Rip Clean...on a 300g?

[NanJ]

Nice tank. The algae isn't that bad. It looks like it is growing out of the crevices in the rock. Dolabella Sea Hares are the only ones I'd use. They are almost always available via the web. They aren't hard to see. They're huge and ugly! I've used them in two different tanks. Just one cleaned up a 75 gallon I had going that had algae worse than yours.

The light being off won't hurt the corals for short periods. I'd limit it to a few days. You are just trying to slow the algae growth while the carbon dosing kicks in.

So, remember that along with ammonia or nitrate, carbon dosing also uses a little phosphate. It simply won't work phosphate drops to 0. If it gets low, you can add some. A good skimmer is required, but it doesn't have to be top shelf. Set it to skim kind of wet. Finally, alkalinity is a concern. It seems that NSW alkalinity are safer for the corals when carbon dosing.

Here's a link to information about carbon dosing. You'll recognize the author. http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

Thank you for the guidance and suggestions.

The tank is a few days into a fuconazole treatment. Once the water change is done, we will add sea hares and, hopefully, Pitho Crabs. I contacted Reef Cleaners asking which critters may help with the Derbesia problem and he suggested Pitho Crabs - a lot of them. We have maybe 12 Emerald Crabs in the tank (assuming all we introduced over the past couple of years are still alive) but apparently Emeralds are not as good as Pitho at eating hair-type algae.

Our system has a bio pellet reactor as a source of carbon. From what I've read this morning, the ding against bio pellets is you don't really know how much carbon is being introduced versus dosing with vinegar or ethanol. RHF also commented in a post that his thinking is the bacteria using the carbon are mainly in the vicinity of the pellets. Our pellets tumble in a reactor which has tank water flowing through it.

We also have a robust protein skimmer and use Neptune DOS and Trident Systems for alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. This morning the nitrates (Nyos test kit) were 1 ppm and phosphates (Hanna ULR Checker) were 0.15 ppm. I had fed the corals last night so that may have temporarily elevated the phosphate level. Sunday the phosphate level was 0.03 ppm. To be safe, I added Seachem PhosBond to the sump to bring down the phosphates.

To be honest, I am a bit nervous introducing something like carbon dosing in a tank under stress already. I don't know how concerned I should be about a bacteria bloom, cyano getting cranked up (been there, done that).

 

[ReefGeezer]

Thank you for the guidance and suggestions.

The tank is a few days into a fuconazole treatment. Once the water change is done, we will add sea hares and, hopefully, Pitho Crabs. I contacted Reef Cleaners asking which critters may help with the Derbesia problem and he suggested Pitho Crabs - a lot of them. We have maybe 12 Emerald Crabs in the tank (assuming all we introduced over the past couple of years are still alive) but apparently Emeralds are not as good as Pitho at eating hair-type algae.

Our system has a bio pellet reactor as a source of carbon. From what I've read this morning, the ding against bio pellets is you don't really know how much carbon is being introduced versus dosing with vinegar or ethanol. RHF also commented in a post that his thinking is the bacteria using the carbon are mainly in the vicinity of the pellets. Our pellets tumble in a reactor which has tank water flowing through it.

We also have a robust protein skimmer and use Neptune DOS and Trident Systems for alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. This morning the nitrates (Nyos test kit) were 1 ppm and phosphates (Hanna ULR Checker) were 0.15 ppm. I had fed the corals last night so that may have temporarily elevated the phosphate level. Sunday the phosphate level was 0.03 ppm. To be safe, I added Seachem PhosBond to the sump to bring down the phosphates.

To be honest, I am a bit nervous introducing so amething like carbon dosing in tank under stress already. I don't know how concerned I should be about a bacteria bloom, cyano getting cranked up (been there, done that).

If you are using a biopellet reactor I would not add another carbon source. The fluconazole should do the trick. Sea Hares would probably not be a good idea if the fluconazole works. They would eventually starve. I'm not familiar with the Pitho Crabs, but I wouldn't argue with Reef Cleaners.