Help me understand

twilliard · May 18, 2016

Jej34 said:
Return is about 400gph, excess are heads. Tank is 13 months old. All I have in the fuge section is chaeto,probably A 6 inch ball, it stays green but doesn't really grow excessively

Cheato is only 1 element of removal.
Each algae species has a different uptake of nutrients

You can use most any light source, most all will provide Photosynthesis
But you can't have Photosynthesis without the right elements for survival

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

Jej34 said:
Can you give me more info on "triton"?

Probably a waste of money because your algae wouldn't be there if you had zero. if you can't remove the rock, pick off the algae with tweezers or toothbrush. And use a turkey baster to blast your rocks. When you do, make sure you have your poweheads cranking to get the waste in you filter and do a 20% water change. U will have to do this a few times.
Also might want to look into carbon dosing, ATS, or GFO.

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

T

twilliard said:
Well try not to get the H202 directly on corals. Use a syringe to apply the h2o2 to the algae areas.
Here is triton http://www.triton-lab.de/triton-labor/
I use unique corals to buy my test kits.

Thank you!

twilliard said:
Well try not to get the H202 directly on corals. Use a syringe to apply the h2o2 to the algae areas.
Here is triton http://www.triton-lab.de/triton-labor/
I use unique corals to buy my test kits.

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

MikeyAl said:
Probably a waste of money because your algae wouldn't be there if you had zero. if you can't remove the rock, pick off the algae with tweezers or toothbrush. And use a turkey baster to blast your rocks. When you do, make sure you have your poweheads cranking to get the waste in you filter and do a 20% water change. U will have to do this a few times.
Also might want to look into carbon dosing, ATS, or GFO.

I do run gfo in a reactor, what is ATS?

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

Anyone try that "marine SAT " chemical?

I hate additives though

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

Algae turf scrubber. Nutrient export system. Very effective. However, if you are already running GFO, just stick with it- clean your rocks, wash your foods with rodi, and change your feeding habits perhaps. I had same issues. After getting it resolved I started feeding a little at a time - make sure all the food is eaten in 2 minutes then put in some more. More food in the bellies, less in the tank.

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

MikeyAl said:
Algae turf scrubber. Nutrient export system. Very effective. However, if you are already running GFO, just stick with it- clean your rocks, wash your foods with rodi, and change your feeding habits perhaps. I had same issues. After getting it resolved I started feeding a little at a time - make sure all the food is eaten in 2 minutes then put in some more. More food in the bellies, less in the tank.

I have to admit, I never rinse my frozen mysis, think that really makes a difference?

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

Maybe. Maybe not. But I do just in case. Can't hurt, right?

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

MikeyAl said:
Maybe. Maybe not. But I do just in case. Can't hurt, right?

You're right

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

Jej34 said:
Anyone try that "marine SAT " chemical?

I hate additives though

Any different than microbacter? I add it on occasion. I am not sure it does much if you've already got a well established tank with good bacteria. Just my opinion though.

james983 · May 18, 2016

How old is your system? What type rock did you use?

I used some dry rock from BRS and some rock from Marco Rock. I seeded with one piece of LR. I found that the rock would regrow hair algae overnight so it was obviously leaching PO4 despite all my efforts to control it. It can be really frustrating going through algae blooms but it does get better with diligence. Keep up with it and try to enjoy your tank despite it.
I see you added some hermits and an urchin. I would also suggest adding some Turbo snails. They can be a bit of a pain knocking things down and flipping over but they are effective algae eaters.

Keep fighting the good fight. Good luck!

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

james983 said:
How old is your system? What type rock did you use?

I used some dry rock from BRS and some rock from Marco Rock. I seeded with one piece of LR. I found that the rock would regrow hair algae overnight so it was obviously leaching PO4 despite all my efforts to control it. It can be really frustrating going through algae blooms but it does get better with diligence. Keep up with it and try to enjoy your tank despite it.
I see you added some hermits and an urchin. I would also suggest adding some Turbo snails. They can be a bit of a pain knocking things down and flipping over but they are effective algae eaters.

Keep fighting the good fight. Good luck!

Thank is about 13 months old, bought some live rock to seed dry rock like you did. If it leaching, it has to run out sometime!

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

You can also look into lanthanum chloride if it gets to be too much. Sold as SeaKlear. Just do some research on pros and cons.

kgeig001 · May 18, 2016

It doesn't look over run to me from the pic. I would keep running GFO and replace more often if you have to. Measure the effluent coming out of the reactor instead of the tank. It should read 0 if its doing its job. I would also take the rocks that have it bad, scrub them down and then throw them in your refugium. Increase your lighting schedule in the refugium or run them 24/7 (at least temporarily) to encourage the algae to grow in there instead of your display tank...or set up an ATS, Its basically the same concept. My refugium has some hair algae in it as well as a lot of chaeto and caulerpa. As long as it's growing in my refugium instead of my main tank, I'm fine with it. If you have strong macro algae growth...that should eventually out compete the hair algae over time. The CUC, tangs and lawnmower blennie should keep the algae under control in your display tank as long as it's not too thick and bushy. GL

ngvu1 · May 18, 2016

Sorry I might have missed something but your tank looks pretty good and I don't see any gha in the picture. You don't seem to have much bio load either. That yellow tang should have no issue eating up all the newly grow gha....

Oceansize · May 18, 2016

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm not sure what the problem is? Based on the picture in the OP, the tank does not appear to have an algae problem. Scraping the glass only every three days seems pretty good to me, LOL! I'm curious what the old salts who have been at this a long time consider a "normal" amount of glass scraping? I mean, I consider Randy one of the biggest experts on this site and I'm pretty sure I remember him saying he scrapes his glass every three days or so.

MikeyAl · May 18, 2016

God point. I never really looked T the picture. Rather I just addressed the question. Buy you are right Oceansize. It looks better than mine lol.

Jej34 · May 18, 2016

A bunch of clumps like this, yeah lol, my tang should eat it but doesn't touch it!

reef_junkie · May 18, 2016

I'm by no means an old Salty but I clean my glass every 7-10 days. Could be that this tank is peaking the year mark syndrome. Final stages of maturity and all.