jabrbox Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Hello, it's been awhile, but new job and life been too busy, still have the tank running, but have a few issues and thought I would run pass you all and see if I am on the right track; a) Green Hair algae- - we have been trying to clean and clean with no luck, I was using tap water, the first 6mos never had an algae prob, but once it started it wont stop. I since switched to R/O water from the machine outside the grocery store, didn't help. - Nitrates and Phos were high ( I had the water tested I don't have the proper testing equipment) i will start using their R/O water and see if that helps, ( on the testing stick, the top line was 0, mine was between the 2nd and 3rd line for both ) - New MH bulbs, but I realized I have (2) T5's in there for added color, but they are at least a year old - does this contribute? - Algae build up in Bio Balls - I threw some away and cleaned the algae out of the dry side of sump, best I could - Old bag of (yellow little balls in sump (been there since I got the tank) Smaller than BB's, took it out, from what I read media needs to be changed or it will send bad things back into the tank? - Skimmer not filling collection cup, have been trying to adjust ( do I want the foam flowing out into the cup, or just at the top?) - Green Bubble Coral is not bubbling anymore, a few small ones on one side, but skeleton on the other, seems to be eating fine though, is this from the water conditions as well, and maybe lighting? - Once water conditions are normal, will the algae disappear? Or does it all need to be scrubbed off of everything? I am sure I am missing something, but its a good start. Thanks in advance for any advice!(scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 testing sticks are notoriously unreliable, so it's hard to know where the NO3 and PO4 are really at. GHA is a tough one to beat, my favorite solution is to get things that eat it. a good tang (my yellow and bristletooth are great) or lawnmower blenny, sea hare or emerald crabs would be my suggestions. assuming the T5's are actinic or purple or something, I doubt they're contributing much to your problems even if they're old. there's not much PAR out of those bulbs. definitely keep the bioballs clean (or just ditch them altogether) not sure what media you had running in the sump, but i've never heard of media that's good to just leave in forever, so it was probably smart to get rid of it. I'd get that skimmer tuned up, make sure the air intake is not obsructed (salt build-up is constant in mine), there's a lot of debate about how dry/wet to skim, but you should be getting some foam into the cup. I skim fairly dry, so it isn't always overflowing, but it does sometimes. bubble coral issues are probably chemistry, could be lighting, but new MH bulbs should be ok...anything abusing it? frogspawn, clowns, etc? the algae probably won't just disappear, you're probably going to need to get it out by either the scrubbing method or herbivores (as mentioned above) I'd get a little CFL light (or something) for the sump and grow some caulerpa and/or chaeto down there. mostly, it'll soak up the nutrients taht are feeding the GHA (and that may be making the bubble coral unhappy), but if you do caulerpa and a tang now, the caulerpa can be pruned for a food source once the GHA is beaten back. technically, if you have perfect water, there will probably not be GHA, but I'd get an herbivore and pseudo-fuge going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g81 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 i had super bad gha i pulled most of it off by hand comes off kinda easy. but i ended up taking each rock out and cleaning them the biggest thing was my lights were old and i had them on to long. i got a couple timers new bulbs i have ZERO green hair algae i havent had a issue with it sence. i do a 20" change about every 2 weeks or so. i use tap water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 +1 With Burningbaal What size tank do you have, if its large enough you can't beat a good tang. My Bristle Tooth took care of what I had in a matter of a day or two (Small amout granted) If its too small then the emeralds enjoy it as well. (Bristle tooths are awesome fish but can be brats, just so you know) The refugium is a great way to naturaly absorb NO3 and PO4. Also GFO is great for PO4. Bio Balls and similar I have read could increase you NO3 over time. Get some test kits made for the marine aquariums. And be sure to test you water supply, you may be suprized by how much is in your water to begin with. I have a well that is generally awesome but does have a trace of PO4. So I run the GFO to nutrilize it. I hope this helps and good luck with the battle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 GFO is a good idea, but doesn't fix the nitrates, carbon can help with nitrates, but not super well. I'd go for the fuge and herbivore primarily, if you've got a good way to add some GFO/carbon (without over-tumbling the GFO), that'd be a good idea...just don't assume that throwing some media in will fix it. +1 on testing the supply water. My first step would be to pull the bioballs and put some chaeto and a 6500K light in the sump instead. then I'd work on an herbivore right after that. My sea hare was insane, btw...I think he starved to death sadly, but I was super impressed with his cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 GFO is a good idea, but doesn't fix the nitrates, carbon can help with nitrates, but not super well. I'd go for the fuge and herbivore primarily, if you've got a good way to add some GFO/carbon (without over-tumbling the GFO), that'd be a good idea...just don't assume that throwing some media in will fix it. +1 on testing the supply water. My first step would be to pull the bioballs and put some chaeto and a 6500K light in the sump instead. then I'd work on an herbivore right after that. My sea hare was insane, btw...I think he starved to death sadly, but I was super impressed with his cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegotjs Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Go buy water at LFS and do a 100% water change . Then only change with water that you no is not adding phos or nitrates.buy a ro when you get the money and you may have to srub the rocks to get rid of the hair alg. If you don't do things right from the beggining in this hobby is creates lots of problems down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabrbox Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Thank you for all the response, 100% water change, wont that put my livestock in danger with such a change? Is it safe to just remove the bio balls? My fish, soft corals, carpet, frogspawn all seem happy and thriving, so a little scary but the green is indeed ugly. Is it safe to move my bubble tip to another rock? He seems to be hiding, and my wife says that the rock he is on has worms that are picking at him at night, just didnt know if I could just move him to another rock. he has been moving around the rock on his own just not leaving it. Anyone know what tiny "snake" looking things might be? Blackish in color with a brownish head? My wife only sees them at night, they are primarily in the sand, a new critter for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 i would be pretty shy of a 100% change for the same reason you are. I wouldn't hesitate about doing 50% changes every week for 2-3 weeks though. honestly, if you are using water that has no nitrate or phosphate (and check chloramines), using RO/DI water won't lower your nitrate or phosphate. worms could be a lot of things, not sure how easy it'd be to move the neme if it's seated, though. I'd bring in a little jar of your supply water, some freshly mixed salt water and some tank water to a LFS and ask them to test it (just for the metabolite things, don't need to bother with calcium, pH and things right now). if the nutrients are low, I'd focus on an herbivore and a 'fuge. if the nutrients are high, the question is where. if the supply water (no salt) is high, then you need to fix that with new source water (RO/DI, probably). if the supply is fine, but new saltwater is high, then you need a new batch (or brand) of salt. if the new saltwater is high but the tank levels are high, you need to scrub the rocks and do water changes to get it down. again, if the levels in all of those are good enough, just get herbivore(s) and a fuge going. just my advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick T Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 All good advise above. In the long run a good RO/DI unit will pay for itself. BRS has some in the very good units for under $200 GHA needs 3 things to grow: Nitrates, Phosphates and light. There's no way to avoid putting these things in your tank so you need to have a way to export them like Chaeto and/or GFO. Also reduce your light cycle until you have it under control Here's an interesting read on phosphates and where they come from http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/chemistry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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