Couple of questions

[gclackum]

I'm getting what appears to be a purple brown algae bloom on my sand and some old coral skeletons. It mutiplys with my lighting usage. What is it (diatoms) how do I rid myself of it? Also Is Green Algae bad?

Is there a LFS where I can purchase Prolly Epoxy?

 

[washowi]

Cynobacteria...It should go away, It is bad but not really...I happens.. Make sure the areas have GOOD flow and reduce lighting time..

Not much more I can add until I know tank history, loads in the tank, feeding, flow size.. etc.....

 

[glxtrix]

todd is right, also what is your parameters at, how often do you do water changes and how old are the lights? There unfortunately is a lot that can contribute to cyno and GHA. Until we get some more info on the tank the onlt thing that I can say is do a few water changes throughout the week to reduce phosphates and right befor your lights go out, syphon out some of the cyno, this will help a bit in the reduction of it.

 

[gclackum]

I am faithful with my water changes. 15 Gal every two weeks max. Tank is 125 Gal. Lights 494 watts power compacts. 364 watts eight months old, 130 watts two months old. Did a dip strip check everything is good except Nitrates are high and ph may be a bit low around 8.

 

[tsciarini]

how long has the tank been setup?

can you take a pic of the algae?

 

[vettesarebest]

i have some cyno and i just treated it today with some stuff i forget what it is called i think it is ultra life or something. anyways i have put my powerheads near the bottom now so ill let you know on that one. Also i have ALOT of bubbles in my sand is this BAd and how can i get ride of it? it is anoying. i stir up my sand and the next day its back. i have about a 2 1/2 to 3'' sand bed

 

[gclackum]

eight months, however just had an outbreak of ick, used ruby reef don't know if that would have caused the problem. Can take a picture will post it tomorrow.
How about a place to by the epoxy, I have a sun coral that keeps toppling I want to attach its rock to a bigger rock.

 

[showtime305]

Can you test for phosphates?

 

[gclackum]

Showtime305 wrote: Can you test for phosphates?

Don't have the test kit.

 

[glxtrix]

phospahates are most likely high, hence the gha; how often do you feed? Epoxy you can buy at pretty much any lfs I believe, you could also goto any place and buy super glu gel, that works with everything.

 

[showtime305]

High nitrate and phosphate levels will help cyno thrive in your tank. You should work on getting you nitrates reduce and test for phosphate soon.

 

[showtime305]

Do you use RO or RO/DI water?

 

[gclackum]

Water changes,best solution to get phosphates and nitrates down?

 

[glxtrix]

yup. And wet skimming.

 

[showtime305]

Yes, but you may need to figure out what caused the high levels before you beat this problem. High nitrates and phosphate levels are usually a sign of excess nutrients in you tank. This could come from overfeeding.

 

[showtime305]

If it's overfeeding, either increase the amount of water you change out or reduce feeding to avoid the excessive build up.

 

[washowi]

Just don't use plain tap water....I am sure you aren't, but had to say..If you use alot of flake food, you will have phospates...But I feed three times a day or more, So I may be the only odd ball about overfeeding..I don't buy that.. But if you are feeding and don't have clean up crews or food sits to long ..yes I would agree

You have anything going on likr that?

Do you make your own RO/DI water? Get from somewhere? Test it..

What about flow? You never said what you use? How many....etc

 

[showtime305]

Overfeeding in a young tank with or without a clean up crew will yield different results than overfeeding and established tank.

 

[washowi]

I am curious..why? If the tank has cycled... and you have enough rock for bacteria...you have the proper inverts and verts....to do the job on clean up the leftovers...now granted if the food is just sitting all over the place for hours and no one downing the food.

But the dude isn't offering much to us..How many fish? How nuch he/she feeds...what the heck the tank is!

So we are guessing and your point is taken, but I still want to know why?

My 90 gallon is 1.5 years old. Have fed like that from day 1..was I lucky? I will tell ya that I transfered contents my 55 to the 90 and added stuff weekly. But I have been a 3 times a day feeders since my first cycling

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black;">I wouldn't consider feeding 3 times per day overfeeding. Overfeeding is feeding more food than your fish and/or cleanup crew will consume, which I'm sure you already know. You may be feeding acceptable portions 3 times per day. The only reason why I mention tank maturity is because of the denitrifying bacteria takes longer to build up in our tank. From what I've always read, it's one of the last nutrient removing bacteria to grow.</span>