I have been on this forum for awhile. Mainly for to ask questions about reefing b/c I didn’t have a clue and over the course of 10 months, I have learned a lot about this hobby and I like it. Around Oct 21, 2017 I setup a biocube 32 led.(all stock) I wanted 4 clownfish in my tank and some other tiny fish. I was Very impatient and used a quick start so I could add the fish and CUC.(Bad move, I know) After, my Dino’s I got really bad gha and I did many thing to rid it from my tank and nothing was working, so I gave up for around 2-3 months and only fed the fish.(at this point all Cuc was dead and this happen before I quit, couldn’t figure out why this happened either). However, I’m back and fighting the gha. I have 3 clownfish and a Blenny(don’t really want “got for algae”). I have 2 zombie snails, 2 turbo, 2 bee snails, 2 Margarita snails( margaritas haven’t been moving, so I assume not good), and 2 red leg hermits and one blue leg hermit. I have the stock bio cube filter cartridges, chempure elite and purgen and then marine bio balls( yes, people say nitrate factory, but lfs said it would be great with the amount of surface area “could handle huge bioloads”). I have liverock and sand probably 1.5 inches. I have stock return pump and eco tech mp10 QD, heater(plunged into inkbird controller), and biocube protein skimmer(on 24/7). When I first started I did 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks(I have about 25 gallon water volume). NOW, I’m doing 5 gallon water change every week(I use Red Sea coral pro salt). I also dos NoPoX and top off daily. Does it sound like I’m on a road to rid my tank of gha and bubble aglae? Also does it sound like I’m on a road to have shrimp and coral without them dieing?(I have lost $120 in shrimp and $250 in coral when I gave up) any questions please ask. And please give opinions, but try to be kind.
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ZoWhat
10K Club member
Dino, gha, all just doesn't come out of nowhere...
It has to do with 'whats' going INTO the tank.
Usual suspects:
* overfeeding food. We all suffer from "more food = bigger fish" when in reality "more food = more poison" in your tank. I only feed once a day in an amount that all my fish can consume in under 5mins. If on the 6th min I still see food floating around....too much food and I cut back. I got several full grown tangs thar are fat n healthy with a once daily 5min feeding frenzy
* 2nd source of bad input into the tank: fish food which has phosphate in it. PO4 is used in the food industry to extend shelve life of the food bc it maintains moisture in the food.
Even fresh seafood bought at a seafood counter is sprayed at the Mfgring plant with PO4 so the seafood retains moisture and freshness. All kinds of Food Mfgrs use PO4 to protect the quality of their food and liberally spray it as a coating.
PO4 can feed bad bacteria and be your worst enemy. All "slimy" food, even mysis, should be rinsed to rinse off the PO4 slimecoat
* 3rd source of bad input into the tank: source water. Are you using RODI? Does your water have any phosphate in it out of the tap? Out of the EODI unit? You should always know what's in your source water including silicates...
You need to inspect and carefully diagnose EVERYTHING that is added to your tank.
Hth
It has to do with 'whats' going INTO the tank.
Usual suspects:
* overfeeding food. We all suffer from "more food = bigger fish" when in reality "more food = more poison" in your tank. I only feed once a day in an amount that all my fish can consume in under 5mins. If on the 6th min I still see food floating around....too much food and I cut back. I got several full grown tangs thar are fat n healthy with a once daily 5min feeding frenzy
* 2nd source of bad input into the tank: fish food which has phosphate in it. PO4 is used in the food industry to extend shelve life of the food bc it maintains moisture in the food.
Even fresh seafood bought at a seafood counter is sprayed at the Mfgring plant with PO4 so the seafood retains moisture and freshness. All kinds of Food Mfgrs use PO4 to protect the quality of their food and liberally spray it as a coating.
PO4 can feed bad bacteria and be your worst enemy. All "slimy" food, even mysis, should be rinsed to rinse off the PO4 slimecoat
* 3rd source of bad input into the tank: source water. Are you using RODI? Does your water have any phosphate in it out of the tap? Out of the EODI unit? You should always know what's in your source water including silicates...
You need to inspect and carefully diagnose EVERYTHING that is added to your tank.
Hth
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ZoWhat
10K Club member
Second thing to consider is the "small tank syndrome"
32g cube ain't a lot of water volume. Which means slight variations/changes in that water volume makes for a HUUUUGE impact on the tank.
I have a 180g DT and a 100g sump....so variations/changes dont effect my tank very much bc its spread out over a larger water volume.
Think of it like this. Were both making SOUP.
If you are only making a 10oz bowl and I was making 5gals of soup snd we BOTH accidentally spilled an entire saltshaker of salt into our soup separately. Your soup would be very salty and uneatable. My soup wouldn't be effected that much, a little saltier but not much.
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32g cube ain't a lot of water volume. Which means slight variations/changes in that water volume makes for a HUUUUGE impact on the tank.
I have a 180g DT and a 100g sump....so variations/changes dont effect my tank very much bc its spread out over a larger water volume.
Think of it like this. Were both making SOUP.
If you are only making a 10oz bowl and I was making 5gals of soup snd we BOTH accidentally spilled an entire saltshaker of salt into our soup separately. Your soup would be very salty and uneatable. My soup wouldn't be effected that much, a little saltier but not much.
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ZoWhat
10K Club member
Hmmm. lots of high quality LFS out thrre....but I would ask them to show you a TDS reading from a TDS meter..... and it should read O.
Or very close to 0.
Some LFS provide RODI water but with a staff of people they lose track how old the filters are and some don't even test for TDS. lazy and not a priority to them.
You could be paying for RODI that has a 10+ TDS reading and not even know it
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