Algae help

[walter]

from another thread

 

VHOs last 8 months before you have poor performance. T5 seem to last about 10-11 months. I base this on what I observe from my coral growth. The lights still look good. But when you replace them - WOW you see the difference, and your coral really grow!

 

As for short photoperiods - I think that is treating a symptom and not the problem(s). Your water chem is the problem, not the light.

 

I thought so too, so I checked them. Well at least the known culprits. Ammonia=0, Nitrites=0ppm, Nitrates=~20-30ppm, Phosphates=0, chlorine=0, ph is 8.2, alk is good

 

Im using DI water only (A. Calfo uses it too so dont bash). Maybe its the nitrates. Time for a water change. My friend keeps telling me to wait till they get a little higher like 40ppm, but every time I test its around 20.

Im building a sump/fuge so I can make that my water change. I hope to add some chaeto too.

 

 

just a quick look on the internet..Nitrates = food for algae. I need to get it down to less than 5. Could this be the problem?

 

Why had i not did a water change before? Well because I thought my tank was still cycling. Nitrites would go down, but ammonia would go up slightly. So I waited. Well I guess I can say my tank has cycled.

 

 

sort of update or question. Saw this on wetweb media. Is it true? I use api test strips (I know, there are more accurate tests)

<nitrate can be measured as nitrate-nitrogen or as an ion. The actual nitrate level on most test kits is a multiple (4.4) of your given reading. As such, your 25 ppm is actually over 100ppm. You have hardy creatures, however, and have noticed that things are relatively fine for now. However, many inverts and some fish such as the Angels, butterflies and tangs will almost suffer certainly in time from exposure. Do aim for under 10ppm>

 

I also feed everyday. I should switch to every other day?

Another quick question. Im using a filter sock. Does this make the nitrates high too. I try to change them every 3 days, but honestly its more like 1/ week

Edited November 17, 2008 by walter

[zygote2k]

Ditch the sock, do 10% water changes once a week, feed conservatively, make a macroalgae dominant refugium, make a DSB. NO3 will be at less than 10ppm shortly.

[Rascal]

Nothing wrong with using DI water as far as I know as long as you keep changing out the resin. W/O an RO filter behind it the DI has to do all the work. With an RO filter the DI is only doing 1-5% of the work, so it will last a lot longer. Test the output frequently to make sure it is still coming out clean (not just for NO3 and PO4 but also use a TDS meter to test for other stuff). In the end you will probably find it is much cheaper to use a combined RO/DI filter. There's a reason most of us do and it is not because we like throwing money away.

 

As far as acceptable levels of NO3, generally speaking most fish will tolerated it better than most corals. Your target levels will be different depending on whether your goal is simply not to kill your fish or you want to have a nice looking tank with thriving livestock.

 

If you are having problems with nuisance algae you need to shoot for undetectable levels of NO3 and PO4, IMO. Once the levels drop that far, the algae itself becomes your test kit. If it is growing, you have excess nutrients. If it is dying off and/or not coming back, you don't.

 

You don't necessarily have to ditch the filter sock as long as you are committed to cleaning it every day or every other day. Otherwise it will contribute to your nitrate problems.

 

How often and how much you should feed depends on what is doing the eating, but overfeeding is a common mistake which is why cutting back on feeding is common advice. One way or another you need to make sure you are not importing significantly more nutrients than your system (including your export mechanisms) is capable of processing. Water changes, exporting macro, DSB, good skimmer, . . . . all could help.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Rascal