Aio set up issues.

[Nmaran72]

Hello all it’s been a while since I’ve been on due to covid. I’ve been having issues with my set up for some time and I’m at my last witts with it and if I can’t get it right I’m going back to a sump. My set up is a innovative marine sr60. I have a Tunze skimmer in it. With a reef octo dc return pump. 2 mp10 power heads. Live stock is minimal corals at minimal. I’ve ran socks and I’ve ran media caddies and I can’t get the nitrates and phosphate down to keep the algae blooms down. So my question is there other equipment needed. I was thinking of setting up a hob refugium. Can Yule some input. Tia.

 

[GardenReef]

Howdy! not sure of what would be too different from running a sump vs AIO. Unless the water isn't moving enough through the chamber and too much detritus is getting stuck / left behind. I have a Red Sea 130 AIO and have to keep an eye on that back chamber specifically cleaning it every month or so. Pain in the butt honestly and cannot wait to move to a larger tank and sump. Other than that consistent routines and patience - resist changing too much at once or constantly messing with it so it can settle in. Just my .02 Good luck!

 

[Nmaran72]

Howdy! not sure of what would be too different from running a sump vs AIO. Unless the water isn't moving enough through the chamber and too much detritus is getting stuck / left behind. I have a Red Sea 130 AIO and have to keep an eye on that back chamber specifically cleaning it every month or so. Pain in the butt honestly and cannot wait to move to a larger tank and sump. Other than that consistent routines and patience - resist changing too much at once or constantly messing with it so it can settle in. Just my .02 Good luck!

This tank has been running for nearly 2 yrs now. I hardly ever get any build up back there and this is why I’m baffled. I have very good movement thru out the tank. The build up of algae especially the gha that I’m getting is driving me insane. I do need to replenish my cuc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Try chemipure elite which will keep the nitrate and phosphate down and keep it in check

 

[GardenReef]

hmm ... that's been up a while and sounds like you are in tune with that back chamber .... i had gha issues for a bit around that time frame as well. I second the Chemipure and bumping the CUC for some snails.
The one thing i ran into was not GHA but derbesia so keep an eye out for that. Ended up needing to use reef flux to get rid of it. Since then haven't needed chemipure.

 

[Nmaran72]

Try chemipure elite which will keep the nitrate and phosphate down and keep it in check

I’ve used this in the past then made my own with gfo/carbon.

 

[Nmaran72]

hmm ... that's been up a while and sounds like you are in tune with that back chamber .... i had gha issues for a bit around that time frame as well. I second the Chemipure and bumping the CUC for some snails.
The one thing i ran into was not GHA but derbesia so keep an eye out for that. Ended up needing to use reef flux to get rid of it. Since then haven't needed chemipure.

Thanks I will keep an eye out.

 

[Water Dog]

How often do you do water changes? I know you said you get plenty of flow through your rear chambers but when was the last time you vacuumed back there? When I ran my AIO, I did weekly water changes, siphoning water out from the rear chambers each time and even though I had plenty of flow, I was shocked at how much detritus would accumulate e back there.

 

[Nmaran72]

How often do you do water changes? I know you said you get plenty of flow through your rear chambers but when was the last time you vacuumed back there? When I ran my AIO, I did weekly water changes, siphoning water out from the rear chambers each time and even though I had plenty of flow, I was shocked at how much detritus would accumulate e back there.

Before covid I was doing weekly water changes. Now I’ve been doing them but weekly. After thanksgiving I’m setting up my water change station

 

[Water Dog]

Do you ever vacuum out the rear chambers?

 

[Nmaran72]

Do you ever vacuum out the rear chambers?

I have. every time I look I don’t see a mess

 

[joshwaggs]

Do you have a sand bed? Or bare bottom?

 

[Nmaran72]

Do you have a sand bed? Or bare bottom?

Sand bed

 

[joshwaggs]

If it isn’t deep, you can try cleaning the sand bed. If you haven’t done it in a while, you might want to do it in parts. A quarter or half of the sand in one water change and the rest on the next water change.
If you have a bunch of algae, it is probably going to take a few things working together (sand bed cleaning, pull algae out by hand, water changes, maybe even carbon dosing, etc).
If you just get tired of trying everything and just want to throw in the towel, then try hydrogen peroxide. It will kill gha quick, but it will take a few days or a week before you actually realize it’s dead. It will turn clear or brown. Make sure you pull it all out and do a water change so it doesn’t just rot and just dump all the nutrients back in the tank.

Your zoas will close for a day or two after the peroxide, but it won’t kill anything other than single cell stuff.

 

[Nmaran72]

If it isn’t deep, you can try cleaning the sand bed. If you haven’t done it in a while, you might want to do it in parts. A quarter or half of the sand in one water change and the rest on the next water change.
If you have a bunch of algae, it is probably going to take a few things working together (sand bed cleaning, pull algae out by hand, water changes, maybe even carbon dosing, etc).
If you just get tired of trying everything and just want to throw in the towel, then try hydrogen peroxide. It will kill gha quick, but it will take a few days or a week before you actually realize it’s dead. It will turn clear or brown. Make sure you pull it all out and do a water change so it doesn’t just rot and just dump all the nutrients back in the tank.

Your zoas will close for a day or two after the peroxide, but it won’t kill anything other than single cell stuff.

Thanks for the input.