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29 Gallon Nano Reef - Crazy Algae Problem

M

MisterTickle

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Manhattan Reefs
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New York City
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I have had this tank up for about... 2 months, It has about 25 pounds of Live Rock, Marineland C160 Canister Filter with a bag of Chemi-Pure and Phosban I added recently. It is home to a Hawkfish and a Clownfish. It used to be home to two Butterfly Cardinals until the Hawkfish eat them both, He's going back to the pet store tomorrow and being replaced for maybe a pair of Firefish or if you guys have any suggestions, Feel free. I also have a Reef Octopus BH100SS HOB skimmer which works pretty well, Clean it out every few days and the collection cup pipe gets pretty damn black (and smelly)

I used to use tap water but although I can't afford a RO/DI yet I will now use distilled water as my father gets free distilled water at the hospital he works at and brings me a few gallons every few days for top-off's and water changes.

I have a T-5 lighting fixture which I keep on 7-11 hours a day for my mushrooms and I am having out of control algae problems, I mean, Its EVERYWHERE and its green and hairy, Its growing out of every nook and cranny and my pickup crew of like 9 snails can't seem to control it at all. The water quality is okay other than the algae.

PH- 7.8-8.0
Specific Gravity- 1.023
Nitrite- 0 PPM
Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrate- 20 PPM

Levels hardly ever change. Nitrate is still pretty much the same even with the protein skimmer but the inhabitants seem fine. I don't have tests for Calcium, Phosphate etc but I plan on getting them shortly. I've only have the mushrooms for like a week but I put the Phosban in there to hopefully to reduce the algae growth.

I'm probably going to take a video to show you guys my tank and this insane algae growth but, I need advice.

Edit: This isnt a biocube btw, Just a typical straight tank.
 
Last edited:
KathyC

KathyC

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Welcome to MR :)

A video or a pic would be helpful.

How often are you doing water changes and what % of water do you change?

What are you feeding - are you rinsing the food before you put it in the tank?
Your PH is rather low - not that it is causing your algae issue, but it should be addressed.
Where did you get the rock from?

When did the algae issue start - during your cycle or shortly afterwards?
The mushrooms don't require that much light. I would dramatically cut back on your photoperiod right off the bat, increase the amount of water you change, and change out the phosban/Chemipure weekly until you knock down your phosphates (which are feeding your algae).

Any idea how old/new the bulbs are in the fixture?
Sorry for all of the questions, but they help us figure out a solution to your issues. :)
 
M

MisterTickle

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Manhattan Reefs
Location
New York City
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Well its been kinda shakey because their was some issues with high the water was and just getting it to a good level but, I generally like to change about 5 gallons worth as I have a 5 gallon red bucket I fill up than sometimes I take out more than I should but I just add some distilled water to finish it.

I feed about... every day/every other day I miss a day because I don't wanna overfeed.

The PH seems to always be low but it looks different in certain lights, I tried buffing the PH but it remains generally the same.

The rock was in my LFS's tank, He just put me together a collection and I put it in the tank after a few days.

The algae issue actually didn't start during the cycle, I had NO algae, It was beautiful. I got algae when I got the new light source, Thats when it got bad.

The bulbs are probably new, The set was ordered by my LFS, Its a Coralife T-5. Oh btw, My LFS is Exotic Aquairums on Cropsey. Its on your store list.

Oh btw if you don't mind me asking

1. I keep having microbubbles coming out of my outtake for my canister filter, They come in like air bursts and really look bad.
2. Sand seems to be sitting ontop of the mushrooms, Is there anyway to get it off without irritating the mushrooms or should I just leave it?
 
JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
Rating - 100%
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MisterTickle said:
I have had this tank up for about... 2 months, It has about 25 pounds of Live Rock, Marineland C160 Canister Filter with a bag of Chemi-Pure and Phosban I added recently. It is home to a Hawkfish and a Clownfish. It used to be home to two Butterfly Cardinals until the Hawkfish eat them both, He's going back to the pet store tomorrow and being replaced for maybe a pair of Firefish or if you guys have any suggestions, Feel free. I also have a Reef Octopus BH100SS HOB skimmer which works pretty well, Clean it out every few days and the collection cup pipe gets pretty damn black (and smelly)

I used to use tap water but although I can't afford a RO/DI yet I will now use distilled water as my father gets free distilled water at the hospital he works at and brings me a few gallons every few days for top-off's and water changes.

I have a T-5 lighting fixture which I keep on 7-11 hours a day for my mushrooms and I am having out of control algae problems, I mean, Its EVERYWHERE and its green and hairy, Its growing out of every nook and cranny and my pickup crew of like 9 snails can't seem to control it at all. The water quality is okay other than the algae.

PH- 7.8-8.0
Specific Gravity- 1.023
Nitrite- 0 PPM
Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrate- 20 PPM

Levels hardly ever change. Nitrate is still pretty much the same even with the protein skimmer but the inhabitants seem fine. I don't have tests for Calcium, Phosphate etc but I plan on getting them shortly. I've only have the mushrooms for like a week but I put the Phosban in there to hopefully to reduce the algae growth.

I'm probably going to take a video to show you guys my tank and this insane algae growth but, I need advice.
Click to expand...

You need to get a phosphate test kit ASAP. Thats the main problem you got going on to give you the green hair algae. If your not already 20% water changes weekly, and the algae being that bad wasnt helped by the original use of tap water. You also need to get the nitrates down to 0 if possible but definately I would aim for 10 or under- even 10 is a little high for a reef. Heavy water changes will help with that too. If you can get a fluidized media reactor to run the phosban in most run two little fishies I did and just switched to a nextreef. If you run the phosban in a reactor it will work much better than in a bag- more of the medias surface area will hit the water flowing through. Change it frequently until the green hair is no longer a problem because the media will get exhausted quickly due to being worked very hard and removing a ton of phosphates- plus the bags can become a trap for nitrates as well. If you need a reactor I would sell you one of mine real cheap since I wont be using that particular one anymore- its a two little fishies phosban 150 reactor. I have a little green hair myself right now and am doing 10G a day water changes in my 65G until I get it eradicated. I would suggest AT LEAST 20% weekly not up to 20% weekly. I would do at least a couple of W/C a week. Good luck and I'm sure I left some stuff out so anyone else feel free to chime in.----I see Kathy already did while I was typing lol good luck again. looking forward to seeing pics after you get everything straightened out.:bagfish:
 
Last edited:
M

MisterTickle

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Manhattan Reefs
Location
New York City
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I'll do a water change tommorow for sure but, As for that reactor I really don't know if I'd have the room, The tank being rather tiny I dished out quite alot for the Protein Skimmer even.

I definitely want to take a video to show you guys my setup so you can see exactly what I have.

Stopping by my LFS to get rid of this Hawkfish so I'll pickup some test kits.
 
JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

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Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
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Well it doesnt sit in the tank all you need is a small mini jet 404 in the return chamber and can have the reactor sitting next to or behind it- offer will always stand Id be willing to even pretty much give it away- I have no use for it and I think paying it forward is a major way to keep the hobby alive for everyone
 
KathyC

KathyC

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Barnum Island
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Best not to even bother with a Phosphate test kit - they are highly inaccurate. Bring a water sample to the swap, I know a few people are bringing meters to compare phosphate testers.
With algae like that, the chances are excellent that it is a phosphate issue.

Is there anything else in the canister filter than the chemipure & Phosban?

Take the reactor from Jimmy, he is a good egg ;)

Cut the lights to about 5 hours a day - you can have then run during the period of time you are home the most. Are you using a timer on them? If not, best to get one :)

You might want to consider getting test kits at the swap- all of the best brands will be there. API kits are fine for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites & PH, but you will be better served with Salifert, Elos or LaMotte kits for Calcium, Alk & Magnesium.

No reason to skip feeding your fish, if you feed a resonable amount in 2 or 3 small meals per day, it should not add to your issues and it will keep your fish from getting stressed.

Not to worry about the sand on the mushrooms- they can shrug it off if they want. Where is it coming from though?
The air bubbles - lets see the pics :)
 
KathyC

KathyC

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MisterTickle said:
By return chamber do you mean a sump? I use a canister filter as I couldn't fit a sump.
Click to expand...

The return chamber is any one of the chambers in the rear of the tank. A Mini-jet pump is very small and will easily fit in there. As Jimmy mentions, the reactor can sit outside of the tank with no issue.
 
JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

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Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
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Good tip INNEED but they dont always eat hair I got mine the other day just cause I love them-he doesnt touch my little bit of hair- is always hit or miss- instead of adding more bioload that can give him even more nitrates he should start with mechanical filtration- BUT an algae blenny is an awesome fish to have. But if he didnt have the nitrates that he has I would agree 100% would have no ill effects and would possibly help him.

Mr.Tickle I just realized to that its a straight tank not an all in one-- just put the pump with the rest of the plumbing for the canister with the return line from the reactor if you grab it from me or anyone else with the return line of the canister back to the tank- itll blend right in pretty much. But I would start running it even if youre not crazy on how it looks until you get the phos. under control then you can rerun it to where it looks how you want it to after for its final positioning- will give you plenty of time to decide on how you want it in the end


1 more thing they say you want 1 animal on your clean up crew for every gallon of water- whether its a snail or a hermit you should have at least 25 in there, might want to think about at least 5 more if not 10.
 
Last edited:
JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
Rating - 100%
48   0   0
MisterTickle said:
Well its been kinda shakey because their was some issues with high the water was and just getting it to a good level but, I generally like to change about 5 gallons worth as I have a 5 gallon red bucket I fill up than sometimes I take out more than I should but I just add some distilled water to finish it.

I feed about... every day/every other day I miss a day because I don't wanna overfeed.

The PH seems to always be low but it looks different in certain lights, I tried buffing the PH but it remains generally the same.

The rock was in my LFS's tank, He just put me together a collection and I put it in the tank after a few days.

The algae issue actually didn't start during the cycle, I had NO algae, It was beautiful. I got algae when I got the new light source, Thats when it got bad.

The bulbs are probably new, The set was ordered by my LFS, Its a Coralife T-5. Oh btw, My LFS is Exotic Aquairums on Cropsey. Its on your store list.

Oh btw if you don't mind me asking

1. I keep having microbubbles coming out of my outtake for my canister filter, They come in like air bursts and really look bad.
2. Sand seems to be sitting ontop of the mushrooms, Is there anyway to get it off without irritating the mushrooms or should I just leave it?
Click to expand...

Did you check the seal on the canister for if its leaking and the seal isnt 100%- ive read of some people with some models actually using vaseline around the gasket to make the seal better...

I would use a turkey baster you can gently blow the sand off, if you felt you needed to.
 
JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

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Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
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Yep want me to bring it Ill bring the pump too. if youd like it. I mean the vinyl tubing you use to plumb the reactor- have it follow alongside the canisters return line to that tank so theyre all together as one tubee almost, sorry am bad at explaining it sometimes lol
 
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