Am I doing this right?

[cool clown]

I have a 180 gallon tank that has been up and running for about 3 and a half months. I have 2 small clowns (false percula, tank raised)and a small naso (2"). There is also a clean up crew. I have a 20 gallon wet/dry with bio-balls. I also have a 20 gallon refugium with sand, live rock and different micro algae. The flow is probably about 300 gallon per hour in the refugium. Turnover for the main tank is about 3800 gallon per hour. I have three 250w MH and four 65w PC lights. There is 100 lbs of live rock and 4-5 inches of dead sand covered with about 10 lbs. of live sand. All levels are zero. But I still have alot of algae groing in my display. It grows mostly on the sand and small amounts on the glass. Is this normal, I was under the empression that micro algae would help with this. Have I been mislead or am I doing something wrong? Thanks Chris

 

[ga8233]

I had a hair algae problem (twice). Same kind of filter as yours. It took a long time to get rid of it both times. I'm not giving advice but I finally got rid of the majority of my bio-balls. As well as added more clean up crew and water changes and constantly checking my parameters. I'm looking for someone to build me a refugium as I still don't have one. My tank is about 4 years old.

 

[cprdnick]

How old is the tank clown? Most of the time you will have an algae problem when the tank is in it's immature state. I had a bad one.
What kind of water are you using?
How often do you feed?
How much do you feed in one feeding?
How long are each of your lights being run per day?
How often are you doing water changes?
I don't see how flow could have anything to do with it, that seems like way more than the recommended minimum.
Get your tank water and top off water checked for Phosphate. That is one of the main causes of algae in the marine environment.
Macro algae is very good for filtering out PO4 and Nitrates, however if you are just adding it in everytime you top off, do a water change or feed, then it will just be a never ending cycle. The macro algae will have plenty of food, as well as the problem algae in the display.

 

[wrassecal]

What kind of algae are you seeing? The green? the brown dusty stuff? At 3 1/2 months your tank is still immature and it is normal for you to see algae blooms of the green or brown (diatoms) type. It takes time, up to six months, for everything to stabilize and the ecosystem to be singing along. That is of course assuming you are doing things correctly, which is often hard to determine. I don't see anything in your post to indicate you have done anything wrong. Sounds like a good system to me.I don't see what water you use, hopefully ro/di.

 

[cool clown]

I am using RO water. change 20% monthly, feed once a day, a small amount I have about 80 nassarius snails and 80 astrea snails that eat any leftovers. Lights are on 6 hrs for MH 8 for PC 50/50 bulbs and 9 for the actinic bulbs. I have micro algae in the refugium. The problem algae was brown then started to go green(good so I have heard) But before it could go all the way green it was taken over by a red carpet like film. I believe it is cyanobacteria. I was thinking of adding some mexican turbos. Would this help or do I just wait it out? I am not adding anything new until this is solved. Thanks for your help so far.

 

[wrassecal]

I don't think there are any clean-up crew that will actually help once you have cyano. A diverse cleanup crew in the sandbed will help control DOC's and prevent it though. You might try increasing the flow in the area, siphoning up as much of it as you can and waiting it out for a while. Early in my sw experience I did get so frustrated with cyano that I used a product called Chemi Clean from Boyd Enterprises. It worked and did not harm anything. In order to not get it again though I had to fix the conditions that caused it in the first place. A Google search will give you tons of info on cyano. Good luck with it.

 

[beaslbob]

You are correct that macros/plants will help control the ugly algaes. your brown to green is normal and you are correct the red is probably cyano bacteria.
You currently have a 20g refug for a 180g tank. that is a little more that 10% of the display. I have heard that refugiums should be up to 40% of the display volumn and obviously the larger the better. If the green went away after the refugium was added then you plants did help. The red cyano feeds off of phosphates which also feed the plants. You may have to keep removing the red until it goes away. I have also heard about using antibiotics but have no experience with that and am very leary.
You could try turning off your lights for a week to see if things clear up. May give the macros in the refug a chance to catch up.
Finally, nitrates will eventually come overwhelming from your bioload not the input water. Ro/DI will make very little difference on algae problems.

 

[cool clown]

I have been reading about cyano on the internet and one article said that carbon can leach phosphates into the water. Is this true. I have been runing carbon to help with clairity, should I stop? Also my LFS sells a filter pad for my wey/dry that removes phosphates, Would this help or is it a waste of money?

 

[dude crush]

Maybe try getting a fish who's diet consists of algae.

 

[cool clown]

What do you suggest? I have two tangs and two clowns.

 

[wrassecal]

You are going through a fairly normal stage of tank maturation. I use carbon a lot. You don't want to leave it in without changing it for more than a couple of weeks. Since your tank is only 3 1/2 months old, I would just increase the water flow, siphon as much of the cyano out as possible and realize that you are going to deal with the other algae stages for a while until you system stabilizes. DO NOT add anitbiotics to the tank. Chemi Clean is not an antibiotic. What you need right now is patience and adjustments to the system to include flow adjustments, siphoning of the cyano and diversity in your cleanup crew. What do you have to keep your sandbed clean? You need nassarius snails, bristle worms, pods, and possibly a couple conchs to help keep the sand bed in good shape. It does take time though. I would not add more fish to try and solve this problem. Your naso is an algae grazer, big time.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by cool clown
I have been reading about cyano on the internet and one article said that carbon can leach phosphates into the water. Is this true. I have been runing carbon to help with clairity, should I stop? Also my LFS sells a filter pad for my wey/dry that removes phosphates, Would this help or is it a waste of money?
IMO yes.
I prefer plant action over any conditioners or filtration. I really don't like phosphate sponges. Better to correct the reason any phosphates are present.
I also agree that it seems you are going through a normal sytem maturation process.

 

[cool clown]

Wrassecal I have 100 nassarius snails and a jumbo conch. I have tryed to buy pods and worms three different times and only three or four arive alive. The people I have tryed to buy them from don't ship them right. I am willing to deal with algae but I can't stand the cyano. Thanks guys

 

[justchillin]

Originally posted by
You are going through a fairly normal stage of tank maturation. I use carbon a lot. You don't want to leave it in without changing it for more than a couple of weeks. Since your tank is only 3 1/2 months old, I would just increase the water flow, siphon as much of the cyano out as possible and realize that you are going to deal with the other algae stages for a while until you system stabilizes. DO NOT add anitbiotics to the tank. Chemi Clean is not an antibiotic. What you need right now is patience and adjustments to the system to include flow adjustments, siphoning of the cyano and diversity in your cleanup crew. What do you have to keep your sandbed clean? You need nassarius snails, bristle worms, pods, and possibly a couple conchs to help keep the sand bed in good shape. It does take time though. I would not add more fish to try and solve this problem. Your naso is an algae grazer, big time.
exactly...
the only other thing i would say is that you may want to dump the bio balls...i almost used them myself when i first started but after doing alot of ready found that they tend to trap waste which obviously isn't good for water quality...also i would suggest adding more lr. for a 180 gal 100 isn't much...i have about 90 in my 75 and it's still not at all crowded with rock...it will help alot with your bio-filtration and i personally think it looks good too.
anyway most of this will clear up in time especially if you follow Wrassecal's post.
hth

 

[cool clown]

I had planed on adding more LR I have 150 lbs in my 80. I was going to but at least 100 lbs more but I am in to my tank over two grand over the past four months and christmas is coming. I already got mine, it is covered with red cyano. I syphoned all that I could get out and then blew off all the rocks. Hope this helps. As far as the bioballs I might remove them but I want my refugium built up and all my lr in place and my sand bed to be mature to compensate for lost filtration.

 

[wrassecal]

Only 2 grand? Just kidding. Expensive hobby. Sounds like you have everything you need. If you get too desperate with the cyano like I did you can try the chemi clean. Just make sure you do the water change 48 hours after the last dose like the instructions say. Otherwise, patience is the key. If you remove the bio balls in the future then remove them a few at time over about a month. Also with 100 lbs oflr you can add 10 lbs or so at a time and not affect the tank. That's what I did with my 135.