Problem Algae Questions and Answers

Ive read your post about problem algae. When was the last time you replaced your light bulbs? That sometimes can contribute to algae (shifted  spectrum) Also, how old is the spectrapure inner resin? 

You seem to have everything in order but do not mention the age of the above. Also I would recommend (personally) to use all kalk only...for make up water It seems strange to me that the snails are dying. IME some snails can be fairly delicate however over a reasonably short period of time 1 year +  they should begin to reproduce in your tank. Then you end up with a much hardier snail. Typically the
asteras reproduce fairly easily, at least mine do.

• using non purified tap water. are you using ro or di water? You should.

• Old light bulbs. I remember you had just got a new light setup.. are the lamps new?

• overfeeding I would only feed every 3 days or so

• in adequate skimming what kind of skimmer are you using? a backpak is probably good for a 30.

• how old is the resin in the ro/di?  you know that gets expended.. maybe have to replace it

• sounds like the algae is getting a food source from somewhere... I have to think its the source water.

If you have high nitrates ... you probably have some kind of media?? in a filter? that produces nitrate. Usually the amount of liverock you have will easily de-nitrify the nitrate 1 lb to 1.75 lb per gal does it, 
you say you have 110 watts from what I remember you purchased a much more powerful setup than that. 
Look into the source water



 My skimmer is the backpak. I have the blue bio material in the backpak and wash the sponge on the front out three times a week.  Do I need to remove all of the bio material  at once??
Ok it will probably take about a week for you to see noticeable drop in nitrate, but you should definitely see much lower numbers in that time span. You also *may* see an increase of ammonia (don't worry about it) as the bacteria relocate to your rock & sand. Again, without knowing your tank... I would suspect the water, silicates usually. Maybe time for a redo of the internals of the water purification system?

 I have been changing water one week then the next.  Its a 30 gal with 30 lbs live rock 2 inches of crushed coral substrate bak pak filter skimmer and 110 watt of light. I have huge bushes of hair algae and my nitrates are 70 or so.  I have been considering a CPR wet dry filter would this help my problem or make it worse???  Would I need a sump box??  Please help real frustrated...

The most common causes for algae are

A wet dry will produce nitrate so I would definitely not use it 

I would, I bet that is where the nitrate is coming from. Remove it and then test the nitrate in a week or so. I bet you have zero

I plan to test Nitrate again tonight the tank looks better overall tonight  than before I did this get rid of algae stuff. 

Simplified Reefkeeping

Cloudy water problem in my reef tank

History:  62 gal. plexi that has been up and running for a year and a half.  Conditions have been real good until about a month or so ago.  Brownish/clouded water has been plaguing it.  I have a Fluval 303 canister filter and a CPR Backpack protein skimmer.  2 powerheads and a good heater.  I do 30% water changes every month along with changing the carbon in the Fluval. The tank used to stay crystal clear but not any more!  So far I have done extra water changes, bought two new bulbs (daylight and actinic) because the daylight was a year and a half old and the actinic 9 mos. old.  There has not been much in the way of algae on the surfaces (no more than usual towards the end of
  the cycle) but there has been a lot of tiny bubbles in the water and many have been accumulating on the Plexiglas.  I do NOT have an air stone and the protein skimmer does not seem to be putting many bubbles into the water. When I took a water sample out to show the local fish store, it was brownish/cloudy at first but then cleared up with just “dark brown cob web looking things floating around”.  All my water tests (ph, kWh, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) have been great forever.  I tried covering the tank with blankets for a three day period to keep all light out in the hopes of killing a strange algae strain, but it didn’t do much.  My last water change was 50% about a week ago.  I’m almost ready to take my fish into a store and drain my tank and start all over.  Please help.  Any suggestions or question that I may answer would be greatly appreciated.–

  Humm.. this is a stumper
  Do you use reverse osmosis or deionized water? If so when was the last time you replaced the resin? The resin has a certain life span depending on the impurities of your
  water.  I would look into that.  Your maintenance sounds very good so I leads me to the source water.  Another thing is that canister filters are not generally used on modern reef tanks. I would seriously consider getting rid of it or if you must use it for a pump then remove the internal media. The internal media becomes a nitrate factory.. something you *Don’t* want or need.  do you have a sump? or area where you could put a fairly large amount of carbon where the water doesn’t have to flow *through* but around. Using sizable amounts of carbon this way will generally strip most any questionable material from the tank. I would go to a paint store and ask for nylon pain strainer bags about .50 ea. and use them to hold the carbon. In a 60 gallon tank I would use approx 3 to 4 oz of carbon at a time (in the bag) for about 3 to 4 days then replace and continue for 2 or 3 applications. If you see an improvement continue, if for some strange reason your corals react badly… discontinue use. They shouldn’t but one never knows.  Also, the small bubbles may be being created by not having enough skimming. It could be small particulate matter coming from the fluval.  I know a
  backpack is rated for a 60 but that’s probably pushing it. You may want to thorough clean the skimmer and possibly consider upgrading to a larger
  model.

What do I need for a Successful Reef Tank?

ITEM w/APPROX. COST

All the items here are needed for a successful reef tank

Note: these are approx retail prices,your cost may vary.

1. Deionizer or reverse osmosis water purifier $ 270
2. Resin for above, to replace every 6 months: 1 gal. $ 60
3. Bulbs: 48″ actinic blue & actinic white, 4 @ $25 $100
4. 30″ protein skimmer (Venturi)* $300
5. Pressure pump for skimmer, 500 to 600 GPH $90
6. Carbon pre filters for tap water: 1 @ $60, 1 @ $25 $85
7. Cartridges for above: 2 @ $12, 1 @ $5 $29
8. Sump box (for prefilter)* $150
9. Material, 6 packages floss prefilter $50
10. Main pump 500 to 600 GPH $90
11. Tank: 55 gallons* $70
12. Tank stand* $75
13. Light canopy to house four 48″ bulbs (with VHO ballast)* $300
14. Salt mix: 1 for setup for 55 gallon tank $18
15. Salt mix for water changes $18
16. Phosphate test kit $20
17. Test kit for ammonia, pH, nitrite, nitrate $45
18. Test kit for K.H. $12, calcium $12 $24
19. Specific gravity meter $12
20. Misc. (books, power strips, Kalkwasser, trace elements, etc.) $100

TOTAL: $1,906

* These items can easily be made by the hobbyists to save money, my book shows you how! Plus! other items not on the list. . .

What else do I need?

There are a couple of items I left out, such as a wave maker or surge buckets, timers for the lights, electronic pH testers, a generator in the event of a power outage, etc. I omitted these from the startup figure because they are not absolutely essential at the very beginning. They are important, beneficial components, but they can be added to the system later on if you prefer.

Simplified Reefkeeping

What is the best way to "CYCLE" a Reef Tank?

CYCLE THE TANK WITH LIVE ROCK ONLY

Step 1. Purchase all (or if your budget is low at the time, get at least 1/2) of the live rock you will use in your reef aquarium, and proceed to step 2. When ready, get the second 1/2 of the rock.

Step 2. When all the live rock is in the tank, test for ammonia and nitrite. You need to get a zero reading, which could take 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the amount of die-off on the rock. Do not proceed to step 3 until steps 1 and 2 are complete.

Step 3. Begin to add inverts (clams, shrimp, starfish, crabs, snails) . Add a few at a time, checking ammonia and nitrite. After all inverts are added to the reef aquarium, and the test results for ammonia and nitrite are zero, proceed to add your corals, a few at a time. Continue to test for ammonia and nitrite until all your corals are added. When the readings are at zero (this will usually take about 2 weeks, possibly longer), proceed to add the fish in the same manner as above, until all the fish have been added to the reef tank.

Cycling the reef tank with live rock is the simplest, most trouble-free way to start a reef tank.

Step 4. When the test in the aquarium results read zero, and you begin to test and record nitrate, your tank is completely cycled. When you cycle this way, the live rock does most of the conditioning. This is the way to start your system. It is definitely the safest procedure, because it is hard to know how much die-off the live rock has on it. This way you won’t endanger the valuable, delicate specimens you will add later. Remember, only bad things happen fast. You will need to exercise patience, resisting the impulse to do things in reverse. Remember: live rock first, inverts second, corals third, and fish last. You are now up and running. This will take about 2 to 6 weeks, possibly longer.

Once all the rock is in the tank, the cycling of the water in the reef aquarium will begin. In approximately three days, there should be a measurable amount of ammonia. Test and record the ammonia at this time. Continue to test and record it at three to four-day intervals. The reading will rise and rise, until one day it will drop off and be zero. At that time, begin to test for nitrite.

The nitrite cycle is very similar to the ammonia cycle, so use the same procedure as described for ammonia. Do not become alarmed with the test results! This is the cycling process, and the tank will balance out! As long as you do not have any fish, inverts or coral in the tank, you have nothing to worry about. Be patient, let nature take its course, and the tank will cycle.

When the nitrite test reads zero, you should begin to test for nitrate. You will get only very faint nitrate readings, because the tank is now balanced and has virtually no bio-load (waste products from fish, invertebrates, etc.).

When the bacteria “catch up” (multiply to process the waste in the tank), you will get zero readings of ammonia and nitrite The reef tank has now had its first and largest cycle. When you add more livestock, this will increase the waste load, and the bacteria will have to multiply and catch up with the increased load. You will get mini-cycles of ammonia and nitrite when you add livestock. These small cycles will be insignificant as long as you don’t add too many creatures at once. Begin by adding inverts, two to three at a time, until they are all in. Do the same with the corals (possibly slower because of the cost). Test for ammonia and nitrite a few days after each addition. If the test results are zero, proceed to add creatures as described until all inverts and corals are added. Give them a week or so to acclimate. Test for ammonia and nitrite. When they register zero, and the inverts and corals appear to be well adjusted, you are ready to add fish in the same manner as described.

More details are in the book Simplified Reefkeeping

Simplified Reefkeeping