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Offline Amstar

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algae issues
« on: January 31, 2010, 14:50:00 »
I cant get rid of it.  I have brand new filters on my RO-DI kit (0) TDS I feed very very lightly (3x a week)  I have brand new bulbs and brand new ballasts/reflectors

tank is in the basement so there is no outside light.

the sand is new... the live rock is probably 10 years old.   There is no algae on the rocks or the sand.  just growing and growing and growing on the glass of the tank.

sump is alittle undersized (30 gallon sump for a 150 gallon) tank.  running carbon on the tank as well.  stoped using a filter sock almost a month ago?

any ideas?


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Re: algae issues
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2010, 14:56:19 »
What type of algae is it?

Offline HUNGER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2010, 15:31:46 »
do you have a skimmer   when do you do watter changes and how much
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Offline UD Flyer

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2010, 16:18:39 »
What is your light cycle and what kind of lights?

Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2010, 21:06:50 »
I believe it is hair algae. 

I change 10% of my water every week.  Skimmer is not hooked up at this time.

I hve (3) 250 Hamilton 14k bulbs using Ice-cap ballasts and lumenarc mini reflectors.

I am starting to think its my live rock?  my phosphates and nitrates are almost zero (most of the time (90-95%)

the algae is not growing on the rocks,.,,, just the glass and powerheads.

???? Any ideas?  are my rocks leaching phosphates?  could it be that my carbon is old?  my sumps sand is bad? to much build up in it?  Need more water flow in the tank?

Offline HUNGER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2010, 21:10:31 »
if its hair algee  can just do larger watter changes  and cut back on light
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Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2010, 21:17:24 »
I have tried that.  cut the lights out for three days.   algae died off a bit, but didnt disappear.  it is very very thick on the side walls of the tank almost like carpet. 

thinking about breaking down the tank and starting all over.

Offline HUNGER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2010, 21:20:58 »
thats a biggie  i wouldnt  i would pull out as much of the algae and do like 20% watter changes 
SIZE DOES MATTER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2010, 21:27:34 »
Chances are, your rocks & sand have just collected a large amount of detritus over the years.  Try taking a very powerful powerhead and blowing them out...as well as the sand, and then doing a medium-sized water change.  I wouldn't start over, but if you get desperate, you could try taking all the rocks out and cleaning the sand underneath.  That's a nasty job though.  Are you running GFO? 

Offline mdcoblentz

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2010, 09:31:12 »
your nitrates and phosphates could be reading low because the amount of algae is using it up so fast.  It's growing for a reason. Get out the razor blade. wondering if it isn't turf algae your dealing with.
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Offline SaltLife

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2010, 10:35:46 »
i'm battling the same thing, just when i think i have it beaten, it pops up again. been doing water change after water change, skimmer on full blast, and still get this stuff. my sea hair has lost his appetite for it, so he isn't helping. i've been taking a wire brush and scraping it off when i can, but it's not easy to colllect it when it starts flowing around.
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Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2010, 11:33:05 »
i am wondering that when I use a razor blade to scrape it off if i am actually spreading "spores" around the tank more?   

what i dont get is its only growing on the glass


I will try to clean up the sump and use a powerhead over all of the rocks..scrap the walls again and see what happens


ScottyC

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2010, 12:00:18 »
I have battled the same issues, had to do mass cleaning of the sand, large water changes and I actually went lights out for about a week, knocked it back pretty good

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2010, 22:12:47 »
Yes, scraping it with a razor blade does spead the spores.  Try using a siphon while you're scraping to help lessen the spore count.

Algae grows solely on the glass for a few reasons.  First, you may not have a clean-up crew that can tackle the glass easily (nerites are great at this!)  Ceriths, hermit crabs, etc prefer the rocks.  Same goes for the sea hare.  Next, if the tank is old, small pits in the glass can actually cause silicates to leach (yes, glass DOES leach silicates...just in very very very small amounts very slowly...so yes, your tank is dissolving away over time.)  These small pits are also great places for spores to collect and grow.  Flow and lighting may also be more conducive for algae on the glass. 

Offline HUNGER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2010, 08:17:44 »
very true

Yes, scraping it with a razor blade does spead the spores.  Try using a siphon while you're scraping to help lessen the spore count.

Algae grows solely on the glass for a few reasons.  First, you may not have a clean-up crew that can tackle the glass easily (nerites are great at this!)  Ceriths, hermit crabs, etc prefer the rocks.  Same goes for the sea hare.  Next, if the tank is old, small pits in the glass can actually cause silicates to leach (yes, glass DOES leach silicates...just in very very very small amounts very slowly...so yes, your tank is dissolving away over time.)  These small pits are also great places for spores to collect and grow.  Flow and lighting may also be more conducive for algae on the glass. 
SIZE DOES MATTER

Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #15 on: February 07, 2010, 12:21:18 »
i started the process of trying to get my tank back into shape.  I finished my MBA so this is what i have done so far:

added more flow to the tank (maxi jet 900 sure flow mod )

blew off of the rocks (changing out my filter sock daily (i have 25 of them)

instead of scrapping i am just sucking the algae up with a hose

added a small amount of GFO to my dual BFS reactor

could the egg crate i used under my substrate to keep the rocks of the bottom of the tank cause this algae

Offline Wall_Tank

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #16 on: February 07, 2010, 12:42:51 »
i started the process of trying to get my tank back into shape.  I finished my MBA so this is what i have done so far:

Congratulations.

Quote
added more flow to the tank (maxi jet 900 sure flow mod )

blew off of the rocks (changing out my filter sock daily (i have 25 of them)

instead of scrapping i am just sucking the algae up with a hose

All good

Quote
added a small amount of GFO to my dual BFS reactor

What are you running in the reactor?  Normally GFO needs a bit lower flow than you would with Carbon.  Put GFO in by itself....use the recommended quantity, adjust the flow so the top surface of the GFO is barely bouncing.  Every once in a while give it good flow, to keep it from clumping.

Quote
could the egg crate i used under my substrate to keep the rocks of the bottom of the tank cause this algae

possibly, but I doubt it.  I'm using eggcrate that I have bought from Lowes over the last year or so, no issues.


Offline Kenn

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #17 on: February 07, 2010, 13:00:39 »
Congratulations.

All good

What are you running in the reactor?  Normally GFO needs a bit lower flow than you would with Carbon.  Put GFO in by itself....use the recommended quantity, adjust the flow so the top surface of the GFO is barely bouncing.  Every once in a while give it good flow, to keep it from clumping.

possibly, but I doubt it.  I'm using eggcrate that I have bought from Lowes over the last year or so, no issues.


wouldnt the egg crate prevent water flow through the sand bed creating hundreds ( arbitrary ) of dead pockets deep in the substrate ? I was going to use the egg crate but didnt because I didnt want to drive my pistol shrimp into madness by constantly running into walls  :laugh:
Currently doing a 75g build | http://ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=16275.0| tanks of the past : 26g Bowfront LPS and Fish| http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=4858.0 || 37g a little of everything | http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=7751.0

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."   < K >

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #18 on: February 07, 2010, 13:23:34 »
Kenn, you have the same concern as me.  Pleeease don't do this...take it from someone who did it...and regrets it every day!  I did that in my 10g QT tank (now my main tank until the 150g is finished).  There are "hundreds (arbitrary)" of dead pockets.  The bottom of the tank is open, and I can look up under the tank...and the entire bottom is just black nastiness where there's eggcrate.  I try to vacuum the sandbed weekly, but the eggcrate makes it nearly impossible to get out the gunk. 

Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #19 on: February 07, 2010, 13:48:03 »
the gfo is in the dual BFS reactor that has a chamber for carbon and one for GFO.  I will check to make sure the GFO is "slightly" tumbling.

I may tear down the tank to take out the egg-crate.  It will give me an exuse to dip and shake all of my live rock even more in fresh ro/di saltwater mix as well as an excuse to re-aquascape.


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Re: algae issues
« Reply #20 on: February 07, 2010, 13:53:54 »
Congrats on the MBA! 

How often are you changing the carbon versus GFO?  I try to only run carbon for one week out of each month so trace elements or whatever else isn't overly absorbed.  I don't know if it can for sure or not, but excess carbon has been linked to a few problems.

Offline Amstar

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #21 on: February 07, 2010, 14:48:54 »
i run carbon 24/7 and change it out every three weeks.  I can take all of the carbon out and just run GFO and see what happens

Offline Kenn

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #22 on: February 07, 2010, 15:33:15 »
Just looking thru this post I noticed that you didn't have the skimmer hooked up ... is it now ?

I know when I had a problem with it on the glass I did a simple cleaning and just skimmed wet for a few days. I did this twice and the results were amazing for me.

Just a thought
Currently doing a 75g build | http://ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=16275.0| tanks of the past : 26g Bowfront LPS and Fish| http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=4858.0 || 37g a little of everything | http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=7751.0

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."   < K >

Offline HUNGER

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #23 on: February 07, 2010, 15:36:28 »
a skimmer helps a ton
SIZE DOES MATTER

Offline Wall_Tank

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Re: algae issues
« Reply #24 on: February 07, 2010, 17:14:45 »
wouldnt the egg crate prevent water flow through the sand bed creating hundreds ( arbitrary ) of dead pockets deep in the substrate ? I was going to use the egg crate but didnt because I didnt want to drive my pistol shrimp into madness by constantly running into walls  :laugh:

I guess I should have asked if it was a DSB.    I cannot see how this would affect a DSB.

But that being said, If you have good base rock, the eggcrate is not really necessary.

 

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