beer gets hot coffee gets cold?

[randolph]

why can't beer get cold , and coffee get hot. i know the
answer but, the same goes for this hobby. i waited and waited to justify spending $200 on a new lighting system. now my reward for adding 192 watts of light is every damn no good algae known to the ocean is growing in my tank, no sign of anything good. i'm ready to take and empty a gallon of clorox in it and start over (does clorox kill red slime and green bubble algae, just kidding) but my tank has been 22 months of joy, and now with new light and an outbreak of ich it's becoming not so fun. red slime, green bubble.etc. my nitrates are high, did a 40% water change last week, probably need to do some more. my tank is basicly fish only so feeding is a factor in high nitrate? will i ever be able to get in under control? no fish in the tank right now,in hospital tank with copper. inverts in tank, crabs, urchin ,shrimp, star, and 2 coral frags.:confused

 

[salisbury a d]

This happend to me too but do not know why. I didn't get bulbls with a higher wattage I got knew bulbs the same wattage but higher kelvin. Now I have about 4 times more the hair algae than before. Everyother day I "harvest" the hair algae and it is a pain in the butt.
Adam

 

[keisersosei]

The other day I was thinking about doing the same thing: selling my rock and starting over sometime in the future. The thought came to me as all of the water from my sump was being pumped into the tank and making a nice waterfall onto the floor and me. I was leaned up against the tank trying to get the PVC back on the overflow and was soaked in a matter of seconds. This is the second overflow; first it was the sump, now the tank. I'm about ready to give up on a sump/refugium. I also have an algae problem and the tank just isn't much fun to look at. Ammonia has been at .25 and I lost a fish a couple of days ago. I have had a new firefish in quarantine for 2.5 weeks and no telling how long it will be there until I can get the reef's water quality back. A couple of weeks ago my first coral died in a matter of 3 days. I've spent thousands of dollars and all I have to show for it is basically a brown mass in my living room that I have to clean everyday just so that it looks presentable.
I'd rather just watch my mantis in the 2 gallon tank. Who says that a nano is easier to take care of? I don't do anything to it and a mantis shrimp, damsel, and 2 chocolate chip starfish are living in it, happy as they can be.
Some reassurance for Randolph and I, please?

 

[randolph]

thanks for sharing i knew i wasn't alone, someone said
(don't remember who) for every action there is a reaction.
add fish,,,,,,,,,,ich. add more light,,,,,,,algae. add antibacterial
meds,,,,,,,,kills good ones too. but i quess it is to be expected
trying to creatate a living reef and it all work perfectly, only the
the great creator can do that, man is the one who added the
glitches. i have enjoyed my tank and if i had to i would start all over again, just nothing else like it.

 

[keisersosei]

I would start all over too. I love my tank but sometimes I think it would be easier to start all over now that I know so much more than when I started. I don't want to be without a tank.

 

[salisbury a d]

I wouldn't start over for a small problem. My system seems to be working through. All fish and corals have adjusted to the lights easily and the only prob is hair algae.
Randalf. Do you have lr? or just those few corals? Try cutting down the light some. Is it possible to shut off a few of the bulbs to lower the wattage. I think it might help, but not sure.
Keisersosei how old is your tank it might just need time?
I used to have to clean my tank everyday and I actually enjoyed doing it.
Here is the way I clean and it does not require a water change.
I have a hose like the one used for the gravel cleaners that is long enough to reach the sand in the tank and the floor of the sump with extra to spare. On the end that is in the sump I attatch an old sock with rubber bands. Just start the siphon and start cleaning. Pick of algae and suck it up. Suck debris out of holes in the rock.
After I take the tube and the sock still attached to each other and hang them in the basement to dry for the next use. When the sock is full or gets really nasty I throw it out and get another. Just make sure you rinse the sock good before you use it in case of soap.
Also don't use socks with holes in them. If there is a hole in the toe area just tie a not at the bottom of the sock.
I have never had problems with this.
Adam
There is hope for all.

 

[wamp]

Who waits long enough for it to get hot??
The key to this hobby is patients. Be slow in the setup, allow the natrul cycle of the tank, yes algea is one.
Be diligent in your maintance and use RO water.. This hobby has rewards, you just have to stick with it long enough to see them.
Good Luck

 

[jonthefb]

i ahd the smae prob when i first started out in this hobby. i used a 75 narrow tank that had prev. been used for freshwater, a wet/dry sump with skimmer, and began with two sets of 55 watt pc's ( a total of 220 watts) well as time progressed, i upgraded to 4 96 watt pc's(384 watts of light) and the tank never really went anywhere. I started out with just a dusting of black sand on the front of the tank with the back bottom glass exposed, adn upgraded to a 2 inch sand bed, after vacuming all th eblack stuff out, and eventually a six inch deep sandbed. i constantly fought red slime algae, green slime algae, and had a very rough time keeping corals alive. the tank didnt look like a reef and i was thouroughly disappointed. Well my mother decided to upgrade to a 135 gallon, new lights, dsb, fuge only, calcium reactor, etc, and now it is one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. NEXt time i go home i will take some pics on my dads dig camera, save them to a disk so that i can post them here on the board!
like beth said, if you stick with it long enough it will truly reward you!
good luck and keep up the hard work
jon

 

[keisersosei]

Originally posted by wamp
The key to this hobby is patients.

Would you call the fish in Randolph's hospital tank patients? So they're the key? Maybe that's what I need, sick fish.

 

[wamp]

I cna't speel....