algea/phosphate

[gstatus]

so this week i replaced all 3 pc bulbs in my tank 14 gallon biocube. before i replaced them the phospate in my tank was realy low 0.1ppm at the most. so back to the same week i put in my new pc bulbs 2 blue 1 50/50. did my normal water change except this week i was to lazy to go to get ro water so i used tapwater... so 3 or 4 days later my phosphate is at 0.5ppm algea is growin so much!!! on the live rock on the sand on the glass my corals and fish seem happy :/ i was thinking the phosphate levels came from my tap water but i tested the tapwater today and its at 0ppm. yesterday i did a water change again about 2 gallons with ro water like i normaly do phosphate was still at 0.5. i need help geting it under control again.
amonia0
nitriate nitrate 0/0
alk 250
ph 8.4
calcium 360
sg 1.022
pc lights are 24 watts each x3 2 blue 1 50/50
as far as feeding i feed mini mysis every other day(to corals and fish) and flakes every other day.
first time bulbs have been changed since i got the tank 6 months ago from craigslist

[Tuscaquatics]

Originally Posted by gstatus

so this week i replaced all 3 pc bulbs in my tank 14 gallon biocube. before i replaced them the phospate in my tank was realy low 0.1ppm at the most. so back to the same week i put in my new pc bulbs 2 blue 1 50/50. did my normal water change except this week i was to lazy to go to get ro water so i used tapwater... so 3 or 4 days later my phosphate is at 0.5ppm algea is growin so much!!! on the live rock on the sand on the glass my corals and fish seem happy :/ i was thinking the phosphate levels came from my tap water but i tested the tapwater today and its at 0ppm. yesterday i did a water change again about 2 gallons with ro water like i normaly do phosphate was still at 0.5. i need help geting it under control again.
amonia0
nitriate nitrate 0/0
alk 250
ph 8.4
calcium 360
sg 1.022
pc lights are 24 watts each x3 2 blue 1 50/50
as far as feeding i feed mini mysis every other day(to corals and fish) and flakes every other day.
first time bulbs have been changed since i got the tank 6 months ago from craigslist

There's basically three options for getting rid of phosphates: water changes, GFO or macroalgae. Do you have a sump?

[gstatus]

no sump i think its whats called a wet dry filter? the its got 3 chambers in the back 1 with a protine skimmer other with sponge and carbon and other has live rock rubbel

[Tuscaquatics]

Well the best thing you could do for phosphates, although .5 is pretty darn low, is to add chaeto or another macroalgae to your setup somehow.

Would it be possible to add another compartment to your setup to place macro in? I'm not experienced with the Biocubes.

You might also be overfeeding. What livestock do you have in there?

[Tuscaquatics]

You also need to bring your SG up to 1.026.

[Lynnmw1208]

you could try to put one of these with your filter pad in your wet/dry filter. I've never used them but it might work http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...35&pcatid=4335

here's a whole page of stuff http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...ps/c/3578/8057

[Tuscaquatics]

Originally Posted by Lynnmw1208

you could try to put one of these with your filter pad in your wet/dry filter. I've never used them but it might work http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...35&pcatid=4335

here's a whole page of stuff http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...ps/c/3578/8057

I actually bought some of this cheap when the LFS here went out of business. I didn't find it to remove any phosphates. But then again, I was using it on a much bigger tank.

I suppose you could use Phos-zorb or one of those in a bag that you could slip in the back compartment. I've found it to get rid of a small amount of phosphates, but they aren't nearly as good as GFO, if for no other reason than simply the way you use them.

[Octoshark]

Originally Posted by gstatus

did my normal water change except this week i was to lazy to go to get ro water so i used tapwater... so 3 or 4 days later my phosphate is at 0.5ppm algea is growin so much!!!

That is why you shouldn't use tap

Have you looked into getting your own RO/DI unit? You can get a good one for ~$200 (little more, little less).

[Tuscaquatics]

He already said that he tested the tap water and it was free of phosphates. Tap is bad for various reasons, and he should get an RO/DI in the long run, but I don't think that's his problem here.

He just has a small tank with not enough nutrient-removal capacity.

[Alysiak00]

im gonna say overfeeding. seems a little much. usually feed fish every other day or every two days and feed coral twice a week

[DJREEF]

Did you recently change salt brand, or open a new bag?

DJ

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by Tuscaquatics

Well the best thing you could do for phosphates, although .5 is pretty darn low, is to add chaeto or another macroalgae to your setup somehow.

Would it be possible to add another compartment to your setup to place macro in? I'm not experienced with the Biocubes.

You might also be overfeeding. What livestock do you have in there?

yea i can always use chamber 2 since i can move the carbon to chamber 3.
as for live stock i have 2 clowns, fire fish cleaner shrimp, coral banded shrimp
corals i got a toadstool, birds nest, duncan, and lots of different zoas

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by Alysiak00

im gonna say overfeeding. seems a little much. usually feed fish every other day or every two days and feed coral twice a week

i have always fed this much, but if its possible to feed fish every other day i should do that

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by DJREEF

Did you recently change salt brand, or open a new bag?

DJ

same salt as when the tank was first made coralife salt

[gldnegle76]

Originally Posted by Tuscaquatics

Well the best thing you could do for phosphates, although .5 is pretty darn low, is to add chaeto or another macroalgae to your setup somehow.

Would it be possible to add another compartment to your setup to place macro in? I'm not experienced with the Biocubes.

You might also be overfeeding. What livestock do you have in there?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but .5 is not low. Acceptable levels of phosphate are .03-.05 or less.

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by gldnegle76

Correct me if I'm wrong, but .5 is not low. Acceptable levels of phosphate are .03-.05 or less.

i thought anything above .02 was bad

[rinconmike]

3 weeks ago i added a BFS jumbo reactor running GFO to my 150gallon fish only tank.

My sump is around 25 gallons with bioballs.
I have no live rock
an Octopus XP2000sss skimmer.
a BFS Jumbo Reactor running GFO
a BFS standard Reactor running Carbon
a Nu-clear canister Filter.
a JBJ 1/3 Chiller
Blueline 55 external return pump

before the GFO i started get Algae (tank is only 7 months old) and phosphates were around 2ppm. now, I can only get it down to around .15. Algae is not worse, but it is still there. It is not hair, just some green and red on the decorative coral.

I usually change water every 2 weeks and clean; however, the last two changes i was quick and did not clean the sand well and notice a good amount of fine leftovers on the sand. i am assuming this is causing the high phosphates, but not sure. I do use RO/DI water.

I thought the GFO from BFS would get rid of my phosphates, but still there.

Water parameters are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate around 30-40 PPM
PH throughout the day goes from 8.15 to around 8.3
Temp goes from 78 t0 78.8 throughout the day
Phosphates .18ppm
Salinity is 1.020 (maybe 1.0195) - using a refractometer

Fish are:

Hawaiian Trigger (4”-5”) in tank for around 6 months
Panther Grouper (4”-5”) in tank for around 6 months
Snowflake Eel (15”) in tank for around 6 months
Porcupine Puffer (5”-6”) in tank for around 3 – 4 months
Heniochus butterfly fish (4”-5”) in tank for around 3 – 4 months
Blue Tang (5") in tank for around 3 – 4 months

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by rinconmike

3 weeks ago i added a BFS jumbo reactor running GFO to my 150gallon fish only tank.

My sump is around 25 gallons with bioballs.
I have no live rock
an Octopus XP2000sss skimmer.
a BFS Jumbo Reactor running GFO
a BFS standard Reactor running Carbon
a Nu-clear canister Filter.
a JBJ 1/3 Chiller
Blueline 55 external return pump

before the GFO i started get Algae (tank is only 7 months old) and phosphates were around 2ppm. now, I can only get it down to around .15. Algae is not worse, but it is still there. It is not hair, just some green and red on the decorative coral.

I usually change water every 2 weeks and clean; however, the last two changes i was quick and did not clean the sand well and notice a good amount of fine leftovers on the sand. i am assuming this is causing the high phosphates, but not sure. I do use RO/DI water.

I thought the GFO from BFS would get rid of my phosphates, but still there.

Water parameters are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate around 30-40 PPM
PH throughout the day goes from 8.15 to around 8.3
Temp goes from 78 t0 78.8 throughout the day
Phosphates .18ppm
Salinity is 1.020 (maybe 1.0195) - using a refractometer

Fish are:

Hawaiian Trigger (4”-5”) in tank for around 6 months
Panther Grouper (4”-5”) in tank for around 6 months
Snowflake Eel (15”) in tank for around 6 months
Porcupine Puffer (5”-6”) in tank for around 3 – 4 months
Heniochus butterfly fish (4”-5”) in tank for around 3 – 4 months
Blue Tang (5") in tank for around 3 – 4 months

Dude, you've got big messy meat eaters in there. You're going to have to work the hell outta that tank to get nutrient levels much lower. The only thing that could make that setup any more of a hassle water quality wise would be the addition of a shark.




Don't even think about it.

DJ

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by DJREEF

Dude, you've got big messy meat eaters in there. You're going to have to work the hell outta that tank to get nutrient levels much lower. The only thing that could make that setup any more of a hassle water quality wise would be the addition of a shark.




Don't even think about it.

DJ

LOL!!!

[rinconmike]

Did my 2 week cleaning and WC. Cleaned pretty good. also got rid of a couple small decorative coral pieces that I think was trapping junk.

once things settle down I will run some tests and see where I am at on water levels.

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by rinconmike

Did my 2 week cleaning and WC. Cleaned pretty good. also got rid of a couple small decorative coral pieces that I think was trapping junk.

once things settle down I will run some tests and see where I am at on water levels.

Mike - are you here in Texas?

What does your flow look like. If you've got stuff getting trapt in ornaments it might need to b kicked up a bit.

DJ

[rinconmike]

I am in NY (30 miles NW of NYC). I am working out in Vail, CO these days and come home only every other weekend so tweaking is a bit of a pain. I can only do so much over a 3 day period.

Here is a pic of the pieces I removed.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5728038/5.jpg

I removed the two red pieces.

They are pieces I got from foster and smith. I feed on the left and junk was in the cones. The right was not bad. I removed it so I can see the cave I built out of pvc and some stones.

The large pieces are what I think is called "dead" coral. I have red algae on the coral and some green on the stones of the cave. Very little on the glass.

The tank is around 7 months old and this is the first bloom I had. around 3-4 weeks ago the phosphates were around 2-3 ppm. 3 weeks ago I added the BFS GFO.

I am a little disappointed I cannot hit zero, but that might be from the feeding.

I am concerned how I added the Jumbo Reactor and posted here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...6#post17666366

Just want a second opinion on the setup.

thanks,

Mike

[DJREEF]

Yea, I can see why they would catch crap in them - they're cup shaped. Do you vacuum the gravel when you do your water changes? Sand like that easily becomes a crap trap that constantly leaches PO4 into the system. if you don't get that stuff out of there it becomes a perpetual problem. The tank doesn't look bad though for having that kind of bioload.

DJ

[gstatus]

Originally Posted by rinconmike

I am in NY (30 miles NW of NYC). I am working out in Vail, CO these days and come home only every other weekend so tweaking is a bit of a pain. I can only do so much over a 3 day period.

Here is a pic of the pieces I removed.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5728038/5.jpg

I removed the two red pieces.

They are pieces I got from foster and smith. I feed on the left and junk was in the cones. The right was not bad. I removed it so I can see the cave I built out of pvc and some stones.

The large pieces are what I think is called "dead" coral. I have red algae on the coral and some green on the stones of the cave. Very little on the glass.

The tank is around 7 months old and this is the first bloom I had. around 3-4 weeks ago the phosphates were around 2-3 ppm. 3 weeks ago I added the BFS GFO.

I am a little disappointed I cannot hit zero, but that might be from the feeding.

I am concerned how I added the Jumbo Reactor and posted here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...6#post17666366

Just want a second opinion on the setup.

thanks,

Mike

i dont think that rock would have been a big problem i think if you aim the power head at it. it would blow all the crap off

[rinconmike]

Originally Posted by DJREEF

Yea, I can see why they would catch crap in them - they're cup shaped. Do you vacuum the gravel when you do your water changes? Sand like that easily becomes a crap trap that constantly leaches PO4 into the system. if you don't get that stuff out of there it becomes a perpetual problem. The tank doesn't look bad though for having that kind of bioload.

DJ

I vacuumed good yesterday. 2 previous water changes not so good. sucked up sand too. However, with the sand, no matter how good I vacuum, there is still stuff in there.