diatoms or detritus?

[Anthony.Luciano]

so i have these days where i just think of what my tank could look like in the future and what can i possibly do to make it happen, today was one of them so i went downstairs to my tank and my main problem right now is phosphates. i use 0 tds ro/di water and change 15 gallons every week. i have a hanna checker but that thing gives me a different reading every time. it just messes with my patience when i have to clean the glass perfectly and everything and not get any fingerprints on it so i never get an accurate reading. so i try to find the sources of the phosphate since i just have a thin layer of algae on the glass each day. no hair algae. now i scrub the front glass daily so i have nothing wrong with it but the sides and the back have this brown stuff that looks like diatoms all over but it wont come off with a sponge or algae scrubber so i had to take it off with a razor and it felt like peeling a layer of plastic or something like that so it was a hard substance. is this diatoms or detritus? well anyway i cleaned as much as a can and i fanned the rocks and made a storm in the overflow boxes to get all the stuff out of them. next im going to try to put a powerhead into my skimmer compartment in the sump because its layered with junk. right now i have a deep sand bed in the fuge. do you think i should get rid of the sand and put a big flow chamber full of live rock and chaeto? also im trying to work out a new feeding schedule so far what i think is good is flakes every day and mysis shrimp and dried seaweed for the tangs every other day all mixed with vitamin c. please let me know what you think, thanks

[greech]

So its always just on the glass? Sounds pretty normal to me. I have to wipe down all of my glass twice a week to keep the film off. Some of it just wipes off but I do have to scrape in some places now and then to get it off. If I let it go all week I end up with a bit of a crust under the film. Not to sound trite but it just sounds like you need to clean the sides and back a little more often. Could be a little bit of both algae and diatoms.

What kind of phosphate readings are you getting?

[hypnoj]

following

[Anthony.Luciano]

ok thanks. yes my goal is to have a full blown sps tank. what kind of coral do you keep? im happy that its a normal thing and not something that i will have problems with. and the phosphate... i can get a .8 on the first reading and a .01 on the second reading using the same glass curvettes and water sample. the hanna meter is so sensitive to stuff on the glass even if its placed the wrong way it will give a bad reading.

Originally Posted by greech

So its always just on the glass? Sounds pretty normal to me. I have to wipe down all of my glass twice a week to keep the film off. Some of it just wipes off but I do have to scrape in some places now and then to get it off. If I let it go all week I end up with a bit of a crust under the film. Not to sound trite but it just sounds like you need to clean the sides and back a little more often. Could be a little bit of both algae and diatoms.

What kind of phosphate readings are you getting?

[greech]

Understood. I have a mixed reef of LPS/SPS and one rock flower anemone

My camera is dreadful and so are my photography skills... Most of the SPS are up to in a little cluster

[Anthony.Luciano]

wow you have an amazing tank! ok so ill really try wiping the glass down more. thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by greech

Understood. I have a mixed reef of LPS/SPS and one rock flower anemone

My camera is dreadful and so are my photography skills... Most of the SPS are up to in a little cluster

[Dyzio545]

Also following. Plus I have green hair algae in some places. I run Phosban and Chemi pure elite, but it's not going away for some reason. Is there anything I can dose that will not harm my reef? My tank is 5 months old.

[greech]

Originally Posted by Anthony.Luciano

wow you have an amazing tank! ok so ill really try wiping the glass down more. thanks for the help!

Thank you. One other thing would be careful with your feedings. Some flake foods can contribute especially if you are feeding it daily. Draining and rinsing frozen foods can also help. Also, not sure if you are running any GFO but that can help a lot too (even as a preventative). I use Rowaphos just in a bag in my sump and it helps a lot IMO. When my glass starts to get nasty more often I change it out and I'm pretty much back on a standard glass wiping schedule.

I hope this helps.

[greech]

Originally Posted by Dyzio545

Also following. Plus I have green hair algae in some places. I run Phosban and Chemi pure elite, but it's not going away for some reason. Is there anything I can dose that will not harm my reef? My tank is 5 months old.

Using RO/DI water?
Heavy fish load?
Heavy feeding schedule?
Running lights too long?
Old bulbs?

You have nitrates and phosphates coming in from somewhere.

[Dyzio545]

I am using a 4 stage RO filter
1 chromi, 1 hippo tang (baby), 1 yellow tang (baby), cleaner wrasse, 2 mated clowns
Feed flakes once a day not that big of an amount
Lights- 12 hours
My light fixture is 5 months old

Nitrates-0
Phosphates- 0 (According to the API reef test kit but obviously it's not accurate)

I saw this on another post, do you think it can help?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...fm?pcatid=4098

[Anthony.Luciano]

look under the more info tab
NOTE: Do NOT use AlgaeFix with crustaceans, including crabs, shrimp, freshwater shrimp and freshwater lobsters.

Originally Posted by Dyzio545

I am using a 4 stage RO filter
1 chromi, 1 hippo tang (baby), 1 yellow tang (baby), cleaner wrasse, 2 mated clowns
Feed flakes once a day not that big of an amount
Lights- 12 hours
My light fixture is 5 months old

Nitrates-0
Phosphates- 0 (According to the API reef test kit but obviously it's not accurate)

I saw this on another post, do you think it can help?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...fm?pcatid=4098

[greech]

I have not personally used that product so I can't say for sure. I have seen threads on it though and it seems to be work great for some and not so great for others. The part that concerns me is some have reported losses to corals, shrimps, and crabs. I don't recall anything definitively saying the losses were caused by the product being dosed though.

I'm sure you know this but chances are your nutrients are reading low because the algae is consuming them. Understood on the API phosphate, been there.

If it were me I would probably increase the frequency and volume of water changes and make the most out of them but using a powerhead to aggressively blow off rocks and remove as much detritus as I could. Also would turn up my skimmer to get a wetter skim and keep my GFO changed out frequently. That's just me though

Edit: You may want to consider cutting your light cycle back as well.

[Dyzio545]

Originally Posted by greech

I have not personally used that product so I can't say for sure. I have seen threads on it though and it seems to be work great for some and not so great for others. The part that concerns me is some have reported losses to corals, shrimps, and crabs. I don't recall anything definitively saying the losses were caused by the product being dosed though.

I'm sure you know this but chances are your nutrients are reading low because the algae is consuming them. Understood on the API phosphate, been there.

If it were me I would probably increase the frequency and volume of water changes and make the most out of them but using a powerhead to aggressively blow off rocks and remove as much detritus as I could. Also would turn up my skimmer to get a wetter skim and keep my GFO changed out frequently. That's just me though

Edit: You may want to consider cutting your light cycle back as well.

I also hear that a lawnmower blenny can eat hair algae. Would you know anything about this?