discouraged. tank problems.

[heartben]

hello all you beautiful people.
pretty much what im looking at here is a huge case of what i believe to be diatom algae. now, i know... itll bloom and go away after the diatom eats all the...silcate? is it?
well, im curious as to how long this takes? my tank has been set up for like a 5 weeks and it hasnt gone away.
also, hopefully i dont get hated on for this. i used silca sand for substrate. so, does that mean i will always have this algea?
its on my rocks, sand, tank. everything inside that it would be on, it is on. i hate it.
also, i was wondering how people keep the water so clear? i dont understand how to make a refugium or sump without drilling (if anyone wants to help me, please PM me, i have an extra 20L and a 10 or various rubbermaid things i would be more than willing to glue up to make a fuge, i just dont know how)
i have a prizm skimmer and i have an AC 70 (right now it has that mix od the carbon and i forgot what the other is called but its white), a sponge and some phos-x bag things.
BTW, i have a 55 gallon tank.
if anyone has any suggestions for the algae, and the water clarity i would be very happy!
thanks a million everyone
-ben

 

[cooqie]

how much flow is in your tank and is it hitting ur sand and rocks, do u have any fish inverts wat are yor parameters

 

[earlybird]

Silica is a source for diatoms. You may be spinning your wheels with that sand and your diatom problem. Most diatoms will go away but you probably have excessive amounts of silica. I'd say get a silica test kit and see if it's worth it to remove the sand or use a silica remover (if there is one).
As for water clarity it's all in the filtration. Sump is the way to go here and you can add a refugium right in your sump. Use the search function above and do some researching. It's not that difficult to build one.

 

[heartben]

i have 2 AC 3000 powerheads, both cranked. each puts out a max of like, 260 gph. so id say im looking at a total of 500-520 gph.
i have the flow pointed at the back and down very slightly. they are mounted at opposing sides. how should i aim the streams?
i have 1 perc clown. thats all for now.
uhm, its looking like i have :
nitrate : looking like 20 - 25 ppm
nitrite : 0 (or is it "untracable?")
my ph is somewhere around. 8.3-8.5
i have these crappy test strip things. i hate them. i can never read them very well, it just gives me a good idea as to where some of the levels are. my alk level is one of the hardest to read because the color isnt really on the chart but its closest to 300... as soon as i get some money im going to by some of the liquid tests...
thanks

 

[renogaw]

what size tank is the algae in?
there's tons of posts in the DIY section on making sumps/refugiums--if you can't find one that helps someone definitely can

 

[earlybird]

You should have more flow in a 55g but I still think the silica sand is going to be an issue but I could be wrong. I have 690 gph in my 29. What are your phosphates?

 

[heartben]

i have a 55 gallon tank.
the problem with the sump thing is that i need someone to talk to about how to hook it up. i cant drill anything, so i need to know how to do it over the top.
if someone can talk to me through email or aim i would appreciate it. my aim name is " theheartben" and my email is heartben@gmail.com
thanks guys. i will try to see if there is some sort of a silca remover.

 

[cooqie]

yea u need alot more flow for your 55 umm i dunno what silica sand is but take sum of it out and and live sand on top of it mayb that would b a good idea and if you goin to take out your sand and replace it take any fish you have inside because they will mostlikly die

 

[heartben]

where should i direct the flow? i dont have a phos test right now..
its hard to keep up with you guys! woo.

 

[heartben]

oh, yeah.. how much flow do i need.
i need help with suggestions of how to do things right, not just to know that im doing it wrong. i appreciate everyones posts though, i just need direction. this is my first salt tank.
also, silca sand is what they use for pool filters, they also sell it as play sand at toys r us - which is a toy store ( sorry, i dont know if everyone knows what toys r us is), and they sell it at mendards/ home depote/ etc for sand blasting.
i read a bunch about it before i bought it and everyone said it was ok to use, but now im getting nervous. shucks.

 

[cooqie]

lol i know what toys r us is yea even though it probablly came out cheaper than live sand look what happens you should of gone wit live sand.. ummm put the pumps facing the sand like a slant not hitting it directly so you wont get a sand storm

 

[heartben]

so, for those of you who believe i should replace the sand! how would you reccomend i do that?
also, is there a brand or something youd reccomend? do i really have to get like..55 pounds of sand?
i will change the direction of the flow and see how it works. thanks for the suggestion!
ill be checking back very shortly to see if there are anymore posts.
also, did anyone want to talk to me about possible plumbing?

 

[cooqie]

do u have live rock?

 

[scsinet]

SiliCA and SiliCATES are not the same thing.
SiliCA is found in sand and SiliCATES feed diatom algae. Although I do not recommend using sand in saltwater tanks, particularly reefs, the sand is not what is causing your diatom blooms.
If you still have it after 5 weeks, the something is introducing it into your water. Where is your source water coming from that you use for water changes and topoffs? Are you using tap water (either with or without a water "conditioner" product) or are you using RODI water?

 

[heartben]

i have a little bit of live rock, its expensive so i bought mostly lace rock and i figured it would get seeded by the other rock.
- scsi - if you do not use sand in the tank, what do you use? i have been using tap water. mostly because i dont have any containers that are good enough to transport water from the pet store.
im assuming the tap water is whats doing it then? perhaps? i do use a conditioner...

 

[cooqie]

i use tap water and nothing happens when you add the salt to the water let it mix good and the salt whill kill whatever is in the tap water why wouldnt you use live sand when having corals?

 

[cooqie]

but whenever i top off i use ro water because i am not mixing

 

[heartben]

i dont really know why i would use live sand... ive read sooo many posts that say live sand isnt really that benificial, hardly worth the extra money... if you have some live rock itll seed the sand.
anyways. why would it matter if i had live rock or live sand. i just want to see the light at the end of the tunnel i guess, where are you going with it?
im still new, so i dont know a ton of stuff. i just really dont see why live sand is so important. if i did get it, id have to go to the store and buy a bag of ls... i read that the live sand from a bag just has some bacteria on it and its not REALLY live sand because there are no pods or anything really...
i dont know. just suggest what i should do and let me know why.

 

[cooqie]

i read that pods come frm the live rock, any ways i was asking about the live rock so u can take everything out incluedin fish and add the live sand but everyone has differant oppinions this is just mines

 

[heartben]

i suppose i could just do that, get as much of the sand as possible at least.
im going to need a couple more people to suggest this thought because its kind of alot of work to do.
there is a guy who lives here me selling sand for 1.50 a LB that is established. maybe ill get some of that?
idk yet. i dont want to do anything extreme right now if i dont have to.
thank you for the suggestion though. i dont know if i have enough buckets - etc to hold that much water though.