Algae Problems

[clown62]

hi all i havent been on here in such a long time the site looking fantastic i never really been a active member but thats all going to change now i have some experience in the hobby.
well i say i have experience but the one thing i cant get my head around is algae in my tank i know the problem and that is high phosphate iv tried everything i can think of well nearly im trying to find a second hand phosphate reactor to see if this helps lower the phosphate does anyone know if getting a phosphate reactor will help solve my problem or can anyone suggest other ideas i can try to lower the phosphate

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

What options have you tried and what's your test result ?

Kinda handy to know before u get a list of stuff you go "done done done"! to lol

 

[clown62]

What options have you tried and what's your test result ?

Kinda handy to know before u get a list of stuff you go "done done done"! to lol

oh yh sorry lol i was typing away in my own little world and forgot the most important part parameters lol well i started off a a very high 10ppm tested using api test kit iv tried incresing my water changes now do it once a week i used to do it only once a month iv trid using the red sea pox no4 remover when i started using this i started to drop but settled at 5ppm which is where its sits now i also upgraded my skimmer to a tmc v2 120 and also tried cheato algae to try compete with it i clean it off when it become an eye sore but it using back within 2 weeks and im finally im now trying to get a phosphate reactor to see if this work but i just cant think of anymore ideas to try oh yh my nirtate sits nicely at 0ppm which was lowered my the red sea pox no4 remover

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

what tank size do you have?
whats your stocking?
how much/what do you feed?

basicallly im trying to find out whats the cause of it and then we can try to work on a problem fixing as im really suprised the chaeto and the red sea didnt bring it right down.
have you tested your RO water? it should come down with water changes or atleast effect it? unless your water is the cause of it.

i know when you have phosphates its hard to bring them down but repeated water changes should see success.

 

[clown62]

what tank size do you have?
whats your stocking?
how much/what do you feed?

basicallly im trying to find out whats the cause of it and then we can try to work on a problem fixing as im really suprised the chaeto and the red sea didnt bring it right down.
have you tested your RO water? it should come down with water changes or atleast effect it? unless your water is the cause of it.

i know when you have phosphates its hard to bring them down but repeated water changes should see success.

my tank size is 36x15x15 i believe to be around the 125litre mark with rock and sand added i have 2 clownfish 4 green chromis, 1 royal gramma 1 red fire fish 1 blue cheek goby 10x dwarf ble leg hermits 5x trouches snails 1x xenia coral im feeding ocean neutrients prime reef flake and hikari marine pellets the ro water that i use for top off and the salt ro water for water changes has always been 0 on both prosphate and nirtrate. i feed 2 times a day just a pinch and couple of pellets each feed

i know iv always been a fan of the water changes to fix phosphate and nirtrate problems but for some reason it just wont budge im determined to win the battle but im loosing the war everything i try just dont but at least it aint going up it just sits happily at 5ppm lol

 

[ainsy]

There are quite a few things that you could try.

Firstly the API test kit for phosphate is notoriously unreliable (and the salifert one is little better). The best by far is the D&D/Merc/Deltec one. It is however VERY expensive for a test kit, the last one I bought was £45 & that was a few years ago.

How long have you been set up for & where did you get your live rock from? If it has come from a tank that already had high phosphates then your levels will never come down until you find some way of getting rid of them - as you remove them more will be released from the rock...

Your best course of action would be to keep feeding to a minimum (obviously don't starve your fish!) Make sure there aren't any dead spots in your tank & make sure you have a high turn over. Keep up with the water changes (do them more frequently if you can!) and get a better quality phosphate remover. Rowaphos is the best IMO but once again it is vastly more expensive than it's competitors.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[clown62]

There are quite a few things that you could try.

Firstly the API test kit for phosphate is notoriously unreliable (and the salifert one is little better). The best by far is the D&D/Merc/Deltec one. It is however VERY expensive for a test kit, the last one I bought was £45 & that was a few years ago.

How long have you been set up for & where did you get your live rock from? If it has come from a tank that already had high phosphates then your levels will never come down until you find some way of getting rid of them - as you remove them more will be released from the rock...

Your best course of action would be to keep feeding to a minimum (obviously don't starve your fish!) Make sure there aren't any dead spots in your tank & make sure you have a high turn over. Keep up with the water changes (do them more frequently if you can!) and get a better quality phosphate remover. Rowaphos is the best IMO but once again it is vastly more expensive than it's competitors.

Let us know how you get on.

hi
have changed api test kit as it was out of date and im now using red sea phosphate pro and recently changed my skimmer to a brand new aquarium systems skimm 1200 got a bargin on it as well rrp around the £250 mark i got it for £90 in a clearence sail i find this skimmer is alot better than my tmc v2 400

the tank has been set up for around 2 years so it been set up for a little while i got my live rock from local fish shop hes a good man always helpfull and fish are well look after so i got him down as one of the good ones

the turn over is 2 newave 1000 (750-1400lph is what is stated on packaging) placed either side of the tank i try to keep feeding down i feed 2 times a day but just a little pinch of flake and couple of pellets at a time

 

[jeasko]

One obvious issue could be light, firstly are you getting direct sunlight on the tank? When was the lamp/lamps last changed? What is your light cycle and what light are you using?


Light is a major issue with algae which is part of the reason we use certain colour temp lamps and why we regularly change them, phosphates alone won't necessarily cause algae but couple them with silicates and light in the wrong spectrum and you can sit back and watch the green stuff grow!