Water Question

janderson8 · #1 04/23/2006, 09:34 PM

I have never had problems with algae but I have noticed latley am am getting a few small patches on the LR. My question is I just switched to 400W 10K XM from 20K bulbs I also switched to IO Salt. All water going in is tested beforegoing in and the TDS reads 0ppm and my PO4 is 0 along with 0 nitrates. My tank perams are as follows

PH 8.15
SG 1.026
PO4 0 ppm
Nitrate is < 20 ppm
Cal is about 500 ppm
Dkh is 3

I guess my question is can this growth be from the new lights? or the Nitrates. Before you answer nitrates I was as high as 50ppm before the bulb change and the reduction in fish and alot of water changes with absolutly no algae?

VCoo71 · #2 04/23/2006, 10:33 PM

i would be intrested to test your phosphates on my hanna colorimeter (<-----on loan from a good friend)....but i have never had them at zero
they never showed on a salifert kit but were as high as 0.06 and i hear anything above 0.04 will feed algae
after running rowaphos i have gotten them down as low as 0.01-0.02

charlie

captbunzo · #3 04/24/2006, 08:52 AM

I'd say the new lights. Algae cycles in our tank. Any big change to the environment can restart this cycle, in one way or another...

janderson8 · #4 04/24/2006, 09:43 AM

Paul,

How long do you think this will last before it will start to disapate? Thanks

Jason

captbunzo · #5 04/24/2006, 10:17 AM

Assumption: We are talking about Green Hair Algae, right?

How long before it starts to disapate? That's a much harder question. That partially depends upon nutrient availability. Based on my experience, I would say anywhere from 2-6 weeks. Maybe longer if you have two much of a surplus of nutrients in your tank.

There are a number of things you can do to help the situation along. I will mention those in a moment. However, first off, I recommend doing nothing extreme or terribly quickly. Only bad things happen fast in this hobby. Don't pull out all your rocks and scrub them off or anything. Just take your time with it.

Ok. Some things you can do.

1. If your tank is low on herbivores, add some to the tank. Not a lot, I'd like the giant turbo snails that are sold all over the place. Perhaps a snail or 2 per 50G of tank. More might go through the algae faster, but will only die later.

2. Check your pH. According to my reading, GHA can be inhibited by maintaining a pH of 8.2 - 8.4. If your pH is low, the environment is more ripe for the growth of GHA.

3. Do you have a protein skimmer? If not, blow some money on an AquaC Urchin or EV-120. And then make sure that you have a decent amount of flow in the tank. Aim for 20x GPH flow minimum. And remember here that laminar flow isn't what you are looking for. So we are talking about added some SEIO or Tunze Stream powerheads.

4. Consider adding a Remote DSB (RDSB). You can find plenty of info on these in Anthony Calfo's old forum here, All Things Salty. Or head over to his new forum and check for threads there. if you need a link over there, PM me.

5. If you don't have some, get some Chaetomorpha (Chaeto) from someone and toss it in your sump (refugium?). Get a good daylight floodlight bulb from HD/Lowes/the web and put the sump on a reverse daylight cycle. That will help keep your pH up as well.

That's it for my GHA advice. Take it all with a grain of salt (pun intended).

One more thought. Let your Calcium drop to 450. There is nothing that you're going to put in your tank that is going to need that high of a concentration. I'd even sat 420 is ok.

Whatever the case, good luck! I hope things go well with your tank!!!

janderson8 · #6 04/24/2006, 10:25 AM

Paul,

I have a Sump it has a refugium I also have a TS 300 protein skimmer. I also have Cheto in the refugium and I Also have a remote DSB. I dont think it is Hair Algae but am not to sure as I have never had it.

Thanks Again

Jason

captbunzo · #7 04/24/2006, 10:40 AM

Post a pic. Maybe someone can ID it for you!

janderson8 · #8 04/24/2006, 01:47 PM

capnskunk · #9 04/24/2006, 04:20 PM

Nice pic photomaster!!

janderson8 · #10 04/25/2006, 05:05 PM

Skunk you making fun??? BUMP for ideas

captbunzo · #11 04/25/2006, 05:21 PM

Don't know - it is hard to see the algae in question...

Travis L. Stevens · #12 04/25/2006, 05:52 PM

janderson, pull some of it out and arrange it on some white paper and then take a picture of it. That might help alot. If it just blobs on the paper, put some of it in a jar or a bowl of tank water. That should make photographing it a lot easier.

ReeferRyan · #13 04/25/2006, 06:28 PM

Looks like bryopsis to me...

The smart thing to do would be to use a turkey baster often to blow out the nutrient base and it will die off naturally. I, however, took the rock out and scraped the stuff off with a razor blade. It has not come back.