Ready for throwing in the towel!!!

[theuksnoobreefer]

Hey all

Just after some help, as per usual!

My Fluval Evo 13.5 has been up and running since May 25 and I'm having nothing but issues.

I've recently experienced lots of bright green algae on my sand bed, redish coloured on the rocks (cyano?) and some hair algae.

I feed every other day, one quarter of mysis shrimp, here's my stocking:

• Six Line Wrasse
• Flametail Blenny
• 2x Hermit (one is a red leg, one is a common)
• Strawberry Conch
• Tuxedo Urchin
• Emerald Crab
• 5x Nassarius (recently purchased these in the hope they'd turn the sand)
• 2x Trochus snails

I also make my own RODI water using this unit https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122094639916?var=421127166939, and I also mix my own salt using Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt. I do a 10% water change weekly.

Here are my most recent testing results:

• Salinity - 1.025
• Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5-10 (Salifert card is hard to read)
• Phos - 0.03 (unsure if this is actually higher, but the algae is consuming it)

I've been dosing Microbacter 7 for weeks now and have not noticed any changes. I'm on top of water changes and ensuring my filter floss is changed once it shows a bit of discolouration.

Now, just out of the blue, I thought I'd test my RODI that's been in my water can for 3 days ish. I usually fill 2x 10L jerry cans weekly.
The results of the RODI were:

• Nitrate - 0
• Phosphates - 0.25 - 1 (Salifert card is impossible to differentiate).

Could this be the cause? I have not changed any of the filters on my RODI system as my TDS pen shows zero. I ensure I test with the pen every time I'm about to fill up a container.

I've attached some photos, but I'm ready for throwing in the towel, constantly throwing money at it for no return lol.

I do not run any white lights, just turned them to white for the photos.

 

[CoralB]

What type of filtration for the R.O.D.I. What’s in your water ? Have you sent out to test your water ? Could you have a high amount of silicates in your water ?

 

[Kooma]

So you either have leaching from the buckets or the RODI system. Take a test of the water as it comes out of your RODI unit and test it, if its 0, throw away your buckets and do a 75% or greater water change.

Give it a month to settle out and see how it goes. most new tanks are rather green. Algae isnt bad, you just dont have anything in there that eats it so it grows and grows. I had 3" long flowy hair algae in my tank at one point before I finally decided to get a pin cushion urchin. The tuxedo wont do much for you with what you have.

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

So you either have leaching from the buckets or the RODI system. Take a test of the water as it comes out of your RODI unit and test it, if its 0, throw away your buckets and do a 75% or greater water change.

Give it a month to settle out and see how it goes. most new tanks are rather green. Algae isnt bad, you just dont have anything in there that eats it so it grows and grows. I had 3" long flowy hair algae in my tank at one point before I finally decided to get a pin cushion urchin. The tuxedo wont do much for you with what you have.

Yeah, as it comes out of the unit it's testing at zero. I'm gonna do some straight from the tap into my test vial and see if that is zero phosphates.

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

So, I've just tested the container my water is in with the tds meter, reads zero. Tested the water inside my ATO reservoir, reads zero. Both containers are food grade.

I'm baffled as to where this algae is coming from. In the morning it's non existent as my conch has put a shift in over night, but during the day its ridiculous.

 

[Kooma]

if it

Yeah, as it comes out of the unit it's testing at zero. I'm gonna do some straight from the tap into my test vial and see if that is zero phosphates.

If it is 0 coming out of your RODI, what is in the tap doesn't really matter. toss those jerry cans.

I recently setup an old tall tank I have for a mixing station, I haven't been a big fan of the plastic mixing tubs. See if anyone near you has an old 20 or so gallon tank for sale to use instead.

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

What type of filtration for the R.O.D.I. What’s in your water ? Have you sent out to test your water ? Could you have a high amount of silicates in your water ?

Here is the filters for the RODI:

Filter 1: Sediment filter cartridge removes sand, rust, silt and other sediments up to 5 Micron

Filter 2: Activated carbon filter removes chlorine and organic compounds

Filter 3: Reverse osmosis high quality membrane (we offer 50, 75, 100 and 150 GPD membranes). The RO membrane holds up to 99% of contamination from feed water. It successfully removes harmful organic and non-organic compounds, heavy metals and some bacteria and viruses. The efficiency of the membrane is shown in GPD units (gallons per day)

Filter 4: In-line deionization cartridge filled with high quality DI resin for complete demineralization of water.

I've not sent my water for a test, no.

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

if it

If it is 0 coming out of your RODI, what is in the tap doesn't really matter. toss those jerry cans.

I recently setup an old tall tank I have for a mixing station, I haven't been a big fan of the plastic mixing tubs. See if anyone near you has an old 20 or so gallon tank for sale to use instead.

The water is also reading zero inside those containers though?

Maybe I've misread, are you referring to zero tds or zero phosphates?

 

[Kooma]

So, I've just tested the container my water is in with the tds meter, reads zero. Tested the water inside my ATO reservoir, reads zero. Both containers are food grade.

I'm baffled as to where this algae is coming from. In the morning it's non existent as my conch has put a shift in over night, but during the day its ridiculous.

Its worth noting that 0 TDS doesnt mean 0 phosphates.

You said it yourself, you have 0 TDS on the meter, but test shows 0.03ppm and bucket is 0.2-1PPM phosphate.

With the accuracy of a TDS meter being within 2-5 TDS, your meter will show 0 TDS when your salifert test shows 0.2-1ppm phosphate.


TDS is a PPM measurement of total dissolved solids, and accuracy of meters is usually not all that great.

 

[SoWhatNow]

Yeah, as it comes out of the unit it's testing at zero. I'm gonna do some straight from the tap into my test vial and see if that is zero phosphates.

If you go to your water suppliers website, put your postcode in, you will get an analysis of your water, although phosphates are not listed the rest of the data is very useful.

This is mine, the analysis is 3 days old.

Parameter	Min	Average	Max	Units	Regulatory limit	Number of samples	%Failed
2,4-D	<0.0090	<0.0090	<0.0090	µg/l	0.1	1	0
Alkalinity as CaCO3	15.1	19.9	25.8	mg/l		9	0
Aluminium	<2.71	<9.95	18.7	µg Al/l	200	52	0
Ammonium (ammonia and ammonium ions)	<0.0322	<0.0385	<0.0540	mg NH4/l	0.5	7	0
Antimony	<0.310	<0.310	<0.310	µg Sb/l	5	8	0
Arsenic	<0.480	<0.480	<0.480	µg As/l	10	8	0
Benzene	<0.0780	<0.0808	<0.0830	µg/l	1	29	0
Benzo(a)pyrene	<0.0020	<0.0020	<0.0020	µg/l	0.01	8	0
Boron	<0.0127	<0.0157	<0.0199	mg B/l	1	32	0
Bromate	0.350	<0.589	0.670	µg BrO3/l	10	9	0
Cadmium	<0.0900	<0.0900	<0.0900	µg Cd/l	5	8	0
Calcium	7.84	11.1	16.1	mg Ca/l		52	0
Chloride	<12.3	<15.4	<18.3	mg Cl/l	250	29	0
Chromium	<0.830	<0.830	<0.830	µg Cr/l	50	8	0
Residual chlorine - Total	0.48	1.00	1.66	mg/l		130	0
Residual chlorine - Free	0.43	0.90	1.50	mg/l		128	0
Colony counts after 3 days at 22 deg C	0	3	150	number/1ml		52	0
Coliform bacteria	0	1	>100	number/100ml	0	129	0.78
Colour	<1.21	<1.89	3.30	mg/l Pt/Co scale	20	49	0
Conductivity	67.3	101	181	uS/cm at 20oC	2500	49	0
Copper	<0.0104	<0.0114	0.0146	mg Cu/l	2	8	0
Clostridium perfringens (including spores)	0	0	0	number/100ml	0	7	0
Cyanide	<3.91	<3.91	<3.91	µg CN/l	50	30	0
1,2-dichloroethane	<0.130	<0.156	<0.180	µg/l	3	29	0
E.coli	0	0	0	number/100ml	0	129	0
Enterococci	0	0	0	number/100ml	0	7	0
Fluoride	<0.180	<0.263	<0.270	mg F/l	1.5	54	0
Hardness Total as CaCO3	23	34	50	mg CaCO3/l		52	0
Iron	2.50	<10.6	88.0	µg Fe/l	200	52	0
Lead	<0.550	<0.550	<0.550	µg Pb/l	10	8	0
Magnesium	0.910	1.53	2.50	mg Mg/l		52	0
Manganese	<0.450	<1.49	6.26	µg Mn/l	50	52	0
MCPA	<0.0100	<0.0100	<0.0100	µg/l	0.1	1	0
Mercury	<0.130	<0.130	<0.130	µg Hg/l	1	26	0
Nickel	<0.770	<0.770	<0.770	µg Ni/l	20	8	0
Nitrite	<0.0076	<0.0082	<0.0099	mg NO2/l	0.5	8	0
Nitrate	<2.04	<2.35	3.10	mg NO3/l	50	8	0
(Nitrate)/50 plus (nitrite)/3	0.0160	0.0333	0.0620	mg/l	1	7	0
Odour (quantitative)	0	0	0	dilution number at 25oC	0	53	0
Total organic carbon	0.900	1.05	1.22	mg C/l		25	0
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (sum of 4 PAHs)	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	µg/l	0.1	9	0
Pesticides - Total	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	µg/l	0.5	1	0
Hydrogen ion (pH)	6.97	7.29	7.78	pH value	9.5	100	0
Selenium	<0.850	<0.850	<0.850	µg Se/l	10	8	0
Sodium	4.56	8.71	13.1	mg Na/l	200	10	0
Sulphate	8.33	15.4	25.4	mg SO4/l	250	27	0
Taste (quantitative)	0	0	0	dilution number at 25oC	0	52	0
Tetrachloromethane	<0.380	<0.444	<0.670	µg/l	3	9	0
Trihalomethanes - Total	23.9	32.8	49.8	µg/l	100	10	0
Tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	µg/l	10	9	0
Turbidity	<0.10	<0.16	<0.24	NTU	4	49	0

ETA: I should caveat this with the fact most of the samples are from your local pumping station, so what happens between there and your tap is unknown....

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

Its worth noting that 0 TDS doesnt mean 0 phosphates.

You said it yourself, you have 0 TDS on the meter, but test shows 0.03ppm and bucket is 0.2-1PPM phosphate.

With the accuracy of a TDS meter being within 2-5 TDS, your meter will show 0 TDS when your salifert test shows 0.2-1ppm phosphate.


TDS is a PPM measurement of total dissolved solids, and accuracy of meters is usually not all that great.

Ok so, I've just tested phosphates again.

Straight out of my RODI system = 0

I've also took some of the water directly from my jerry can container into the vial and that also reads 0.

I think the glass I used before may have had some contaminants in it which is why phosphates were showing.

So now I'm even more baffled as to why I've got all this horrid green algae. I thought I had found the issue :/

 

[painter1982]

Maybe try using some premix boxed saltwater for a while. Sounds like your di isn’t catching the phosphate or silicates. Do you use a mixed bed di resin? Maybe the phosphate catching di is depleted. It goes pretty fast if levels are very high. Try shorten the light period too. If you don’t have coral it won’t hurt the fish.

 

[exnisstech]

Looks like a young tank going through an ugly phase to me. I've found it to be unavoidable unless I start with seasoned live rock and bare bottom

 

[MikeReefs]

Honestly your tank doesn’t even look bad your cuc will take take care of it but it will take time

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think its rather minimal and your over-reacting. Your tank looks exactly like a 4-5 month old tank should. Tanks go through algae phases in the first year as they mature.

Actually good on you for not letting the algae get out of control, it looks like a few tufts on the ends of the rocks and along the sand, I would bet those are low flow spots. Try increasing the flow a little, and keep up the maintenance and add a few more snails and realize this is normal. I wouldn't make any drastic changes, you're already doing everything correctly IMO, now you have to build the biomme. Not by adding bottled bacteria but with rubble from someone else's tank, or more corals. Only thing I would do differently is to feed your fish a little more often. Honestly not many people have a beautiful tank in just 3 or 4 months, it takes time.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I have 13.5 also and i agree it doesn't look to bad, just a bad ugly phase. I personally think you need more rock, which will help with more biological filtration. Not sure it will help with this though. bio diversity can be huge!
If you are part of a local club, talk to members about getting a piece of rubble from a couple peoples established tanks. may sound insignificant but can play a huge roll in jump starting a tank

 

[MikeReefs]

I think its rather minimal and your over-reacting. Your tank looks exactly like a 4-5 month old tank should. Tanks go through algae phases in the first year as they mature.

Actually good on you for not letting the algae get out of control, it looks like a few tufts on the ends of the rocks and along the sand, I would bet those are low flow spots. Try increasing the flow a little, and keep up the maintenance and add a few more snails and realize this is normal. I wouldn't make any drastic changes, you're already doing everything correctly IMO, now you have to build the biomme. Not by adding bottled bacteria but with rubble from someone else's tank, or more corals. Only thing I would do differently is to feed your fish a little more often. Honestly not many people have a beautiful tank in just 3 or 4 months, it takes time.

Second this my tank was spotless for 8 months then got hit with Dino’s for 5 months followed by Massive GHA for months I would of traded my tank for this anyday lmaoo

 

[PPBlimpy]

mine currently has what looks to be black cyano in the rocks. I have never seen it before. letting it play out because its cool looking. My 13.5 gets neglected compared to my 210. I started it just to throw extra BTA in when I find them walking in my 210. has 9 BTA currently and a lonely clown that wont touch them! go figure

 

[theuksnoobreefer]

I think its rather minimal and your over-reacting. Your tank looks exactly like a 4-5 month old tank should. Tanks go through algae phases in the first year as they mature.

Actually good on you for not letting the algae get out of control, it looks like a few tufts on the ends of the rocks and along the sand, I would bet those are low flow spots. Try increasing the flow a little, and keep up the maintenance and add a few more snails and realize this is normal. I wouldn't make any drastic changes, you're already doing everything correctly IMO, now you have to build the biomme. Not by adding bottled bacteria but with rubble from someone else's tank, or more corals. Only thing I would do differently is to feed your fish a little more often. Honestly not many people have a beautiful tank in just 3 or 4 months, it takes time.

How often would you feed? I'm just cautious about over feeding, that's all

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How often would you feed? I'm just cautious about over feeding, that's all

I feed 3-4 times a day, it might be a bit much for some people, but I usually suggest to feed small amounts at least twice a day. Just don't add more food than the fish can eat in about 30-60 seconds. If you still see food after a minute, add less next time. Its a bit of a learning curve that everyone goes through. Good luck