sstanle4;906469 wrote: Just to clear things up... and to kind of start over.
From the beginning...
Hi. I'm a biology major at the University of West Georgia currently studying the nitrogen cycle of lotic and lentic ecosystems in my aquatic ecology class. I've been into reef keeping going on three years now and I've been battling hair algae in my 36 gallon aquarium for the past two months. I have been plucking and siphoning the algae out of my display tank. I've done research online about this algae and have added the following organisms in hopes of decreasing the algae: four emerald crabs, three (huge!) Mexican turbo snails, 40 other various snails (ceriths, nassarius, nerites, astreas, turbos), and a starry blenny. I have a 20 gallon sump with a protein skimmer (don't know the brand, it's redneck rigged, but it works... most of the time!). In the sump, I have bags of ChemiPure Elite, PhosGuard, Matrix, and an extra bag of carbon. Total water volume is probably about 45 gallons or so.
No luck.
When the hair algae started, I completely cleaned my sump out; I *had* a refugium with chaeto that had recently died and I knew that had to be the cause. I completely vacuumed the bottom of my sump, getting every smidgen of grossness I could find/reach with a hose. I replaced all my bags with new media. (I have had this once before; I added CPE and Matrix and it went away.) None of this was working. All the while, I've been doing big water changes - once a week: 7-10 gallons. In addition, while plucking/siphoning, about 2 gallons every third day or so - yes, it's growing that fast. (In my previous post I stated "Water changes once every two weeks". That's our normal routine.)
We have an RODI unit that has taken over my bathroom. We usually make enough saltwater for the water changes and store it in the white 5 gallon jugs from the lfs and keep our fresh with a heater ready to go in a Brute for top-off.
We feed all (five) of our tanks once a day or once every other day. Sometimes we get caught up in our school work and classes and forget - so sometimes every third day.. (Oops!) I always (ALWAYS) watch my fish when I feed. Our fish are fatties - especially mine. My clown is probably over 3 years old and would eat your hand if you'd let her. When I feed, I make sure to put a little bit in at a time. I wait to make sure everyone eats, then move on to the next tank. I'm really OCD about feeding because I know excess will turn to nitrates.
We have always run our tanks on 12 hour days. I know that's a lot, but we've never had any problems with it. A couple algae outbreaks in 3 years? That's nothing. They were usually fixed by water changes and addition of extra/new media. I guess mine is just stubborn!
While plucking/siphoning the other day, I noticed my LEDs have changed colors. I asked a fellow reefer if that could cause my algae growth and he said that it was possible. I contacted the seller and he said "that's weird" and that had "nothing to do with my algae growth" and told me to ship him my light so he could "take a look". I can't do that - I only have one light. And I don't have the money to ship it to him right now.
I've been looking into vodka dosing (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/</a>) but I'm not entirely sure I feel safe with doing it. (New things scare me...) I've read it can cause bacterial bloom... and it could (or could not) kill some of my corals... I'm not sure I want to take that risk!
And about the sea hare... we had one at one time... and it gave me nightmares! Creepy little critters! I'm terrified it would die and nuke my tank completely... (Again.. New things scare me. lol)
I tested my water today with my API kit and a Red Sea kit. These were my results:
API: pH 7.8, dKH 9, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20-30, Ammonia 0
RS: pH 7.6, dKH 7, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 30-40, Ammonia 0
...to the end. My life story. lol I hope I covered everything.[/QUOTE]
[B]your nitrates are very high, and as previously noted, your phosphates are 99% sky high.[/B]
[B]here is a quick fix (you'll see results in 3-4 weeks)[/B]
[B]1.[/B] change out <u>30% of you water 2 times a week </u>(then after 4 weeks, do the same once a week...forevevr....
[B]2.[/B] buy this:
[IMG]http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-gfo-carbon-reactor-dual.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-gfo-carbon-reactor-dual.html</a>
[B]this:[/B]
[IMG]http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-bulk-gfo-granular-ferric-oxide.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-bulk-gfo-granular-ferric-oxide.html</a>
[B]and this:[/B]
[IMG]http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-bulk-large-particle-lignite-aquarium-carbon.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-bulk-large-particle-lignite-aquarium-carbon.html</a>
Rinse media well with RO/DI add <u>one cup each of GFO & Carbon and change out WEEKLY!</u>
leaving carbon, gfo, and the like in bags in your sump will have minimum results which is what you are seeing......just wasting money & time......
[B]3.[/B] ANY rock that you want instant results you can treat outside the tank with H2O2 for 10 minutes, rinse with salterwater, and place back in tank......insure any corals don't get treated.
That's it.
