Reef Central Online Community

Home Forum Here you can view your subscribed threads, work with private messages and edit your profile and preferences View New Posts View Today's Posts

Find other members Frequently Asked Questions Search Reefkeeping ...an online magazine for marine aquarists Support our sponsors and mention Reef Central

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community Archives > General Interest Forums > The Reef Chemistry Forum

 
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01/06/2008, 07:18 PM
afernandez afernandez is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: new york city!
Posts: 49
Question active carbon and tips for algae

can "active carbon"get rid of algae (red slime and hair algae?)..... my po4 levels are low (0.03ppm) i dont have a fuge which i am goign to invest in buit just need some tips on getting rid of red algae as well as green hair
__________________
it is not a hobby trust me its an addiction!
  #2  
Old 01/06/2008, 11:25 PM
kc9dre kc9dre is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Charlestown, IN
Posts: 63
As others will state on hear, the algae will feed on the PO4 and give you a false reading as it will feed on it as it comes available. I learned this the hard way recently...

The fix is lots of water changes. hand harvesting if you have to for the GHA, and suckin up the red.

How long has it been setup?

I am workin on gettin a fuge going once I get back from FL this weekend... Hope to have it running soon.
__________________
If all else fails read the instructions, if that dosen't work get a bigger hammer
  #3  
Old 01/07/2008, 01:38 AM
palmerc palmerc is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 51
For the cyanobacteria, running carbon and changing/increasing water flow patterns in the tank will help.

Hair algae requires manual harvesting, control of phosphate inputs, and regular water changes.. Possibly you may need to run a phosphate remover like ROWAphos or Phosban.
  #4  
Old 01/07/2008, 01:40 AM
bertoni bertoni is offline
RC Mod
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Foster City, CA, USA
Posts: 35,743
Carbon can't remove enough nutrients from the water to help with algal or cyanobacterial problems.

0.03 ppm is not low for phosphate. It's borderline, and could be a problem for stony corals. Its presence indicates the tank has a nutrient problem, most likely from overfeeding. Other nutrient sources can include topoff water and the live rock.

This article might help:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php
__________________
Jonathan Bertoni
  #5  
Old 01/07/2008, 02:08 AM
afernandez afernandez is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: new york city!
Posts: 49
i do run a po4 reactor (w/ phoseban) and i have read the article lol. i been reading alot my gurlfirend is kinda mad at me for reading so much on this lol but this algae is driving me crazy .. just looking for any thing that can help and like i sayd i am getting a fuge in a few weeks or so... question wat u guys think of a hang on fuge? keep in mind is a 55g .
__________________
it is not a hobby trust me its an addiction!
  #6  
Old 01/07/2008, 02:14 AM
bertoni bertoni is offline
RC Mod
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Foster City, CA, USA
Posts: 35,743
It might be big enough to do some useful filtration, if it's lit well.
__________________
Jonathan Bertoni
  #7  
Old 01/07/2008, 04:15 AM
cloak cloak is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 896
I don't think carbon and algae have anything in common.

JMO.

Last edited by cloak; 01/07/2008 at 04:26 AM.
  #8  
Old 01/08/2008, 07:07 AM
palmerc palmerc is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 51
Quote:
Originally posted by cloak
I don't think carbon and algae have anything in common.

JMO.
Not for regular hair algae but it does help for cyanobacteria (blue-green algae = red slime) as growth of cyano is fuelled by DOC's which are removed when running activated carbon
  #9  
Old 01/08/2008, 07:19 AM
calyx calyx is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 10
First step should be to get rid of PO4.
just make it zero rapidly. everything changes in 3 days..
good luck.
  #10  
Old 01/08/2008, 08:58 AM
ReefWreak ReefWreak is offline
#1 Acro Crab Killah
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Boca Raton or Tallahassee - Florida State University
Posts: 2,628
Definitely remove the PO4, but to get rid of the cyano, and if you' want to run carbon anyway, consider trying Boyd's Chemi-pure Elite, which has carbon, GFO (phosban essentially), and some red-slime algae remover all in the same bag. I've been using chemi-pure for a while (not the elite because I don't have red-slime problems, and run a seperate GFO reactor) and I'm a big fan. Water is clearer, and algae is very slightly less than it was before, but there are so many different sources and things that effect algae, I can't say chemi-pure will fix all of that. It's just a nice supplementation to normal algae preventative measures.
  #11  
Old 01/08/2008, 01:51 PM
cloak cloak is offline
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 896
Quote:
Originally posted by palmerc
Not for regular hair algae but it does help for cyanobacteria (blue-green algae = red slime) as growth of cyano is fuelled by DOC's which are removed when running activated carbon
You can still have algae with or without the carbon. Think you need to get to the heart of it first. Water changes and efficient skimming would be your best bet. I've never used carbon and am not seeing anything that would lead me to do so this far. Freshwater & salt.

JMO.
  #12  
Old 01/09/2008, 01:05 AM
capn_hylinur capn_hylinur is offline
Premium Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Hamilton, Canada
Posts: 4,582
I would run to phosban reactors--one with phosban for removing phosphates and one with carbon--it does help with absorbing some dissolved organics.
Many reefers including myself have had a great reduction in algae from this system
__________________
"evrr bean to sea Billy--evrr smelled a fish?" "Aye capn..experience is the best teacher"
  #13  
Old 01/09/2008, 01:44 AM
bertoni bertoni is offline
RC Mod
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Foster City, CA, USA
Posts: 35,743
I agree that carbon can remove DOC, but I am not convinced that the quantity that it can absorb will make it practical for reducing microbial growth.
__________________
Jonathan Bertoni
  #14  
Old 01/11/2008, 12:48 AM
capn_hylinur capn_hylinur is offline
Premium Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Hamilton, Canada
Posts: 4,582
Quote:
Originally posted by bertoni
I agree that carbon can remove DOC, but I am not convinced that the quantity that it can absorb will make it practical for reducing microbial growth.
agreed---but the phosban will
__________________
"evrr bean to sea Billy--evrr smelled a fish?" "Aye capn..experience is the best teacher"
 

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef Central™ Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2009