| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
kfowler 
Guest
Joined: March 03 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 27
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Topic: Help, my tank is turning green
Posted: March 03 2004 at 7:10pm |
|
I have a 55 gal reef the we are getting set up. It has been running for about 4 months. About 10 days ago algee started growing eveywhere. Anyone have any advice?
|
 |
Adam Haycock
Guest
Joined: August 23 2003
Location: Fiji
Status: Offline
Points: 2647
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 7:16pm |
How often are you doing water changes?
What type of filtration?
What type and how much livestock?
How much do you feed daily?
|
|
|
|
kfowler
Guest
Joined: March 03 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 27
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 7:38pm |
|
I have been changing about 10% of the water per week. (nitrates were about 80 now about 30) I have 2 bio-wheel 170's, 2 power heads and about 60 lbs of live rock. I have 8 fish and a few frags in tank right now( 20 hermits 15 snails also) I feed in the morning and in the evening. My lights are pc 220 w
|
|
kfowler
Guest
Joined: March 03 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 27
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 7:54pm |
here are a few pictures (not great sorry)
|
|
Adam Haycock
Guest
Joined: August 23 2003
Location: Fiji
Status: Offline
Points: 2647
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 8:24pm |
Are the wheels still in the filters? I use a biowheel on my 24 gallon and was told the wheel is not good for marine tanks since it is a "nitrate factory". If you removed the wheels, this may help.
You could also try feeding less often. Many people just feed once a day
|
|
|
|
ewaldsreef
Guest
Joined: December 07 2002
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3752
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 8:56pm |
|
There are so many factors with green hair algea. I had a battle with this in my tank and won but it takes allot of work. First off I would have to say your nitrate is to high, algea loves nitrate. I would remove the bio wheels just to be on the safe side.
1 I prefer ro water over tap water.
2 add more hermits tons of the little guys they are great.
3 do not add any more fish until you get this under control.
4 if you can add a refuguim this will help eat some of the excess nutrients.
5 try removing as much as your can by hand. A toothbrush also works really well for this ( I use my wifes). I even went as far as to set up another tank to clean the rock in.
6 make sure your bulbs are in good condition. ( they should be changed once a year) and try cuting the time they are on a little.
I hope you can find some of this advise usfull. It takes allot of time to remove hair algea.
|
|
Contact me for professional aquarium maintenance and localy grown coral frags. [URL=http://www.aquatitranquility.com][/URL]
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 9:00pm |
Don't remove the biowheel yet! You've got lots of fish and you're short on "nitrogen converters" (my term... trademarked  ). Those little wheels might be the only thing keeping your fish alive. Whatever you do, do it slowly.
What's your sandbed like? How deep? It looks like a fine sand. Do you have a sump where you can grow macro algae? If not, put some in your tank and start growing and harvesting it. What kind of circulation do you have?
It's a new tank, sometimes it takes a while for everything to kick in...
Edited by jfinch
|
|
|
|
Aquarium Creations
Pet Store
Joined: August 20 2003
Location: DRAPER
Status: Offline
Points: 3234
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 9:18pm |
|
Dang it Jon you beat me to it!!!!!!!!!
|
Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected]
|
|
Jake Pehrson
Admin Group
Joined: June 13 2002
Location: Murray, UT
Status: Offline
Points: 4279
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 03 2004 at 11:14pm |
What jfinch said.
In fact I would never remove them, but hey to each his own.
|
|
|
|
KeoDog
Guest
Joined: September 18 2002
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 884
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 04 2004 at 5:57am |
|
I also agree with what Jon said. Don't remove the biowheels. Also get some macro algae growing to compete. Do you have any fish that are algae eaters?
|
|
Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT)
300g reef
"A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand
|
|
Crazy Tarzan
Guest
Joined: September 12 2003
Location: Riverton, WY
Status: Offline
Points: 1681
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 04 2004 at 7:32am |
I've had luck by changing the lighting drastically for a few days. If you have seperate actinics and daylight bulbs try just turning on the actinics for a few days and see if that helps.
|
|
ssilcox
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: Sandy
Status: Offline
Points: 3428
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 04 2004 at 7:39am |
|
Ditto on Crazy Tarzan. You would be amazed at how much the algae with clear up without a major light source. With just actinics mine cleared up in a couple days.
|
|
Mark Peterson
Paid Member
Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
Status: Offline
Points: 21436
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 04 2004 at 9:54am |
Yikes, silica sand and no evidence of substrate bio-filtration.  I'm on the run but will comment later, or if you call my cell phone I can talk you through it  Mark 296-1563
|
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
|
|
kfowler
Guest
Joined: March 03 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 27
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 04 2004 at 7:46pm |
I am thinking about getting rid of the whole thing. I am very frustrated!
|
|
Crazy Tarzan
Guest
Joined: September 12 2003
Location: Riverton, WY
Status: Offline
Points: 1681
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 7:18am |
Don't get frustrated. Check your nitrate and phosphate levels, and try the light bit.
I had a fuzzy green aquarium for a few weeks--ask mark he saw it then, even took pictures for me. I went on a trip and left my actinics on for 3 or 4 days straight--no mh at all and just blue light continously. When I came back I had one of the cleanest looking aquariums I'd seen in a while. No more fuzzy green.
|
|
Adam Haycock
Guest
Joined: August 23 2003
Location: Fiji
Status: Offline
Points: 2647
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 8:16am |
I disagree on the biowheel issue. When my tank was running with it, my nitrates were always high. On a tip from many people on RC, I removed it and haven't been able to detect any nitrates since. From what I understand, the LR takes over the nitrification process.
Here is a one of about 15 threads I found saying biowheels are bad for reef tanks...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&thre adid=67854&highlight=biowheel
|
|
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 8:34am |
I'm not saying the biowheel is good (or bad). Personally, I don't think they're good for reef tanks, they function just like a wet/dry. If bacterial denitrification is to occur in your tank, then imo, it's got to be beneficial to have the nitrification occuring in close proximity to the anoxic/anaerobic region. Biowheels and wet/drys don't fit this model. But this disscusion is better for another thread...
It's hasty advice to tell someone to remove a good portion of their biofiltration without knowing more about their tank, imo. I don't know if he has good enough circulation, how well his sandbed is working (or not working). I didn't see a single coral or macro algae in those pictures. If he were to just pull both biowheels, his tank may cycle again. I suggest getting some macros (cheap) growing then slowly pull the wheels, one at a time. JMO.
|
|
|
|
Jake Pehrson
Admin Group
Joined: June 13 2002
Location: Murray, UT
Status: Offline
Points: 4279
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 8:43am |
Ammonia ---> Nitrite ----> Nitrate -----> Nitrogen
It doesn't matter if a bio-wheel or live rock is doing the first part of the nitrogen cycle. The ending Nitrate value will be the same.
The difference comes in having organisms (corals, algae, etc.) that can uptake the ammonia and nitrite before it is converted to nitrate. Sometimes a bio-wheel is too efficient and will not allow enough time for the organisms to absorb any of these compounds.
|
|
|
|
Adam Haycock
Guest
Joined: August 23 2003
Location: Fiji
Status: Offline
Points: 2647
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 8:51am |
Kristy, do some searches on Reef Central. There are many threads which discuss this issue in depth and a lot of personal experiences. IMO, if you took it slow like Jon suggested, you wouldn't have a problem and it should help your nitrate levels decrease.
|
|
|
|
Carl
Guest
Joined: September 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1346
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 05 2004 at 9:24am |
I ran a biowheel in my 29-gal for a long time and didn't have the high Na levels. This Mechanical/Biological Filtration was a big portion of my overall filtration until the system became established. I also ran carbon simultaneously, but it was more for the solids removal benefit. So, IME I must disagree with a biowheels lack of purpose or function. I would tend to believe that there are other significant factors going on here. Water quality would be my first suspicion. Are you using RO water?
IMO, tap water has too many nutrients in it. I first started with tap and started experiencing algae issues. When I started changing it out using RO, my algae got under control. but, this takes time to do.
Also, I would ease up on the feeding. I might think that there is just an abundance of nutrients in the water column, but I am not there to tell for sure. I also did not see how long your lighting cycle is. You can try reducing it which will generally affect the algae growth almost immediately. What type of fish are in your system? Do you have "herbivores". What type of hermits do you have in the system? My red leggeds LOVE hair algae. Just some food for thought.
Like Jon said, we need to know more to give the proper advice. Removing the biowheel from a relatively newer system COULD be an extreme with disasterous results.
|
|
In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
|
|
