Small tank for me

Viv · 01-04-2006, 06:55 PM

Ok, I have a much greater appreciation of your tanks as I cannot keep up with this small 29gal. It has a HOB filter which just is not, and I repeat NOT doing the job, I placed a fine sand bottom and LR in the tank....yes, casey, I did measure the water (which amounted to 16gal) because I had no clue as to what amount of water would be circulating....anyway the new orbit lighting give 130 watts, and the algae is tremendous! Had some corals which I have removed and now just have the LR, sand, 1 Turbo snail, 1 margarita, 1 (not bumble bee) but very small snail that I have forgotton the name.... I'm really not sure what to do with this tank, the HOB is suppose to be for 50gals so I figured it would do a fairly decent job, but it really isn't..I place a small power head to move the water around, and it does but the filter just can't handle the job...I thought the LR and sand would help filter, but there is still a tremendous growth of algae...maybe its not suppose to be a reef tank, just a fish tank? Maybe fowlr or freshwater? Any ideas?

gwen_o_lyn · 01-04-2006, 07:26 PM

Are you using RODI water?

I recommend you get a skimmer if you don't have one.

Also how much are you feeding?

ChrisPrusha · 01-04-2006, 07:29 PM

I had a real battle with algae when I started up my 20H. Gwen's point about RO/DI is important...if you are doing water changes with water high in the ickies, you'll be fighting that battle forever.

Viv · 01-04-2006, 07:36 PM

Not RO/DI, but water purifier...have tested the water post purifer and it was not full of extra's...I don't think the turn over to the filter is enough...and really not sure of how to correct it, should the tank be drilled? Or maybe its really not meant for a saltwater setup? I don't know what to do with it.

Geoff · 01-04-2006, 09:31 PM

do you have a skimmer?

G~

skeety · 01-05-2006, 06:34 AM

Viv,

If I remember correctly, you were one who was getting ALL kinds of recommendations to get an RO/DI unit...but swore your water was cleaner than most areas. And I think *I* remember trying to save you from future RO/DI recommendation bombardments, but mentioning that your water was supposedly good early on in some posts.

However...in light of this post...I must admit, I'm starting to have doubts about defending your decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viv

Not RO/DI, but water purifier...have tested the water post purifer and it was not full of extra's...

Can you elaborate on what your testing for? Did you test TDS's? Silicates? Phosphates?

Maybe I'm wrong...and your right. But you're definitely having SOME sort of nutrient import/export imbalance. And you seem smart, so I doubt you're overfeeding. And for the same reason, I doubt the tank is overstocked. Maybe the rock you got was already LOADED up with nutrients? Maybe you just need a better skimmer. But if not, I hate to start this line of responses...but maybe it's time to break down and get the RO/DI unit.

Forgive me if I'm wrong!

dobejazz · 01-05-2006, 06:36 AM

That wasn't Viv. Mike

Loverotties · 01-05-2006, 07:18 AM

What kind of skimmer do you have?

skeety · 01-05-2006, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobejazz

That wasn't Viv. Mike

I'm taking it that it was you? hahahah

sorry.

Either way...still thinking she might need an RO/DI unit, or better skimmer, or something.

Viv · 01-05-2006, 08:53 AM

Skeety, this is a small tank I just recently started up, not my big one...I have been using one of those tap water purifiers, its a cartridge type thingy you hook up to a sink...the one thing I didn't have hooked up to this tank was a skimmer!
Thanks Geoff, forgot about that...I had an old seaclone on it, maybe I can dig it up some where and see if it works...I know there's got to be a nitrate problem for all the algae to start up. The LR is from a cured batch, its doing ok in a larger tank, there really was no bioload to speak of, just a torch and two hammers (which are now removed) just the snail are in there now....will do the skimmer thing, doh!

Little Luey · 01-05-2006, 10:55 AM

How often do you clean you HOB filter?
Remember that the nasties are still in the water colum when you use a HOB filter, this means the water still goes thru the filter cartridge and you may be getting "fertilizer" for the algie.
Your best bet is to get a skimmer and maybe do more frequent WC.

Best of luck.

Viv · 01-05-2006, 11:07 AM

I have changed the carbon cartridge once a month...which is expensive, this is certainly very different than a large tank! I have done water changes..it just grows (the algae ) when the lights are on! Maybe something still in the rock! I'll do some more water changes, put the skimmer on, and see what happens... Thanks everyone for your input!

wtrguy · 01-05-2006, 12:28 PM

are you on city water? if you are there may be polly phospates and other things. You said you had a larger tank? what is the size and how is it doing? i think even a small tank you should be skimming. sound like plenty of light for the tank. Smaller the tank it will be verry needy water canges etc. When i started " not that long ago" some one told me fresh water one inch of fish per gallon of water.... salt water is like one inch of fish for every five gallons, if this is true you can have 2.5'' of fish / over feeding is a no no also

wtrguy

Little Luey · 01-05-2006, 12:53 PM

I remember using Oceanic salt on my last tank and having a lot of HA; someone said that Oceanic had a bad batch and was creating a lot of trouble with HA, is this still the case?
I have since changed back to IO salt and guess what, no HA at all. Coincidence?

tdwyatt · 01-05-2006, 01:39 PM

Hi Viv,

Those water purifiers don't last very long, they also don't get a lot of the substances that appear in water mains supplies, especially if the Muni system there uses simple phosphates rather than polyphosphates. The water purifiers rely on unfiltered and unprocessed water treatment by a mixed resin ion exchange bed, and will be quickly exhausted depending on your local muni's water quality. You'll end up in a few short weeks with a ton of stuff in your tank accumulating as the topoffs evaporate each day, leaving behind the stuff the exchange resins didn't catch.

Install the skimmer (even a bad skimmer is better than no skimmer), get a RO/DI unit for both tanks (see www.airwaterice.com for an inexpensive unit) , make up fresh ASW with the new water and do 50% water changes every 4 or 5 days for a few weeks, then get into your regular 10% a week routine. For now, removing the algae at the end of your photoperiod will remove the nutrients trapped in algal biomass from your system, so physical removal is a good means of making the tank look presentable while exporting the causes from the system. You may want to consider putting a piece of egg crate in the tank in a moderate flow area and seeding it with some of your problem algae, so that once it gets a good crop, you can take it to the sink and scrub off the algae with a stiff brush, then return it to the tank to begin harvesting another batch to export these nutrients (heh, a diy algal scrubber!)

Very important that you start some export with water changes and skimming, along with algal removal and some system cleaning to get the triggers out of the tank. Limiting import by cutting feedings and using ONLY RO/DI for topoffs and ASW mixing will make a big difference as well.

HTH