alge bloom

kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Hey all,
Got an alge bloom going on in my tank, its rather frustrating to watch my tank just have a green, cloudy tint to it. I did a 10% water change and that just made it worse. I did all my tests and they seem to be fine....PH 8.0, Amonia 0, Nitrate 10, Nitrite 0.22. I have had a few blackouts here this summer making it very hard, I have lost 2 fish to them. My clown and a damsel. I only have 2 fish left in my tank and want to get more but I would like the water to clear up first. I am going today to buy some earth for my filter with the hope this will put my tank back to normal, I have some calerpa (sp?) in the tank to try to take away from the bloom and I set up a second filter to also try to help. If anyone has some additonal advise it would be most appreciated. Since I am very new at this hobby it is hard to not get discouraged, but if I can beat this I will definatly be one happy girl!
Can't wait to hear from y'all
~Kissiefish~
PS just thought about it I have a bio-wheel on my tank is this adding to the bloom should it be disconnected?
 
ajroc31

ajroc31

Member
" did a 10% water change and that just made it worse."
Do you use water, and if so that is your problem.
 
shanev

shanev

Member

Originally posted by ajroc31
" did a 10% water change and that just made it worse."
Do you use water, and if so that is your problem.
Huh?? DId you mean to ask about tap water?
Does the water itself look green? If so it sounds like the calerpera went sexual. Does some if it looks grey instead of green?
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
I'm sorry I am not sure what you mean by "do I use water". I set up the water for the change 24 hours in advance with a power head and heater in a bucket. I got the salt in the made sure it was mixed well then did the change. My tank SG was at 1.21, and the bucket was at about 1.24 when i did the change. Was this the wrong way to go about a water change?
~kissiefish~
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
The water right now is a cloudy green, and the calerpa was added just two days ago, on advise of a friend who has been doing this longer than I have. I was told the calerpa would take away from the nutrients feeding the alge in the water.
Uh oh sexual calerpa....don't quite know what that means either and not sure if I want to know LOL. :eek:
~kissiefish~
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Yes it was tap water but with Nov-aqua added to it to get out the chemicals and then churned for 24 hours.
~kissiefish~
 
ajroc31

ajroc31

Member
I am sorry for all the spelling and grammer mistakes, I guess it is too early. If your water was green before the culerpa then you can forget Shanes post. It sounds like you have a phosphate problem. I am not sure if only 2 fish you can have a phosphate problem, unless you really over feed them. When you are done feeding is there a lot of food that remained uneaten?
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
I think you might be on to it. I try not to feed to much but sometimes a little more than i want goes in. I only have 2 fish atm so how much can they possibly eat. I have a gravel vacum should i go to town with it and give em a good cleaning? Is there any other steps that I can take to help a phosphate problem?
~kissiefish~
 
shanev

shanev

Member
Nope, just trying to make sure calupera isnt the cause.
Useing tap water can be a source of phosphates. I would recommend 2 things.
1.Water changes with RO/DI water not tap. You are getting rid of the chorine with the chemicals, but not all the other bad stuff
2. To help clear it up you could run som ecarbon in your system.
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Once again sorry if I sound stupid but new at this what is ecarbon and how do I run it? Would love to have my tank back to normal. I really appreciate all the help guys and gals!
~kissiefish!
 
ajroc31

ajroc31

Member
Carbon will not get rid of the phosphates.
I agree that you need to stop using tap water. That will cause algea blooms every time.
A cleaning crew will gladly get rid of all the uneaten food, so you may want to look into getting some. Shrimp will also clean all the uneaten food. I strongly recommend getting some, they are useful and very fun.
 
ajroc31

ajroc31

Member
P.S.
Phosphate sponge will remove the phosphates, but you need to take care of the water after that; no more tap.
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Thanks for the advise I will go pick up a phosphate sponge today from my LFS. I have a friend who makes RO/DI water hopefully I can get some. I have a canister filter on there now with a bio wheel and then an aquaclear for the time being to help with the alge bloom. I am getting some hermits next week, they are waiting for me was just afraid to bring them home with this going on with my tank. Thanks all for all of your advice it is much appreciated!
~kissiefish~
 
shanev

shanev

Member
I use tap water and maintain many SPS corals so that isn't ur problem
I respectfully disagree, there is a VERY WIDE range of quality in tap water across the nation. Some have great others have really bad. For example Houstons tap water comes through with ammonia in it, it also come in with a descent amount of phosphates.
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member

I use tap water and maintain many SPS corals so that isn't ur problem.
Sorry but I would leave SPS corals to experienced reefers. SPS corals need very low nitrates, very low phosphates, stable calcium and alk... basically a very, very good water quality. They are hard corals to keep IMO.
Tap water can be VERY BAD for any reef.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top