Look into Two little fishies phosphate reactor.. I don't think it will hurt anything.. Water changes, phos media, and less feeding will help with algae..
New light cycle??
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what exactly is phos media??? is that a chemical???
Phos buster is a type of media, phosban, rowaphos.
I have always heard to use one made of Feric oxide, its not supposed to leach back into the water.. With a reactor you get better contact time..
I have always heard to use one made of Feric oxide, its not supposed to leach back into the water.. With a reactor you get better contact time..
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ok so do i need to buy a phos reactor type thing or can i just buy something i can drip into the water??
sorry i just have no clue what all this stuff means.
sorry i just have no clue what all this stuff means.
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Again, my advice is going to be skewed but lets get some background info first before we start into "you should buy this...."
Jay,
Do you use tap water for your tank water or are you using RO/DI water?
What type of algae did you have problems with before? What did you do to get rid of it or is it still there?
What type of filtration do you have on your tank? (If I remember, you have a HOB filter and a skimmer right?)
From there, I think we can come up with a plan. Most people are opposed to adding chemicals to a tank to kill algae. Chemicals do not really solve a problem. You still need to get to WHY your tank has algae. Take one of my tanks for example. I have major blooms going on right now. I have not done a water change in over two month, I do not have a skimmer on it right now, I have not had any clean up crew and I do not pay any attention to it right now. If I test my water, I am sure it will come up 90% clean of any ammonia, NO2, NO3 (Nitrates), or anything else. The algae has already turned it to food. (this is where people have a hard time following this talk( The algae feeds off the NO2 and NO3 in the tank. If you have a major algae field, most if not all of the NO2 and NO3 has already been absorbed by the algae for food. It will not show accurate levels in a water test! Now my problem is pretty easy to fix. Get to the root of the problem. Well right now the problem is an increase of heat in the tank due to my T-5 lights not being vented yet. Another source of the problem is that I have not been keeping up with any maintenance what-so-ever on the tank. And I have not gotten anything in there to eat the algae. So in one or two weekends worth the work I can have this thing in tip top shape. I just need to find the time. Now take my other tank for example. I dare you to find a speck of algae in there. I have not done a water change in two months, but I do have a good skimmer that is keeping up with the waste, I do have a complete ecosystem that takes care of any leftover food and waste, I have set up the system knowing that I want as little of maintenance as I can put into it so when I get busy I do not need to touch it. It did have an algae problem when it first started, a very bad problem, but I got to the source of the problems and corrected them one by one.
So the moral of the story is, a chemical can promise to kill the algae for you but in my 10 years, I have never found one that works and is good for you system. A LFS employee will try to sell you ANYTHING as a cure because they want to make a sale and a quick buck. The one thing you have to remember is, there are no quick fixes in this hobby.
Jay,
Do you use tap water for your tank water or are you using RO/DI water?
What type of algae did you have problems with before? What did you do to get rid of it or is it still there?
What type of filtration do you have on your tank? (If I remember, you have a HOB filter and a skimmer right?)
From there, I think we can come up with a plan. Most people are opposed to adding chemicals to a tank to kill algae. Chemicals do not really solve a problem. You still need to get to WHY your tank has algae. Take one of my tanks for example. I have major blooms going on right now. I have not done a water change in over two month, I do not have a skimmer on it right now, I have not had any clean up crew and I do not pay any attention to it right now. If I test my water, I am sure it will come up 90% clean of any ammonia, NO2, NO3 (Nitrates), or anything else. The algae has already turned it to food. (this is where people have a hard time following this talk( The algae feeds off the NO2 and NO3 in the tank. If you have a major algae field, most if not all of the NO2 and NO3 has already been absorbed by the algae for food. It will not show accurate levels in a water test! Now my problem is pretty easy to fix. Get to the root of the problem. Well right now the problem is an increase of heat in the tank due to my T-5 lights not being vented yet. Another source of the problem is that I have not been keeping up with any maintenance what-so-ever on the tank. And I have not gotten anything in there to eat the algae. So in one or two weekends worth the work I can have this thing in tip top shape. I just need to find the time. Now take my other tank for example. I dare you to find a speck of algae in there. I have not done a water change in two months, but I do have a good skimmer that is keeping up with the waste, I do have a complete ecosystem that takes care of any leftover food and waste, I have set up the system knowing that I want as little of maintenance as I can put into it so when I get busy I do not need to touch it. It did have an algae problem when it first started, a very bad problem, but I got to the source of the problems and corrected them one by one.
So the moral of the story is, a chemical can promise to kill the algae for you but in my 10 years, I have never found one that works and is good for you system. A LFS employee will try to sell you ANYTHING as a cure because they want to make a sale and a quick buck. The one thing you have to remember is, there are no quick fixes in this hobby.
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ok well I have a problem with green hair algae its a 29 gallon tank with 150watt mh I have a hob filter and thats it no skimmer or phos reactor and my water tested perfect. Does that help u with the info I need to get started solving the problem
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Yes I use tap water
Phosphates and nitrates can be hard to nail down. Most test kits don't do phosphates very well besides that though your hair algae could be consuming both thus lowering them to where tests have a hard time picking them up. You really have to test phosphates before the water is added into the tank. That said, using tap water is very likely the problem. Very little good comes from using it. I would stop immediately and switch to RO/DI.
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Yes.. Tap water is your problem. You will ALWAYS battle the risk of algae if using tap water. My advice, switch to RO water right away, throw a bag of carbon in your filter area, throw a small bag of purigen in your filter area, and get a skimmer. Screw the phosphate reactors and all that jazz. Your tank is too small to have to worry about any of that and with a little good husbandry, there is no need for one. That should help a bit...
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ok dumb question ro is filtered water I'm guessing where do I get it in bulk and for cheap.
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also what is a decent but good price on a skimmer any name brands or anybody have any used ones?????sorry for the bad English I'm at work posting from my iPhone
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Well for RODI water, if you do not want to buy a filter, your best bet is to go to a LFS and get some from them. You can get it with the salt aready in it too. If there is not a LFS around, you COULD try the publix RODI water from the water machine they have there. With the Publix water, there have been reports of them not keeping the filters up but it would be better then tap water by a mile.
As far as a skimmer, for a 29 gal tank I would look at:
An AquaC Remora,
The Aquamedic Midifloter or maybe the midifloter or the T1000 Multi,
You might be able to get away with a Seaclone 150,
A Coralife Super NW 65g,
A Coralvue BH100 or BH100F or BH100SS,
A CPR BakPak 2R+,
MRC MR-HOT3.5,
Pacific Coast Imports PS100 or PS100L,
Precision Marine HOT-1,
Redsea Prisim Deluxe or Prisim pro Deluxe,
A Skiller S400,
A Tunze Classic DOC 9205,
ViaAqua Deluxe
You know, just to name a few along all price points....
If you want to check out some ratings and comparisons click http://www.aquariumcontrollers.com/files/skimmers.html">here</a>. Make sure you thank Cameron for his hard work on that list.
If you want some more info about skimmers and the brands, [IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/proskimrart2.htm">This is not a bad place to look.</a> And after you read that you can read [IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/protein_skimmer_impressions.htm">this.</a>
As far as a skimmer, for a 29 gal tank I would look at:
An AquaC Remora,
The Aquamedic Midifloter or maybe the midifloter or the T1000 Multi,
You might be able to get away with a Seaclone 150,
A Coralife Super NW 65g,
A Coralvue BH100 or BH100F or BH100SS,
A CPR BakPak 2R+,
MRC MR-HOT3.5,
Pacific Coast Imports PS100 or PS100L,
Precision Marine HOT-1,
Redsea Prisim Deluxe or Prisim pro Deluxe,
A Skiller S400,
A Tunze Classic DOC 9205,
ViaAqua Deluxe
You know, just to name a few along all price points....
If you want to check out some ratings and comparisons click http://www.aquariumcontrollers.com/files/skimmers.html">here</a>. Make sure you thank Cameron for his hard work on that list.
If you want some more info about skimmers and the brands, [IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/proskimrart2.htm">This is not a bad place to look.</a> And after you read that you can read [IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/protein_skimmer_impressions.htm">this.</a>
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good deal thanks for all the help guys i will get out of the tap water and update in a week or so.
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do anemones shrivel up at night?? like do they shrink when they arent under high intense light???.
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o ok good haha i thought i had lost one there for a little bit. hey tnyga i noticed your breaking down your tank. You dont have anything left that would help me? any little frags or anything like that?
GSP the size of a baseball..3 head Candy Cane (each head is splitting) small frag of Zoas (green) emeralds, shrimp, pulsating xenia on a movable rock..clam, my SPS is going with the rock...a yellow tang and a cherub pygmy angel....Lights, tank, stand, all hardware still available...Im surprised someone isnt eating up the lights...great fixture
