Scooter21
Active Member
I have a 36 gallon with just a hang on the back skimmer. I've had the tank for about 3 months, but I bought it used and the previous owner had it a couple years. When I got it, I added a lot more rock and fish than he had.
I was probably overfeeding quite a bit because I have a diamond watchman goby that I wanted to make sure pellets got down to. I started having GHA develop on the rocks and the sand turning brownish/reddish in some areas. I only had an API nitrogen cycle test kit. My nitrates had always came in between the 10 and 20 color.
I decided that since I was having algae problems, I switched back to frozen foods and have been feeding much less. I also added a hang on the back protein skimmer and ordered salifert test kits of phosphate, calcium, alk and mag.
Last night I tested and I was expecting the phosphate to be sky high, but to my surprise, it came in as undetectable. The liquid didn't change color at all. I tested nitrate and it was much lower than it's always been. It looked like between the 5 and 10 color as opposed to between 10 and 20 that it's always measured.
What's my best coarse if action? The GHA isn't super long and probably not a big deal, but I don't want it getting worse. But the sand turning colors looks really gross and I've been having more film on the glass. I was thinking about draining the tank down and spraying hydrogen peroxide on the GHA. I figured that would let the nutrients rise back up to where they should be.
I was probably overfeeding quite a bit because I have a diamond watchman goby that I wanted to make sure pellets got down to. I started having GHA develop on the rocks and the sand turning brownish/reddish in some areas. I only had an API nitrogen cycle test kit. My nitrates had always came in between the 10 and 20 color.
I decided that since I was having algae problems, I switched back to frozen foods and have been feeding much less. I also added a hang on the back protein skimmer and ordered salifert test kits of phosphate, calcium, alk and mag.
Last night I tested and I was expecting the phosphate to be sky high, but to my surprise, it came in as undetectable. The liquid didn't change color at all. I tested nitrate and it was much lower than it's always been. It looked like between the 5 and 10 color as opposed to between 10 and 20 that it's always measured.
What's my best coarse if action? The GHA isn't super long and probably not a big deal, but I don't want it getting worse. But the sand turning colors looks really gross and I've been having more film on the glass. I was thinking about draining the tank down and spraying hydrogen peroxide on the GHA. I figured that would let the nutrients rise back up to where they should be.
