Skinz's big boy tank.

[skinz78]

My LED's made my Z N P's look funny, especially the Hawaiian PE's.

 

[skinz78]

Well I've got good news and even gooder news LOL.

I've been away for a few days for a scheduled um, staycation lol. I figured while I was out of the house I'd turn the lights off on the tank and leave them off. I just came home after two days lights out and I can see that about 80% of the Hair Algae is gonezo!

Now for the gooder news, the reason I've been away from the house....

My wife Sarah and I have welcomed a new frag into the world! Alyse Kathryn was born yesterday morning and weighs 7lb 9oz and is just shy of 20"!

She's a wabbit!

Big sis approves!

 

[prsnlty]

Awe! Chris, she's a beautiful baby, they're both beautiful! Congratulations on the new frag and the tank!

 

[J Rog]

Congrats!

 

[skinz78]

Thanks!

 

[skinz78]

Have I mentioned that I hate Hair Algae, as soon as I turned the lights back on the algae is visually making a strong comeback.

 

[Aquaph8]

Sorry about the hair algae Chris! How old is big sis, she's a cutie.

 

[luxauterna]

Congrats !!! Best kind of frag ever . How are the lighting requirements on this one?

 

[prsnlty]

Chris, the only way I stopped it when my 150 had it was taking my rock out, soaking in hydrogen peroxide then rinsing in rodi. Heavy wc at the same time, blackout then vodka dosing.

 

[TruRacr314x]

Congrats on the frag...as you already know, kids are amazing. I have a frag I've been growing out for about 4 years now! How do you say her name...like Alice or Alyssa?

 

[Rob&Gab]

Beautiful little frag! Love the bunny hat

 

[fishroomlady]

awwww.......SO cute! congratulations to you and your family! Thumbs up from big sis is a very good sign

 

[skinz78]

Sorry about the hair algae Chris! How old is big sis, she's a cutie.

Chloe is 5 now and a big helper!

Congrats !!! Best kind of frag ever . How are the lighting requirements on this one?

Haha she hates bright lighting.

Chris, the only way I stopped it when my 150 had it was taking my rock out, soaking in hydrogen peroxide then rinsing in rodi. Heavy wc at the same time, blackout then vodka dosing.

Yeah, I need to get some sort of Phosphate control going, I'm thinking of trying the Phosphate Rx.

Congrats on the frag...as you already know, kids are amazing. I have a frag I've been growing out for about 4 years now! How do you say her name...like Alice or Alyssa?

Thanks, it's like Elise just spelled differently.

Beautiful little frag! Love the bunny hat

Thanks!

awwww.......SO cute! congratulations to you and your family! Thumbs up from big sis is a very good sign

Yes indeed it is!

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

[afamousjohnson]

Haha love that hat. Glad everything went well. Congrats!

 

[MrDJeep123]

Congrats on the little one!

 

[Saltgator]

Congrats Chris and family. Looking good. I hate hair algae too. Mexican turbos did the job for me visually and Seaklear dosing wiped my po4 out.

 

[cginter]

No not at all. I was using Nualgi and I think that's what caused it. Some people have had great success with it, but I'm not one of them.

I also tried nualgi and also quit using it after about a month and a half, and I CANNOT GET RID OF THIS HAIR ALGAE. I've done w/c twice a week and keep cleaning the rocks and glass but it just never stops. I had a convo with a rep from nualgi and was told that the product purged the nutrients out of my sand bed... Whatever that means.

But congrats on the kid and hope for a speedy recovery with your tank!

 

[skinz78]

Haha love that hat. Glad everything went well. Congrats!

Congrats on the little one!

Thank you!

Congrats Chris and family. Looking good. I hate hair algae too. Mexican turbos did the job for me visually and Seaklear dosing wiped my po4 out.

Thanks, yeah I've had success with turbos in the past as well. Gonna add some more of them for sure.

I also tried nualgi and also quit using it after about a month and a half, and I CANNOT GET RID OF THIS HAIR ALGAE. I've done w/c twice a week and keep cleaning the rocks and glass but it just never stops. I had a convo with a rep from nualgi and was told that the product purged the nutrients out of my sand bed... Whatever that means.

But congrats on the kid and hope for a speedy recovery with your tank!

Thank you, I haven't contacted them as of yet but I plan too... This crash is getting expensive.

 

[skinz78]

Well I got a response to my email to Nualgi... I guess it isn't possible to have excessive hair algae growth and low phosphates because the HA is using up all the phosphates making a low reading... I've always read information that told me otherwise though..

Once again, we are sorry for your loss. With so much water under the bridge it is hard to pinpoint a reason. As you may know, Nualgi is working extremely well in thousands of tanks. So it is logical to conclude that the reason for your loss is either a pathogen or parasite entering your tank or Nualgi reacting with something. With limited information we are unable to say which one it is. At the very least we expect our customers to reach out to us as soon as they see an issue crop up during Nualgi dosing. If we cannot understand what reaction Nualgi is causing then we simply ask that it is not dosed any further and any excess nutrients causing algae be exported through water changes and other nutrient removers. As you know we shipped you a sample in April and to have a complaint in September does not give us a reasonable opportunity to right something going wrong.



Just as it is important to you to find out what could have happened, it is also important for us to figure this out so we can prevent reoccurrence. To this end we work with an aquarium maintenance company that maintains a large number of tanks and have been in the business for 30 years. They help us troubleshoot user issues and are supported by a marine biologist. They spent considerable time reviewing your information and based on their reading of your situation, here are some thoughts from them.



1. In case of a die off of this magnitude, we believe the phosphate levels cannot be as low as 0.003.



2. A parasite in the aquarium is often a reason for fish and coral death.



3. In my experience, refugiums have been a source of tanks crashing. I never recommend them to my clients.



4. I generally recommend a sand bed of no more than ½” to 1/3”. Anything more than this is a trap for detritus and cause of excess nutrients and algae.



5. Chris was dosing 12 ml for a 220 plus 40 gal sump. After allowing for rock and sand displacement, it appears he overdosed by 3 ml per week!



I am sure you will not find this to be a conclusive explanation and we wish it was otherwise. However under the circumstances, this is the best we can offer.

Funny thing is I was dosing what they originally told me to dose in my tank too.

 

[skinz78]

My response to this message:

In case of a die off of this magnitude, we believe the phosphate levels cannot be as low as 0.003.

SO the excessive Hair Algae growing in the tank isn't using up the phosphates causing a low reading?



2. A parasite in the aquarium is often a reason for fish and coral death.


I haven't had any fish deaths, and the corals are dieing due to being covered in algae. The corals that are near the powerheads where the flow is strong are not dieing because the algae cannot cover them.



3. In my experience, refugiums have been a source of tanks crashing. I never recommend them to my clients.


So a refugium with just Chaeto, and 3 types of Caluerpa is a bad thing? No sand or rock, just algae and a light...



4. I generally recommend a sand bed of no more than ½” to 1/3”. Anything more than this is a trap for detritus and cause of excess nutrients and algae.


I've never heard anyone suggest this unless they full on love bare bottom tanks.



5. Chris was dosing 12 ml for a 220 plus 40 gal sump. After allowing for rock and sand displacement, it appears he overdosed by 3 ml per week!


I dosed what you told me to dose in the email you sent me when I signed up...

I am also going to post a thread in the chem forum to see what others may say, including Randy Holmes Farley.