[dermp]

So here I am again asking questions again, but you all told me to ask away, hehehe!!! So now I am seeing major amounts of growth of alge on the glass of my tank and on the crush coral. What does this mean!! It is safe or is it dangerous!!! Please give help. Oh by the way I have been following instructions doing water changes and the protein skimmer is taking out the green stuff pretty good!! Fish seem fine and water conditions are good!!

Cheers
:beer:
DERM

 

[Prismaco]

Join the croud

How long has your tank been up ?
Did you just add Live Rock ?
How much do you feed them ?
How big is your tank ?
Do you use RO water ?
How often do you do water changes ?
How many <>< do you have right now ?
How long is your lighting schedual ?

-Paul

 

[dermp]

Now if I could only learn how to spell algae!!!

 

[dermp]

1 Setup a couple of weeks.
2 The live rock 30lbs was from a established tank for about 6-8 months. I also used most of the water from the established tank.
3 Feed them small amounts 2 times a day.
4 Tank is 25 gallon bow front.
5 Doing water changes about 5 gallons every other day to help establish tank.
6 5 small fish right now!!
7 12-14 hours of lighting!!

 

[ReefDave]

how deep is that crushed coral bed? I made the mistake of putting a 3.5-4 inch deep Crushed coral bed in my last tank (on my LFS's advice), and it caused problems....however you tank is a little young for the crushed coral to already be causing problems. My guess is that you are going through the early stages of the algae cycle. Make sure you are skimming, only feeding what the fish can eat, and watching your Nitrates and Phosphate. Should start to go away (or switch to a different type of algea) in the next couple weeks.
Nothing to stress about just yet.

Dave Jr.

 

[Jeremy1973]

I would suggest maybe cutting back on the feeding. I feed every other day. Plus, maybe cutting the light time down some to would help. But, be patient. What kind of fish do you have in there?

 

[Stang69]

Setup a couple of weeks

Patients Grasshopper

Feed them small amounts 2 times a day

I would cut down to once every other day.

12-14 hours of lighting!!

Back the lighting down to I would say a max of 6 hours and slowly bring it up. 1/2 to 1 hour a week or so is what I would do.

JMO though maybe someone else will chime in on the numbers

 

[Jeremy1973]

heh heh...great minds think alike Stang...we posted at the same time.

 

[Prismaco]

Also are you using RO water to top off or changes ? Im feeding mine every 3 days. Monday, Thursday, Sunday. Thats also when I add my PH Buffer/ a couple drops of Liquid Calcium/ a couple drops of coral vite. Only a couple drops because I was finding out that I was adding WAAYYY to much additives. Also do you have your lights on a time ? If not I would suggest buying 1 but make sure it has a ground so incase in the future you decide to get a better light system your timer will still work. Also, syphon some of the algea when you do your water changes.


-Paul

 

[Casey]

Yea cut back on everything.

 

[dermp]

OK guys will do, also I should have said they get sunlight all day, so I guess that don't help either. Should I leave the lights off and just go with sun light? Also I have a coral light you know the 420 actinic. Should I just turn that one on during the day?? they seem to always be hungry every time I sit down infront of the tank the come to the front and top looking for food, like they are begging!! Not sure what you mean by RO water I use regular tap water and treat it with aqua clear to eliminate the chemicals in it!

DERM

 

[thefatman]

sunlight is the WORST...

it's best to NOT have a fish tank in direct pat hof true sunlight. sunlight breeds algae, it's like steroids for algae

that's why aquarium bulbs cost so much more than regular buclbs or plant grow bulbs. they only emit specific ranges of light, which are more towards the blue spectrum.

plant grow bulbs emit more yellow light, which helps plants grow. if at all possible relocate the tank. (but i'd hate to recomment that on such a new tank) or at the very least, get some blinds and or vurtains over the window.

btw: hold on a second. newfoundland... you guys only get like 3 NON-snow days a year..... where are you getting sunlight from :funny:

 

[dermp]

Good one thefatman!!!

I have blinds so I am going to keep them mostly closed!! Its not in the direct path but it does get a good bit of light!! So I guess for the most part I should be ok??

DERM

 

[Doug1]

The tap water even with the chemical treatment is not pure enough for a reef tank. A young tank such as yours with the bioload it has is always going to be behind, and trying to catch up biologically

 

[dermp]

So how do I go about get more pure water. The water in Newfoundland is very clean!! I guess I could put a filter on it? I have heard that people let it sit over night and most of the gases ecape that way. Does anyone have suggestion for me?

 

[Casey]

yes get an ro/di unit that is real pure

 

[thefatman]

the water is clean there, but it's stil lcoming from a awater treatment plant, which means it has chemicals added to it, to kill bacteria etc.. like chlorine, chloramines, phosphates, and various metals.

an ro/di unit will get the water as it should be, will set you back about 125-200 depending on model, brand, etc...

i get my water from the grocery store. but NOT distilled, or purified water. i get it from a machine that very clearly says RO DI water.. i pay about 35 cents (U.S.) a gallon, so that's like 400 hundred dollars canadian :funny:

i also noticed hte other day, for anyone interested, my water from the G.S. isn't just ro/di. it's also UV the label o nthe machine says:

water goes through a carbon filter, then a 5 micron ro membrane. then on to anather carbon filter, then on to a 2 micron ro membrane, then another carbon filter, then on to a DI filter, then on to a Ultri Violet light filter, then finally into your jug. cool

 

[Jeremy1973]

Very cool, and I second all that was said. Since you only have a small tank, I don't think you really need to buy an RO/DI unit, just go to your LFS, or if you can find it at an actual store. But as thefatman emphasized..don't get distilled. Many distillers use copper piping. Yes, keeping the blinds closed would help.

 

[dermp]

Ok how about if I used natural spring water that is bottled and sold for drinking water??? Would that be better than using tap water. Or if I bought a filter??

 

[Doug1]

Define pure, normally that applies to drinking water and refers to a lack of harmful organisms or chemical contamination. the amounts of chemicals, residual chlorine, chloramines, phosphates, nitrates , etc that would be considered safe in drinking water are often enough to cause algae blooms at best and worst case scenario, slowly poison a reef
Best bet is a Reverse Osmosis combined with a DeIonizing filter setup