ready to give up

[newreef06]

I have been battling hair algea green and red cayno algea ect. My tank has been running for almost 2 years. Never had any problems. I moved about 8 months ago. Thats when all the problems started. I have a 55G with over flow. Mag 5 return pump. Maxi jet 1200 ph. Prizm deluxe skimmer. Corals 55LBS of live rock. 300W metal Hailyde. I feed my fish once a day. I do not iver feed. I have been doing all the correct water changes ect. I had my water checked tonight. Everything was perfect. I have a RO/DI machine. I have been using RO/DI water all the time. I bought a new RO unit last month. I was thinking of just starting over. Cleaning my whole tank out. Can i do taht. Or will I have stuff die. I would using the same sand. And some off the old water. I tried everything to get rid of it. The only thing Im not running is a filter. I never ran one. I have in my sump. Some chemi pure elite and purigian. Nothing is working.

[bertoni]

What fish are in the system? Have you tried a phosphate reactor?

Pulling out as much algae as is easy to get will help export nutrients.

[fatrip]

i would get a phosphate reactor as bertoni said and thry to skimm wetter. also feed your fish less. what type of fish and how many do you have in there??

[reef1973]

I've heard people have a lot success with seahare.

[down and outman]

1. Phosban reactor, 2. Add a filter sock on the drain, Marine Depot has a big one that works good, 3. Pincushion urchin, 4. Keep adding crabs and snails. 5. Skim wetter, almost to the point of overkill. 6. Cut off the lights for 3 days. I had the same prob when I switched from my 55 to a 90. I was sick about it. My tank finally cleared up. Hang in there, it's always darkest before the dawn.

[sam75]

I feel for ya. I was there for almost two years and was ready to throw in the towel. Listen to down-and-outman, he's on point. Also, change the filter sock every day until things clear up. Get two or more and switch them out. Yeah it's a pain, but it really helps. Do be carefull adding too many cleanup crew members. They can start dying if you've got dyno's (or just because) and it just makes things worse. They can help, but add them slowly (a few at a time) and imediatly remove any dead ones. There's no silver bulit, just a bunch of dull rocks and you need to use eveyone of them to to win.

-feed less (cut whatever you're feeding in half - I don't care if your fish are starving)
-change filter sock every day
- kill lights 3 days per month
- skim as wet as you can
- manually remove algea/detrius every other day. vacuum your rocks and algae with a hose, filter sock tied to the end (drop it in the sump).
- water changes don't neceserilly help
- go heavy on the phosphate remover
- say "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me..."

-repeat-
goodluck...

-S

[spike78]

How deep is your sand?
When is the last time you changed your bulbs?

A single 1200 is not much flow for a 55 gallon tank. You may want to consider increasing your flow.

[uscharalph]

Originally posted by reef1973
I've heard people have a lot success with seahare.

Had one for 3 days until he got sucked into a pwerhead. They're not very smart.

[down and outman]

Spike is right on! Increasing your flow will do wonders. My probs finally cleared up when I added 2 Koralia 4's. Nothing sits still. If there's a majic bullet, flow is it. Get a mod kit for that maxijet and consider adding a Koralia 3 or 4, Tunze, or another modded maxijet. I know, more expense, but it will be worth it.

[murraycamp]

A single 1200 is not much flow for a 55 gallon tank. You may want to consider increasing your flow. [/B]

I agree, this is insufficient flow for this tank. I have two Koralia 3s in my 30 gal sps/lps (in addition to the return) producing approx 50x turnover in the tank. The type of flow is important as well (turbulent vs. laminar). I would suggest either 2 additional Koralia 3s or 4s or two MJ mods.

Also, when you say everything tests okay, what are the specific parameters? Posting that info (along with the type of test kit) may help us figure it out. I suspect you may have a sand bed that is not functioning properly. While they can be very effective, it does take some work setting them up correctly and maintaining them. There are some very good articles by Shimek and Calfo on this subject.

Also, what species of hair algae are you battling? Identifying the specific species informs the choice of the remedies available.

Finally, hang in there. These problems are solvable. It just takes information and patience.

[murraycamp]

Also, I would strongly consider upgrading your skimmer.

[newreef06]

For fish I have a yellow tang, Blue hippo tang, yellow tail damsel and 2 percula clown fish, And a 6 line wrass. Im using a chemi pure elite pad in my sump. Its free floating. The water is not going directly in to it. I was going to buy acanister filter. I decided to get another power head. Maybe a hydro 1. How much is to much flow. I have the magdrive 5 for a return pump. I thing it does 500-600 gallons per hr. I also have a mxijet 1200 and my skimmer. Let me know if I should get a bigger power head and eliminate the maxijet all together or keep it going. I will try some of the stuff you guys mentioned. Thanks for the help

Scott

[xian]

Originally posted by murraycamp
Also, I would strongly consider upgrading your skimmer.

Just for a reference I use that skimmer on a 10gal nano and it barely keeps up.

[Randall_James]

hmmm if you just moved your tank when the trouble started, you probably reused your old substrate.... can be problematic IMO..

I would see about swapping out the substrate myself.. I bet you just disturbed a nutrient sink and now it is paying you back..

I have had tanks that started to have issues after 3 or 4 years and I try to replace as much of the substrate as possible without tearing the tank down. A siphon hose works wonders


Your choice of fish leaves a lot to be desired as well.... you really need to research and rethink your livestock selection

[newreef06]

I wastold that buying these fish were a good choice. My lFS told me that. I was going to change the sand out. I will not do it. I will try more water movement with another PH. I will try the 3 dy lights out also. I will start slow with a few thing. I dont want to start changing a ton of things at once. Thanks for your help. That will be my last resort What you said

[jvr1102]

I had the same issue the last month I bought a
Maxi-jet 1200 and used the magnet kit pointed it low to try and get a toilet bowl effect low in my tank. It was to strong just blew the sand all over however I bought the Maxi-jet 600 and it took care of the problem without blowing my sand everywhere

[newreef06]

What size is your tank. i have a 55G. Im going out today to buy a Hydro 1 that does 300 or 400 gallons per hr. I hope thats not 2 much flow

[iwishtofish]

It's really hard to get too much flow. My friend keeps adding powerhead after powerhead to his 55g to try to get the flow up to par (slight hair algae problem).

I have two Hydor 2s and one Seio M620 running in my 29g tank. Rated at 1800 gph total. I am just now getting satisfied with the flow. The trick is directing that flow effectively so that organisms that don't like it aren't too irritated. I think most critters can actually handle more flow than people think.

Without massive flow, detritus will settle behind and in the crevices of your rock and/or substrate, contributing to an eventual algae bloom.

[808-340]

Much like everyone said... increase flow, use phosban, less feeding, use a sock and better skimming...

[Randall_James]

Originally posted by newreef06
I wastold that buying these fish were a good choice. My lFS told me that. I was going to change the sand out. I will not do it. I will try more water movement with another PH. I will try the 3 dy lights out also. I will start slow with a few thing. I dont want to start changing a ton of things at once. Thanks for your help. That will be my last resort What you said

Ok then, I am sure they are looking out after your best interest.. good luck with your problem..

[sherm71tank]

Double check your sand bed. If it's full of crap then that is likely causing your problem.

[bertoni]

The tangs get too large for that system, and generate a lot of waste. I'd remove them. This book might be useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Expert-...e=UTF8&s=books