fill tank with tapwater

[goldenboy]

A friend of mine used tapwater to fill his tank. Of course there is algae everywhere, probably lots of phosphates, but I don't know if he tested for that. The question is, now he is using an R/O filter, will the algae slowly go away with better water quality? He has a cleaning crew, but his LR has a lot of brown diatoms on it.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by goldenboy
A friend of mine used tapwater to fill his tank. Of course there is algae everywhere, probably lots of phosphates, but I don't know if he tested for that. The question is, now he is using an R/O filter, will the algae slowly go away with better water quality? He has a cleaning crew, but his LR has a lot of brown diatoms on it.
the brown diatoms are due to phosphates.
If there is no fish in there and little to no LR then his algae may be lowered with ro/di. But probably not. And definately not when fish are added.
BTW there is no reason for tap water has to create algae. Plant life other than algae would have prevented the algae. Finally, if he does nothing but get rid of the algae with the cleaner crew or by manually removing the algae, he may have a very hard time getting future fish to live. IME plant live of some type is needed to support the livestock. So get rid of the ugly algaes and add other plant life, or allow the ugly algae to flourish. But get the plant life thriving by any means.

 

[bdhough]

Yes it will. Tell him to start brushing the stuff off the rock and doing water changes at the same time once a week. He should also limit feedings as much as possible and not leave the lights on for longer than 8 hours. Do that and it should clear up.

 

[goldenboy]

He has a good amount of LR, and also has a yellow and blue tang. Won't they eat up the plants? I know I had shaving brushes and they made a mess of my tank. What can you put in with tangs and strip lighting.

 

[goldenboy]

Ha, I love your avatar kip!! This is his mess, I'll tell him to join the board....Still any help would be appreciated. I've always used R/O, and never had an algae problem. I'm no pro, but I told him to spend the money in the beginning.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by goldenboy
He has a good amount of LR, and also has a yellow and blue tang. Won't they eat up the plants? I know I had shaving brushes and they made a mess of my tank. What can you put in with tangs and strip lighting.
Gracillaria, Caulerpa prolifera, brillo pad.
Gracillaria(tangs would love). Caulerpa would look nicer.
Just protect the macros/plants by a refigium or by culturing some in another container.
you friend will have algae in his tank with or with ro/di. Establishing a thriving plant growth will feed his tang and starve the algaes of nutrients.
STrip lights are fin with any of those macros. After all they are just organized algaes. And obviously algaes are already in his system

 

[goldenboy]

here beas. have an avatar to fit your expert. Also what's the best plant that won't be eaten a lot or reproduces well?

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by goldenboy
here beas. have an avatar to fit your expert. Also what's the best plant that won't be eaten a lot or reproduces well?

love the avaitor.
I like the Caulerpa profilera in the display because it looks like a plant. The tang will eat it but not as much as the branched algaes. It does grow fast which is exactly what you want to rapidly consume the nitrates and phosphates. As nutrients are consumed that growth will slow. Also because it is plant like with runners it does not stay at the bottom like the shaving brushes. So is easier to harvest every now and then.

 

[cincyreefer]

What kind of filtration does he have? You might want to recommend that he sets up a refugium some how.

 

[doodle1800]

for those who want to peek..

 

[goldenboy]

Is there some other name for caulpera profilera? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[goldenboy]

nevermind I ordered some for ME. Any advice or problems with this stuff before it arrives? I'm putting it in my qt tank. I'm getting 2 lbs. of the stuff. I don't know how much that will look like, but any advice from the plantman would help! Oh yeah one more thing, I don't have any sand in my qt tank. Just water and pvc tubing. Should I have sand?

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by goldenboy
nevermind I ordered some for ME. Any advice or problems with this stuff before it arrives? I'm putting it in my qt tank. I'm getting 2 lbs. of the stuff. I don't know how much that will look like, but any advice from the plantman would help! Oh yeah one more thing, I don't have any sand in my qt tank. Just water and pvc tubing. Should I have sand?
2 pounds. That's a bunch. One supplier stated that a pound was about a 4" wide strip the length of a 55g or 4'.
It does better with sand for the hold downs and with some helper circulation. I would put at least half in another container with sand and optionally a powerhead. And of course some simple NO type lighting. Then put the rest in the display.
If you can try to get the runners planted.
and them set back and watch things get better and better.

 

[goldenboy]

And of course some simple NO type lighting.
huh?

 

[beaslbob]

NO stands for normal output lighting. In other words just normal lighting for the plants.

 

[goldenboy]

oh, hee hee. Anyway I paid $16 for 2 lbs. I paid more for the shipping then the plants though. Did I get shaken down?

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by goldenboy
oh, hee hee. Anyway I paid $16 for 2 lbs. I paid more for the shipping then the plants though. Did I get shaken down?
sounds about normal. One place charges $11/pound and about $18 in shipping and handling. another $1.6/12" lenght and around $8 for priority mail.
I have seen some charge up to $30 for shipping. That is fine for nextday corals (and fish), but extreme for macros. And when I got the macros they looked terrible. Go figure.

 

[goldenboy]

It said to just throw them in the tank and they'll attach themselves to rock/substrate in a week or so. Sound about right?

 

[capschamp]

If you don't want them floating around in your tank I would bury them in the substrate. That is what I did and now they are poking out and beginning to flourish. I am going to have to harvest some pretty soon so they don't take over my tank.

 

[goldenboy]

I've got snails, conchs, and scarlets, are any of these going to eat the plant?