novice150
Member
Ok guys I feel Im running out of options here, and you all have helped a lot in the past. I apologize for the length of this post in advance. 
So here's the deal. We bought this tank (used) not quite a year ago, and the previous owner said it had been up for 10 months. I thoroughly checked out and tested the tank before buying, and it seemed great. When we moved the tank, it went through a mini cycle, which I understand to be normal. Once set up, we let the tank run for two weeks before a doing 25% water change. Then, per our lfs's instructions, we began doing 30 gal water changes every week.
Now here's the problem. We cannot seem to stop this algae growth. Since day one, we have had to clean the glass, at least 3 times a week. The sand keeps getting covered too. We have sand sifting stars, cucumbers, sand sifting gobies, hermits and all. But they cant even keep up.
I assumed that our excessive water changes, were preventing the tank from fully cycling, and getting some age under its belt. So we stopped the water changes 1.5 months ago. This has not helped.
Water parameters are as follows, P.H. 8.2, Ammonia 0, trites O, trates 35-40 ppm, temp a constant 77 deg.
Filtration, large berlin protein skimmer, 75 gal wet dry, activated carbon, several misc foam and fiber filters (cleaned weekly).
Live rock 250lbs, 2.5" live sand.
Lighting not sure on the power but, 4 pc's blue/white, 3 Mh's. PC's on for 10hrs, mh's for 8. We have tried different lighting schedules with no luck.
We have not lost any fish or corals for about 6 months. We lost a few in the beginning, and a couple jumped out (fixed that).
We do not use tap water, and I have tested our RO.
We have been adding sand (slowly) to try to get about 4-5 inches. And I plan on getting some caulpera this weekend for the sump.
I only have to clean our other 3 tanks every week or two, this tank is becoming a pain in my butt.
As always, any help will be greatly appreciated.
So here's the deal. We bought this tank (used) not quite a year ago, and the previous owner said it had been up for 10 months. I thoroughly checked out and tested the tank before buying, and it seemed great. When we moved the tank, it went through a mini cycle, which I understand to be normal. Once set up, we let the tank run for two weeks before a doing 25% water change. Then, per our lfs's instructions, we began doing 30 gal water changes every week. Now here's the problem. We cannot seem to stop this algae growth. Since day one, we have had to clean the glass, at least 3 times a week. The sand keeps getting covered too. We have sand sifting stars, cucumbers, sand sifting gobies, hermits and all. But they cant even keep up.
I assumed that our excessive water changes, were preventing the tank from fully cycling, and getting some age under its belt. So we stopped the water changes 1.5 months ago. This has not helped.
Water parameters are as follows, P.H. 8.2, Ammonia 0, trites O, trates 35-40 ppm, temp a constant 77 deg.
Filtration, large berlin protein skimmer, 75 gal wet dry, activated carbon, several misc foam and fiber filters (cleaned weekly).
Live rock 250lbs, 2.5" live sand.
Lighting not sure on the power but, 4 pc's blue/white, 3 Mh's. PC's on for 10hrs, mh's for 8. We have tried different lighting schedules with no luck.
We have not lost any fish or corals for about 6 months. We lost a few in the beginning, and a couple jumped out (fixed that).
We do not use tap water, and I have tested our RO.
We have been adding sand (slowly) to try to get about 4-5 inches. And I plan on getting some caulpera this weekend for the sump.
I only have to clean our other 3 tanks every week or two, this tank is becoming a pain in my butt.
As always, any help will be greatly appreciated.
