Need help with this on my sand

[Jose408]

Tank has been running for 4 months . I do 5 gallon weekly water changes .. filter sock and skimmer is cleaned everyday as well as glass cleaned .. this has started to form on my sand bed .. I’m having algae issue on my rock scape as well.. my local fish store said to stop using reef roids for about a week .. these are the times I’ve got my water tested at my LFS.. the recent time on the 7th was when I dosed 15 ml of Alk ..

 

[Webslinger]

normal for a new tank, mix it up

 

[Hugh Mann]

Second. Totally normal. Had the same stuff in my tank. It goes away, but is usually replaced with some type of algae.

 

[Webslinger]

ugly algae stages usually last about a year

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

That appears to be diatoms. They are normal and happen in every new tank. Once they have used up all of your silica, they should go away.

 

[Jose408]

normal for a new tank, mix it up

Thank you i will right now .. so nothing alarming?

 

[Jason mack]

You need to raise your po4 ...its at 0 ...aim for between 0.03 - 0.1...you have an unbalance in your no3 and po4 . You will end up with cynobacteria or dinos ....is my advice

 

[Jose408]

ex

Second. Totally normal. Had the same stuff in my tank. It goes away, but is usually replaced with some type of algae.

thanks for responding, what did u you do for the algae problem that forms on the rocks , should I do less feeding ?

 

[Jason mack]

Also add more flow towards the sand bed and affected areas

 

[Jose408]

You need to raise your po4 ...its at 0 ...aim for between 0.03 - 0.1...you have an unbalance in your no3 and po4 . You will end up with cynobacteria or dinos ....is my advice

How can I raise my po4 ? I always get confused with Po4

 

[Jose408]

Also add more flow towards the sand bed and affected areas

That’s another question I had also , my flow.... I have 425 hydor .. and my regular return pump ... should I upgrade to a mp10 ? Some people were telling me it’s to much but I see others add 2 mp10s in there 20 gallon

 

[Hugh Mann]

ex

thanks for responding, what did u you do for the algae problem that forms on the rocks , should I do less feeding ?

Currently I am on manual algae control, scraping it off by hand. Which you can do, or depending on your livestock situation, you can look into certain kinds of crabs, snails and urchins will eat the algae.

 

[Jason mack]

How can I raise my po4 ? I always get confused with Po4

You can raise them by adding something like phosphate+ or similar ... if you have too much no3 (nitrate ) and po4 (phospates)...you will encounter algae ....if you have too less or 0 then dinoflagellates or cynobacteria will take over ...
Corals need no3 and po4 too survive...or they starve .....so we monitor and adjust as necessary

 

[Jose408]

Currently I am on manual algae control, scraping it off by hand. Which you can do, or depending on your livestock situation, you can look into certain kinds of crabs, snails and urchins will eat the algae.

Thanks for the advice , I don’t have any brown hair algae yet Unless it’s coming soon ? Lol , I haven’t cleaned anything off the rocks manually .. I have a couple snails and crabs but I’m sure it takes awhile for them to clean the whole tank

 

[Jose408]

You can raise them by adding something like phosphate+ or similar ... if you have too much no3 (nitrate ) and po4 (phospates)...you will encounter algae ....if you have too less or 0 then dinoflagellates or cynobacteria will take over ...
Corals need no3 and po4 too survive...or they starve .....so we monitor and adjust as necessary

Wow that’s crazy that’s something my LFS didn’t tell me last time I took my water to get tested .. all he said was my Alk dropped and to add 15 Ml ... didn’t mention anything about the p04

 

[Jason mack]

Add phytoplankton and copepods too support your microbiology...raise po4 ...add more flow too sand bed .. ..

 

[Jose408]

You can raise them by adding something like phosphate+ or similar ... if you have too much no3 (nitrate ) and po4 (phospates)...you will encounter algae ....if you have too less or 0 then dinoflagellates or cynobacteria will take over ...
Corals need no3 and po4 too survive...or they starve .....so we monitor and adjust as necessary

Nitrate being at 5 is that good or to high ? What’s your recommendation as of right now ... to set a schedule

 

[Jason mack]

Wow that’s crazy that’s something my LFS didn’t tell me last time I took my water to get tested .. all he said was my Alk dropped and to add 15 Ml ... didn’t mention anything about the p04

Yes that's crazy ...i would invest in your own test kits .. saliferts or redsea..for .
Calc
Alk
Mag
No3
For po4 I would recommend a hanna checker ulr .(ultra low reading ).
I would also recommend watching something like BRS 52 weeks of reefing..

 

[Jason mack]

Nitrate being at 5 is that good or to high ? What’s your recommendation as of right now ... to set a schedule

Nitrate is good at 5ppm you want too aim for between 5-10 ppm
Po4 aim for 0.03 -0.1
Mag 1250 - 1350..
Calc 350- 450
Alk ...8dkh - 12 dkh
But stability is more important..solong as you keep within these ranges . And very little variation...you will be good ... this of course is just part of it ...but the basis ...

 

[Jason mack]

Where do you get your water for topping off ...do you buy it ....or make it yourself ...same question for your salt water for water changes...??