What size protein skimmer

[GoVols]

That’s all I use. As far as gfo goes I don’t really want to add more equipment to my system since I don’t really have much space. Gfo is great I just don’t have the space for it

You'll get her back.
Just get back into a water change rhythm.

I'm not a fan of Skimz products but, that's for another debate

 

[Alvin Alejandro]

You'll get her back.
Just get back into a water change rhythm.

I'm not a fan of Skimz products but, that's for another debate

I’ve been at it for about a month now I know it’s a slow process.

What would a better option?

 

[GoVols]

I’ve been at it for about a month now I know it’s a slow process.

What would a better option?

I used to use the Aquamaxx HOB-1 skimmer in my ole 34 gallon and it was a great skimmer.

But tumbling GFO in it's own reactor, might be the call. Start the GFO at a very low dose, to not shock your corals.
If your at .2 phosphates, that's high. Need to be a about .03 - .05 ppm

Otherwise pick up the water changes and make sure your tds meter reads zero.

 

[RushReefer2112]

+1 gfo will destroy that algae. It might be worth looking at your local forum classified to see if there's a reactor for ~$30.

Maybe add a few trochus snails.

If you have more than 3 TDS out of RODI, change the DI resin and the algae will likely go away on it's own so long as you maintain your current maintenance schedule.

I've had a Reef Octopus skimmer since 2009 that a few weeks ago, the impeller decided it was time to go. I changed the impeller and the difference it made was huge. Although knowing you have a new pump on your skimmer, having it in good water level, you can only do so much with that gate valve to pull skimmate. It seems you just have a low nutrient input system and once you defeat this algae, you'll be good for a while.

 

[Alvin Alejandro]

I’ll look into. I’ve used it in my old tank and I actually have some gfo media sitting in my closet I just need a reactor. Thanks everyone for the help

 

[GoVols]

@saltyfilmfolks
Can your help out @Alvin Alejandro
Looks likes he's running a semi-fuge.

Thanks, Freddie

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I used to use the Aquamaxx HOB-1 skimmer in my ole 34 gallon and it was a great skimmer.

But tumbling GFO in it's own reactor, might be the call. Start the GFO at a very low dose, to not shock your corals.
If your at .2 phosphates, that's high. Need to be a about .03 - .05 ppm

Otherwise pick up the water changes and make sure your tds meter reads zero.

All of this.

On the skimmer, is it in a power strip? If it is try plugging it in to its own out let if that's possible.
Sounds silly, but it's a big motor and the strips have little tiny wires.
Yea, I rebuilt my tunze many times before I swapped plugs.

I don't know of any users if that skimmer unfortunately.

On the algae. What kind of cuc do you have in there snails in particular.
If you can get a closer pic of rocks, it could be one that's not easy to kill with low nutints alone.

Fwiw. My nutrients have gotten prettty bad but I don't have a lot of algae. It gets eaten. I like to hit that stuff with a toothbrush and let the grazers keep it knocked down.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I’ll look into. I’ve used it in my old tank and I actually have some gfo media sitting in my closet I just need a reactor. Thanks everyone for the help

If you manually remove a lot of the tank alge (let it get caught in the socks after you scrub) you may see a slight rise in po4 in the next day or two. IMO if that's the case, yea, a little gfo. But if you don't want to shell out some cash you can put the little bag of gfo in a high flow area. Like the socks or on the input of the return pump. That's where I keep my carbon bag actually.

 

[Alvin Alejandro]

All of this.

On the skimmer, is it in a power strip? If it is try plugging it in to its own out let if that's possible.
Sounds silly, but it's a big motor and the strips have little tiny wires.
Yea, I rebuilt my tunze many times before I swapped plugs.

I don't know of any users if that skimmer unfortunately.

On the algae. What kind of cuc do you have in there snails in particular.
If you can get a closer pic of rocks, it could be one that's not easy to kill with low nutints alone.

Fwiw. My nutrients have gotten prettty bad but I don't have a lot of algae. It gets eaten. I like to hit that stuff with a toothbrush and let the grazers keep it knocked down.

all I have now is hermits i had astreas and trochus but they eventually died because I at the time I had very low amount of algae if any then I started neglecting the tank then it took a turn for the worse. The skimmer is actually plugged into my apex.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

all I have now is hermits i had astreas and trochus but they eventually died because I at the time I had very low amount of algae if any then I started neglecting the tank then it took a turn for the worse. The skimmer is actually plugged into my apex.

Gotcha , I would toothbrush and grab some more snails and add turbo snails and turban snails to the list.

Also would still not hurt to do the plug swap to trouble shoot. IMO.

 

[ash9965]

Phospahte RX is a quick easy way to make the tank cleaner and get rid of algae check out this video below on its use. Also your skimmer may be oversized for the tank and working too well could explain the inconsistency .

 

[ash9965]

My three go to guys for reducing algae are Trochus snails , Foxface , and any kind of Tang .

Finally cut down on lights I saw a guy that did a 4 day black-out with a tarp from walmart when he uncovered the tank everything was pristine. Also +1 on the toothbrush method I would do during a water change take out each rock put in bucket of the dirty water and scrub like crazy with the toothbrush . Then put the clean rock back in the tank . It may take a few water changes along with light and food reduction but it will soon all be gone.

 

[mcarroll]

@Alvin Alejandro Don't add GFO.

You just have some algae growing. Not a big deal unless it's something other than regular algae. Buy some snails to keep it mowed.

As long as the tank stays balanced, corals will grow and use a large share of dissolved nutrients, with algae "drinking" the rest. Keeping this balance takes very consistent, regular dissolved nutrient levels AND feeding rates.

The goal should not be to starve the algae out. Why? Because sometimes starvation seems to work. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it leads to things worse than green algae. (@Whipples is totally on the right track!!)

There are better strategies anyway. Normal algae is an ally in maintaining a healthy system – not an enemy – so why take a hostile approach? Right?

If there's something wrong with the tank and (e.g.) you're getting uncontrolled blooms of algae, or algae won't grow at all, etc – those kinds of things do indicate problems. But nutrients and algae are not one of them....nutrients are required for everything to grow, repair and divide, and algae keep the tank healthy and are food for many organism.

So the question is what is the problem, if any?

• Too many big changes to the tank?
• Too few grazers?
• Lack of phosphates?
• Lack of nitrates?
• Some other nutrient imbalance?
• Inconsistent feeding methods?
• Inconsistent water changes?
• All of the above?
• Some of the above?
• Something else?

Just a few causes to be on the lookout for. By far not an exhaustive list!

Keeping the tank balanced can sometimes mean needing to add some nitrates or phosphates to make up for minor shortcomings. With enough consistency in your system, any need for that should be small and temporary.....but it's important to know about and not ignore.

This might be helpful:
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)

If interested, make sure you click around in the Algae and Nutrients sections as there is A LOT of great info in there. Holler back with any questions!

 

[Alvin Alejandro]

@Alvin Alejandro Don't add GFO.

You just have some algae growing. Not a big deal unless it's something other than regular algae. Buy some snails to keep it mowed.

As long as the tank stays balanced, corals will grow and use a large share of dissolved nutrients, with algae "drinking" the rest. Keeping this balance takes very consistent, regular dissolved nutrient levels AND feeding rates.

The goal should not be to starve the algae out. Why? Because sometimes starvation seems to work. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it leads to things worse than green algae. (@Whipples is totally on the right track!!)

There are better strategies anyway. Normal algae is an ally in maintaining a healthy system – not an enemy – so why take a hostile approach? Right?

If there's something wrong with the tank and (e.g.) you're getting uncontrolled blooms of algae, or algae won't grow at all, etc – those kinds of things do indicate problems. But nutrients and algae are not one of them....nutrients are required for everything to grow, repair and divide, and algae keep the tank healthy and are food for many organism.

So the question is what is the problem, if any?

• Too many big changes to the tank?
• Too few grazers?
• Lack of phosphates?
• Lack of nitrates?
• Some other nutrient imbalance?
• Inconsistent feeding methods?
• Inconsistent water changes?
• All of the above?
• Some of the above?
• Something else?

Just a few causes to be on the lookout for. By far not an exhaustive list!

Keeping the tank balanced can sometimes mean needing to add some nitrates or phosphates to make up for minor shortcomings. With enough consistency in your system, any need for that should be small and temporary.....but it's important to know about and not ignore.

This might be helpful:
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)

If interested, make sure you click around in the Algae and Nutrients sections as there is A LOT of great info in there. Holler back with any questions!

I don’t think I am I’m just gonna try and take out as much as I can and keep up with it. I have 2 tailspot blennys that should be eating it but they don’t touch one bit lol

 

[mcarroll]

I don’t think I am I’m just gonna try and take out as much as I can and keep up with it. I have 2 tailspot blennys that should be eating it but they don’t touch one bit lol

Fish are poor algae eaters in many cases. Fish are picky just like humans, so if they have a plentiful source of flakes or pellets, they may ignore algae.

Snails can be picky, but algae eating snails are only built for algae eating – they will be much less picky. As long as your algae isn't toxic (plain hair algae is not toxic), they can pretty much be counted on.

Get more snails!