30% water change per week?

[77railer]

Ok...I have read that some reef keepers have done drastic water changes like %50 or even %100. I also assume that those keepers did so without fish in their tanks...i.e. coral frag tanks/farmers.

My question is with a full blown reef including fish what is a safe % to change per week...I always here %5-10. Our tank which was purchased from someone getting out of the hobby was cursed with hair algea before we acquired it..and is still plagued today. We have a 75 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump(about 1/3 full). Too help combat the algea we have setup a fuge with chaeto morphin in it.

We have been doing 5 gallon water changes off and on once per week or two weeks...which is not helping matters with the algea....

If we start doing a 20 gallon water change once per week will it have any ill effects on our fish/corals. I dont want to loose anyone in attempts to combat hair algea....I appreciate all the input and apologize for the long thread...HELPPPPPPPPPPPP


Leroy & Linda

[InLimbo87]

As long as you make sure to match the water as far as salinity and temp goes, I see no issue with doing 30% changes once weekly.

[tinmanny]

you can do up to 50 % water changes wothout problems
BUT
Hair algae is a pest and it is eating up the nitrates to stay alive and keeps the ph low in the process. So to stop it you must clean and beat it to the punch by eating the nitrates first with cheto or what ever. the hair in the tank catches detrus and all other bad minerals in the tank and that in turn makes the tests show so bad. If you follow the following steps you will clean up the tank in three to four weeks and things will be back to normal.
Again ONLY IF you do not over feed and do not let detrus accumulate in the tank, filters or sump. They become nitrate factories.
#1 the hair will not go away on its own you need to scrub the rocks and vacume it out as best you can when you do water changes
#2 you could mix some salt water and scrub each rock in it so not to put the hair in the tank water
then keep up the PH and do regular water changes about 20 gallons weekly and keep the sump going with some form of algae in it and scrub the rocks regularly to remove any hair that might start, I mean little clumps that appear in the tank on rocks walls or other places use a tooth brush and keep after it.

How do I know this and what to do??? because I had it so bad that I could grab clumps from the rocks!!! and after recearch I found this was the only shure fire way to eradicate it and peep it gone
we tend to be overfeeders and let things go till tomorrow. over stock tanks small cleaner crews and many other ways we nwvwe ment to cause problems. Well not with salt water it demands care every day to be kept well KIND OF LIKE PREVENTITIVE MEDACINE

Good luck
Manny
PS a good skimmer will help remove loose hair and use a sock on the tank outlet to the sump

[Craig Lambert]

I would do 20% per week and add a phosban reactor. You might also do some searches on raising your magnesium level to kill off hair algae. This is a fairly new idea (as far as I know), and some people have had good success with it.

[DrBegalke]

Definitely add GFO/phosban reactor... feed as little as possible. 30% water changes a week should be fine, be sure to match salinity and temperature...

I'd probably do a 3 day or so dark period as well.

Good luck!

[Wrench]

Anthony Calfo is a big proponent of 100% water changes. He said that's what he doesn on many of the tanks in his greenhouse system, weekly 100% changes.

[Frick-n-Frags]

one thing about large % waterchanges and algae:

IF you have a bunch of TDS/nutrients etc in your salt mix water, it could help fuel the algae more than with smaller sized changes, so a fresh RO membrane or something is probably a good idea.

[ksouers]

Another vote for the GFO/Phosban. Phosphates seem to be a much larger contributer to algae growth than nitrates.

Also, you have to pull it out by hand whenever possible. By pulling it out you'll actually be exporting some of the nutrients you want out of the tank anyway.

If you scrub the rocks, do it in your waste water at change time. It'll help cut down on the cost.

The 3 days of darkness also helps. Something else I've done is move rocks to a dark part of my sump until all the algae dies off.

Good luck. It seems like an endless battle...

[dastratt]

I do 40-50% in my 9g nano tank. It works great to keep the parameters in excellent shape.

[77railer]

Taking the rocks out to scrub isnt really feasable...got cheato growing in the sump...removing a bit of it once a week...got a phosban that we need to get chems for...uped the skimmer flow to pull out more nutrients...

What about scrubbing the rock we can in the tank with a filter sock on the line going to the sump? We remove hair algea almost every other day and it just seems to keep coming back...really makes this not so much fun....

Thanks for all the replies....Leroy & Linda

[Craig Lambert]

What skimmer are you using? What livestock do you have? What, howoften, and how much do you feed? If you've been removing this every other day you really need to address the source of the problem. Glad to hear you got a phosban reactor, as that will help. You might consider Warner Marine Phosar for media.

[77railer]

75gallon tank...yellow tang, 2 clowns, scooter blenny, 4-stripe damsel, foxface, tomini tang. I feed everyday..takes fish maybe 10 secs to eat it all sometimes less...skimmer is an ASM G-1 fills the cup about 2-3 weeks...should I make it wetter?

Leroy

[Mr James]

Make it wetter!! And, what water are you using?? Tap water or RO/DI?? Less feeding, more skimming and good water is the key. You simply need to work on your nutrient export. You may want to think of a new skimmer if it takes 2 - 3 weeks to fill a cup. That's what I would do.

[bkoz]

Sorry if it was allready asked I didnt see it but are you using RO/DI water?

[bkoz]

Not quick enough, Mr James asked it as I was typing!!!

[Craig Lambert]

Originally posted by Mr James
Make it wetter!! And, what water are you using?? Tap water or RO/DI?? Less feeding, more skimming and good water is the key. You simply need to work on your nutrient export. You may want to think of a new skimmer if it takes 2 - 3 weeks to fill a cup. That's what I would do.

Agree. Your skimmer is designed for a tank half the size of yours, with a smaller bioload.

[77railer]

Craig-The website says its rated for 100G...which is why we bought it...the guy we bought it from had it on a 180..It Think...will definetly make it wetter when we get home this afternoon.

We are using RO water from the LFS...be glad once we get this taken care of...

Any responses on scrubbing the rock in tank with a toothbrush and using a filter sock for a day to catch most of it out?

Leroy

[plyr58]

Check the TDS of your LFS. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 50+

[ServantSoldier]

I would back off on feeding a bit. The tangs require frequent feeding, however, they have plenty of algae to eat! I would certainly get your reactor running, and if it were me, I would add a carbon reactor as well. Your removal of hair algae is extremely beneficial as it is feeding on non desirable nutrients and you're able to remove it. Talk to your LFS about his tds readings. I would consider lowering your lighting period. 30% water changes should be in order. Throw in some emerald crabs, hermits, and snails. The skimmer is way too small also. With a few changes and patience.. you will have a beautiful tank! Good luck.

[77railer]

Thanks...when I got home today I noticed that the screws holding the lights on were rusting!!! Give me a break,lol...definetly not helping matters at all. We are going to put a filter sock on...scrub the rock in tank with a tooth brush and let the system run 4hrs with the sock on...then do a 30% water change...and change those freakin screws!!!

Will be interesting to see how things turn out a month from now...thanks for all the input...wish us luck...

Leroy

[killagoby]

I've got a Euro Reef RS-100 skimmer which is similar to your ASM G-1. What type of pump is on that skimmer? I've heard of guys swapping out the pump on the RS-100 for a bigger one to get better results. I also will tell you that adding a phospate reactor to my system was one of the best things I've done.

[77railer]

Scubbed the algea off the rock the best I could..spent about an hour on it...put on a filter sock before hand...let the system run approx 2.5 hrs before doing 20G water change at same temp as tank. Removed as much loose algea as possible with hands and fish net. Also removed algea from sump wall and overflow tank.
Increased bubble level in skimmer and filled 1/5 of skimmer cup in approx 4.5hrs. Will check/change it in the morning and see how it does.

Leroy

[77railer]

Tank looks good today. A few pieces stringing here and there but nothing like it was. Skimmer is about the same level as last night after 4.5 hrs of running. Going to let it run like this a week and see if I can get a full cup.

Tradegdy Strikes!!! My wife came home before me today and called me upset. Our foxface was stuck to one of the intakes on a large powerhead. She removed it with the net but one of its eyes look huge!!! I figure it was trying to eat some of the algea off the intake and got stuck..he is only about 2-3 inches. Hope he makes it.

Wish us luck...Leroy

[killagoby]

Good luck...

[MarkusII]

Hello Leroy,

sounds like you have got old stones with your tank - having a lot of Po4 depots in it....
Waterchanges are good but most probably will not solve your algae problem. You have to get rid of the phosphate with adsorbers.

And the two tangs and the foxface will outgrow your tank....
Too small to keep such kind of fish.

A cleaner crew could also help to keep the algae population short... (snails and hermit crabs - you can put in about 20 of each)

regards

Markus