Yep, in combination between removing the fish that grow to be too large, doing frequent (weekly or so) water changes, and dosing some nitrate remover short-term should cut your algae problems and give you a stable tank over time.
Alright then, I am probably going to try this and see how's my tank going
Best of luck! Update us when you start getting some corals too! We'd all love to see how your tank progresses
Thanks mate I will keep this group busy for sure as there is a lot to learn... I will keep reading and learning and I will keep u posted when my first coral gets in
For now I am probably going to do as I mentioned before but I will keep that in mind.. Thank you
Ask if your LFS (local fish store) has a trade in value for some of the larger fish, some have trade in days where you can get store credit for your fish (and you can use that to buy corals!)
Yeah I will definitely do,I hope he will give me a good credit especially for the blue tang and dejardini
well that changes everything actually...after that i should probably keep up with the water changes,remove some fish and keep running my carbon...also i should probably stop overfeed the fish that will remain and see how it goes...
Thank you for the update on Nopox! Again, its not something I've ever worked with, so I know little about it.
omg really?the shop gave it to me as an effient way to battle nitrates...they gave me the brightwell bacteria also which i am using for 4 days
Bummer. I think that because there are 2 types of carbon as it relates to our hobby, some people get confused.
i see your point..last week i reduced my feeding schedule and i am feeding every other day but i feed lower quantities as well and i already saw a difference on my fishes grazing routine...since i've done that all of my fish -except the pyramid butterfly and the foxface- are grazing like mad...i thought this could be a sign that the tank starts to do better because i thought that if my fishes are grazing then good algae and other good organisms are been produced by my rocks,so the nitrates are getting lower...anyway i would probably try to get rid my blue tang and the dejardini tang because they are too big anyway and i will try do a 30-40 liter water change every 2-3 days...also i will try keep up with cleaning more frequent my skimmer and my filter in order to get max results...i will keep my carbon running and i probably try to get a coral like next week and see how it does and get some experience with them..after that i will stabilize my parameters and then add another fish or coral...Calm down all
A look on the photo in post #20 reveals a fairly prosperous fish only tank with a lot of algae eating fish
The fish composition is the cause of the algae-free environment even though both phosphate and nitrate are high.
I would not take away any fish at the moment. It is not the fish themselves that excretes ammonium and phosphate - it is when you feed the fish they excrete surplus nitrogen through the gills as ammonia and phosphates and organic phosphorous when they poop. The amount of surplus N and P is depended mostly of how much you feed. Cut down the daily feed with 50 % The tangs will consume more algae if you do not feed them with to much external food. The system have been working for 4 years plus and looks as good as it do - there is a huge risk that it will turn downhill if you doing the wrong things too fast.
What I would do if I own that aquarium is to keep the fish - they will not die of these PO4 and NO3 values. Cut the daily food with at least 50%. Do 25 % WC every second day until your NO3 concentrations is below 25 ppm. At this moment you can get some urchins and if they going well an control your algae growth - you can start to switch your fish (if you want) You can already now test corals like sinularia and hairy mushrooms. Place them high. I would also not run any GFO, no organic carbon (read NoPoX) or maybe not even run active carbon. Active carbon (that is what you are using now) do not affect NO3 concentrations but it will take away toxins and yellow substances - your water will be more clear. For the moment WC is the only way to diminish both PO4 and NO3 in an equal way. All the others will be like cake on cake and you will risk that anyone of them will go too low and start a dino or cyano outbreak (or be unbalanced - with risk for the same result)-
When you have get down the PO4 and NO3 till lower level - you can change your strategy and try with GFO and organic carbon in order to keep the concentrations there you want them - especially if you want to introduce hard corals. I´m not a friend of WC - it was 2.5 years since my last WC in my own aquarium - but in the situation you are in - frequent water changes is the easiest and most safety way of reducing your nutrients
I was asking for the nitrite concentrations because high nitrite levels can give false nitrate readings.
My advice' s is rather contrary to most advises in this thread - it will be your job to sort out what to do.
Sincerely Lasse
