Help with Green hair algae

[4ddiction]

Hi everyone, I tested the tank this morning, no feedings in the tank since last test on Friday. Alkalinty up to 8.8 from 8.7, Nitrates remain in the 4-8 range, and phosphates up from .64 to .80. I have not topped off the tank yet, but it is only about a gallon below the normal level, so yes some phosphates may have creeped from the rocks, but not a lot. The Rowaphos should arrive today or tommorow.

I do see a liitle more coralline algae today and maybe a bit more green hair as well. My protein skimmer has considerably more gunk in it this morning than usual.

For now I will keep the lights with the new programming and see what happens with the Rowaphos. I will do another water change on Friday, but will wait to see what the parameters look like (and Rowaphoe instructions) before deciding how large of a water change to perform.

Thanks for all the assistance!

http://rowaphos-calculator.com/

Will help you achieve your wanted levels

 

[DukeLeto]

http://rowaphos-calculator.com/

Will help you achieve your wanted levels

Thanks again 4ddiction. The Rowaphos arrived today and is in the tank. Will check parameters in a couple of days and probably do another water change on Friday.

 

[DukeLeto]

Hi Everyone. Added the Rowaphos Tuesday morning. Tested the tank today.

dkh fell from 8.8 to 7.0 Calcium 380 Magnesium 1360 Nitrate 4 Phosphate fell from .8 to .25

The tank look pretty ugly right now. Im planning to clean all the algae that I can by hand and then do a water change.

The skimmer is still pulling out more than usual. Im was planning to do a 20% water change tommorow but am thinking I should do a larger one. The Rowaphos said it was good for a month planning to leave it alone.

Does anyone have thoughts on the size of the water change or the reason for the fall in dkh? (Only fish, shrimp, hermits, snails and rock in the tank).

Thanks!

 

[4ddiction]

You might have to replace the rowaphos more often in the beginning. Most likely your rocks are full of phosphates. The rowaphos will be depleted rather quickly at first so keep on it. If the po4 starts to increase rather than decrease, replenish the rowaphos

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Remember to not let phosphates bottom out or you could get dinos. If you are using a phosphate absorber then why do a water change? They aren't crazy high so you could just let it do its thing. A 20% water change is only going to drop them by 20% anyway. That would mean 0.25 ppm down to 0.20 ppm.

I suspect you have lower pH causing the Ca and Alk to be lower too. I recommend testing pH and if low, then try a buffer.

 

[DukeLeto]

Remember to not let phosphates bottom out or you could get dinos. If you are using a phosphate absorber then why do a water change? They aren't crazy high so you could just let it do its thing. A 20% water change is only going to drop them by 20% anyway. That would mean 0.25 ppm down to 0.20 ppm.

I suspect you have lower pH causing the Ca and Alk to be lower too. I recommend testing pH and if low, then try a buffer.

Hi Bret,
Thanks for stopping by. I did the water change to get as much algae out of the tank as I could. I did a 20 gallon change today. I will test water paramters on Monday. I lowered the lighting programming again to max out at 30% intensity for now. Thanks for all the advise and help.

 

[DukeLeto]

Well, its still ugly, the water parameters are getting much better now. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[DukeLeto]

Tested water today Alkalinity had dropped to 7.3 Phosphates rose from .25 to .35. I will be away tomorrow taking delivery of my new aquarium! Will test everything again Thursday and if necessary continue with water change regimen and maybe replace rowaphos bag.

 

[DukeLeto]

I want to thank everyone for the help on getting this tank cleaned up. The phosphates did continue to leech up from .25 to .25 to .50. I did a large water change yesterday and tested the tank this morning. I also replaced the rowaphos. Current readings are temp 78.9, dkh 9.0, Salinity 1.025, Calcium 390, Magnesium 1360, Nitrate 3 and Phosphate .34. It looks like its just gonna take a lot of work to get the Phosphate levels in line. I have ordered a few more snails and hermits to munch on the algae. I guess im just going to have to find the virtue of patience. The tank does look much better and clearer. Thanks again for the help and recommendations.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Thanks for the update. Remember that hermits can go after snails for their shells no matter how many extra empty shells you add. Sometimes they just have to have THAT shell.

 

[DukeLeto]

Sad day..... I have been excited to be putting together my new 45 gallon reef tank at home only to come in this morning and find the four fish in my work tank we have been battling in this thread all dead. The hippo tang was not a surprise, she had not looked well for a while, but to lose her and a damsel, clownfish and apparently a goby (only ever seen him once or twice a week) between Saturday morning and Monday morning is disheartening. I will double check the water parameters later today, as obviously something has gone amiss, but on Friday afternoon the water tests were as good as they have ever been and protein skimmer had the normal amount of residue this morning.

 

[DukeLeto]

I just tested the water and nothing looks to out of place. Temp 78.9, Salinity 1.025, dkh 7.5 (from 9.0 3 days ago), phosphate .12 and Nitrate 4-8. I can see the nitrates being up a little maybe with the fish deaths. Not sure why dkh dropped that much. Only a tiny amount of coralline in the tank. No corals. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas let me know. I've got to decide whether or not I am going to keep this tank up and if not, if the fuji rock is worth saving.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Man that's rough... Sorry to hear it.

As for the cause, did you get a chance to check pH and ammonia? Everything else seems normal.

 

[DukeLeto]

Man that's rough... Sorry to hear it.

As for the cause, did you get a chance to check pH and ammonia? Everything else seems normal.

Hey thanks for chiming in Ammonia was 0 I do not have a ph test kit guess I need to get one as Im setting up a new reef tank at home.