Cutting back lighting

reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
I'm noticing that I'm getting a little green on my rocks and I'm seeing a little bit more brown on my sand. I've looked over everything and tested my water and everything is fine. So the only deduction that I've come up with is to cut back my lights an hour a day. Right now my MH starts at 1 and kicks off 10 so I think I'm getting to much lighting.
Also, how often should I be adding phytoplankton? I'm adding DT's but I think I might be doing too much, too often. Would this add to the problem?
 
jerryatrick

jerryatrick

Active Member
How old is the tank? As for phyto I would only add once a week. To much of that stuff and it will pollute your tank. Phyto could be adding to many nutrients to the tank leading to the cause. I don't think it is the light schedule you are currently on.
 
reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
Tank has been up for about 8 weeks. I thought that's what I was doing. I'm WAY overfeeding with phyto. Thank you for the suggestion. (DAMN YOU LFS!!!)
WAY too much phyto. Now, could this have damaged anything by overfeeding?
 
reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
Right but with dosing daily (according to LFS) I think I'm adding too much. I agree that it could still be an early deal but I went through the browns weeks ago and it was under control until I started adding phyto on a daily basis

I will cut back on it and I'm not ruling out that it still might be a young tank but just like when a computer 'breaks' the first thing I ask people is, "What was the last thing you did before it went wrong?" Normally, I will find out that they downloaded something, added something, clicked this or that...
Not exactly the same but I start working my way backwards to eliminate issues. Thanks again!!
 
jerryatrick

jerryatrick

Active Member
I agree with you. As I said, it is very easy to overfeed a tank especially with phyto. Personally I would lay off the phyto until you get things under control. There are people on here who don't like phyto and refuse to use it. I use it once a week for my filter feeders.
 
reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
Thanks again. I think it is good for my tank and for my filter feeders but this makes total sense... I thought I was just being nice!

Apparently not so much

Brick Tamland: Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.
Ron Burgundy: Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safehouse or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for murder.
 
cjworkman

cjworkman

Member
Need more info here....
I add DT's every other day... but I have several corals that feed off it and 2 Flame Scallops that also feed off it.
you only need a small amount ... 2 Teaspoons amount every other day per 100 gallons.
the aglae could be a ton of things... but need more info. What kind of filtration do you have? size of tank? RO/DI water? how often do you do water changes and how much? What do you feed the fish... frozen or flake/pellet and how much? what livestock do you have?
Algae can result from phosphates... phosphates can come from frozen food if you don't rinse it, from tap water, from old filters in an RO unit. It can result from nitrate that comes from overfeeding.. specifically from overfeeding of flake/pellet food, especially if you don't have a large enough clean up crew.
Algae doesn't just grow from just too much light. You have phosphate or nitrate in the tank... the light just causes it to grow faster.
You must track down the cause of too much phosphate/nitrate in the tank.
 
jerryatrick

jerryatrick

Active Member

Originally Posted by cjworkman
http:///forum/post/2939869
Need more info here....
I add DT's every other day... but I have several corals that feed off it and 2 Flame Scallops that also feed off it.
you only need a small amount ... 2 Teaspoons amount every other day per 100 gallons.
the aglae could be a ton of things... but need more info. What kind of filtration do you have? size of tank? RO/DI water? how often do you do water changes and how much? What do you feed the fish... frozen or flake/pellet and how much? what livestock do you have?
Algae can result from phosphates... phosphates can come from frozen food if you don't rinse it, from tap water, from old filters in an RO unit. It can result from nitrate that comes from overfeeding.. specifically from overfeeding of flake/pellet food, especially if you don't have a large enough clean up crew.
Algae doesn't just grow from just too much light. You have phosphate or nitrate in the tank... the light just causes it to grow faster.
You must track down the cause of too much phosphate/nitrate in the tank.
That is a good amount. The back of the bottle suggests way to much IMO. Very good post with excellent questions.
 
cjworkman

cjworkman

Member
The freezing process on some frozen food can release phosphate into the water. Not in large amounts, but enough to grow some algae if you feed frozen food every day.
You can rinse with tap water, that's what I do. just rinse the outside of the cube or piece, then thaw in some tank water and pour in.
 
reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
I actually dip a shot glass in the top of my tank and then drop in a cube of frozen mysis shrimp. I'll break it all up and then pour it back into the tank. Mainly to keep everyone from nibbing like they're at a trough. This helps feed down to crabs and everyone else.
 
max42

max42

New Member
Still trying to understand why rinsing it helps. Is it the fact that as it is refreezing that bacteria may form and then gets back in your tank? Wouldn't the freezing kill it? I can understand the thawing to help distribute the food but not why it should be rinsed before placing in tank.
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
Originally Posted by max42
http:///forum/post/2940456
Still trying to understand why rinsing it helps. Is it the fact that as it is refreezing that bacteria may form and then gets back in your tank? Wouldn't the freezing kill it? I can understand the thawing to help distribute the food but not why it should be rinsed before placing in tank.
Bacteria will not die from your freezer. Bacteria dies in extreme freezing ccold temp like dry ice.
 
reifermadness

reifermadness

Member
Well I finally broke down and bought a skimmer tonight. I purchased a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 -- save the "return it and get (insert preferred skimmer)" type of comments please... I did my homework and this is the one I decided on.
Anyway, it's breaking in now and has already started clearing up the tank.
Thanks again for all of the suggestions!
 
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