i recently took over caring for 2 reef tanks, linked together, for a total volume of 65 gallons... the tanks are a bit less than a year into development, and for the past couple of months, there has been some nasty algae growing...
i like to call it "the funk." you cant take down the funk.
ive manually removed it, taken liverock out and scrubbed it, tried algone(?) algae removing packets, etc... and although its receding in the past few weeks, it pops up on other rocks again... including ones that i just cleaned! aaah!
pH is semi-stable between 8.15 and 8.4, nitrites and nitrates are virtually undetectable, very low ammonia, and alkalinity is a bit on the high side, around 7...
i think two of the problems are probably my porcupine fish, and puffer fish. the porcupine fish tends to create a fair amount of waste, which settles on the rocks despite 4 powerheads in the tank, and a fairly effective protein skimmer. and the puffer seems to really like hermit crabs as a snack...
an additional note, one of the two tanks is extremely clean. no algae, no debris, nothing nasty whatsoever.
lots of random info, i know... but, does someone have a suggestion? i'd like to stay as far away from chemical solutions as possible. they scare me.
oh yeah, other random question tagged on: can any harm come to a tank if oxygen levels are too high? i hooked up some air to a couple of the powerheads to see where the currents were going, and i just want to know whether i should leave them or not...
-agent oranje.
i like to call it "the funk." you cant take down the funk.
ive manually removed it, taken liverock out and scrubbed it, tried algone(?) algae removing packets, etc... and although its receding in the past few weeks, it pops up on other rocks again... including ones that i just cleaned! aaah!
pH is semi-stable between 8.15 and 8.4, nitrites and nitrates are virtually undetectable, very low ammonia, and alkalinity is a bit on the high side, around 7...
i think two of the problems are probably my porcupine fish, and puffer fish. the porcupine fish tends to create a fair amount of waste, which settles on the rocks despite 4 powerheads in the tank, and a fairly effective protein skimmer. and the puffer seems to really like hermit crabs as a snack...
an additional note, one of the two tanks is extremely clean. no algae, no debris, nothing nasty whatsoever.
lots of random info, i know... but, does someone have a suggestion? i'd like to stay as far away from chemical solutions as possible. they scare me.
oh yeah, other random question tagged on: can any harm come to a tank if oxygen levels are too high? i hooked up some air to a couple of the powerheads to see where the currents were going, and i just want to know whether i should leave them or not...
-agent oranje.
