Dr. Ron, would DSB be a good idea for me?

[undrwatereefer]

after leaving this post below a member suggested i read your article in MFM regaurding DSB, I was told that the 1 inch live figi sand bed was not enough and to increase it. this would be tough since the tank is established, but if its a solution I will have to make the sacrafice! it seems I have a phosphate problem and i am sure i am doing everthing right.

this post is in more detail in the reef central discussion under post

what media in a R.O.D.I filters phoshates?

I have a 90 gal with 200lbs of liverock,live sand, 150 critters(snails,crabs,shrimp),2 damsels, 1 riccordera and a feather duster. my tank is lighted by 2 175w 10k bulbs (6 hours per day), 2 vho 03's (8 hours per day). I have a ets protein skimmer(the big one) a 50 gal sump with poly pre filter and 2 bags of chemipure(does chemipure have phos?) and a k2r calcium reactor that goes into a 2nd chamber that i made so little to no co2 gets in the tank. there are 3 rio powerheads in the tank and i use an iwaki 40 rlt for my main pump. the temp is maintained by my chiller and ebjo heater by a medusa at a steady temp of 77 degrees. my calcium is at 470,dkh 12.2 alk 4.34 phos .2 nitrates 0 ph 8.5 during the day and 801 in the morning. I have a serious grean hair algae problem and i am trying to get to the bottom of it. the tank was started in november 2000 and the green stuff is killing me.

thanks Dr.

[rshimek]

Originally posted by undrwatereefer
after leaving this post below a member suggested i read your article in MFM regaurding DSB,

Please not MFM, but AFM... :D

what media in a R.O.D.I filters phoshates?

Haven't a clue. I never touch the stuff... :D. Probably the medium that removes the negative ions.

In a DSB, the bacteria will utilize phosphates as will the algae. Increasing to a DSB, will help with your problems to some extent as it will allow the incorporation of a lot of phosphate into animal tissue. I would suggest that your system will benefit from the addition of a DSB.

However, the bottom line still will be that you need a way to export or remove phosphate from your system. Phosphate is one of the real necessities of all life, and it is normally in short supply in the ocean. Because of this, organisms have become adapted to utilize it whenever they can. Algae are very good at this... As you have seen. :D

So, to turn the tables on hair algae, I would suggest you try to increase the phosphate use by some other organism. In most cases I suggest some other macroalga such as Caulerpa. If you can grow this or some other alga in your sump or someplace in the tank, it will utilize the material that the hair alga needs. Additionally, part of the solution is to remove the hair alga, and for this I would suggest a good grazer. Fish don't eat the stuff very well, and no grazing snail will touch it, either, but sea urchins will. I suggest a long spined urchin as a grazer.

[undrwatereefer]

Thanks Dr. Ron

You are right and I take your advice expecially with the urchins.
P.S. sorry about the afm misunderstanding

under