another TDS meter to confirm that the problem isn't the ro/di unit, the Rubbermaid, or the salt mix. Rinse all frozen food before feeding it (if you are not already doing that).
If neither of those suggestions work, that would lead me to look closely at the sump and skimmer. You will want to see if either of them are the source of the problems, the sump from too much detritus accumulating, the skimmer for failing to rermove sufficient nutrients.
I suspect that excess nutrients are your problem, and if I am correct, the only way to solve the problem, long term, is to figure out where they are coming from and remove them.

FYI, I have a 45g cube with a stock list similar to yours and no algae problem, so the excess pollution is not (in my mind) a result of your bio load.

 

[Hawkeye]

nitrates showing zero is a false reading - the HA is so efficient at uptaking it that you basically have an ATS running but in your display.

how often are you executing water changes? besides what nikki suggests- maybe increase the volume of water being changed or increase the frequency...although it depends on what you say you have been doing previously.

 

[dangerbird]

Thank you, I will check all of these out.