Holy Problem!

cool clown

cool clown

Member
I recently changed my MH bulbs and added 2 fish into my 180 gallon tank, now I have a ton of green algae groing everywhere rocks sand and glass. Nitrates 20-40. How do I get rid of the algae and also besides water changes how do I lower nitrates? I have a wet/dry filter with sump & fuge. Please help my tank has looked good for the past 6 months been set up over 1 year. Thanks
 
legion

legion

Member
Never used a wet/dry but it could trap too much waste??? Your lights and trates together are a bad combo(for algae growth) Water changes, less feeding and less light for awhile. You can scrub the bad rocks of algae but it really is a short term solution. What is in your wet dry bioballs, etc?
 
bustedup21

bustedup21

Member
you can get an algae bloom if your alk is down as well as your ph. The extra light just gave the algae a little extra boost. IMO extra water changes and toss your bio balls a little at a time. removing all of them may send your tank the other way.:joy:
 
cool clown

cool clown

Member
My PH is around 8.0. It is slowly coming back up. Do I just remove a few at a time and clean them or do I throw them away? Thanks
 
bustedup21

bustedup21

Member
Your Ph is a little on the low side. Still need to know what the alk test shows because they run hand in hand. Your alk should be between 8 and 12. Some test come in at 110 to 120 by they scales. As far as removing the Bio-balls what I have read is to remove about 1/4 of them at a time. For instance if you start with say 10 you would remove 3 of them leaving you 7. Test your water and see where you are after 4 or 5 days. If you are still high remove 1/4 more which is 2 leaving you 5 and so on. This is from what I understand easier on the system and keeps you from removing too much filtration at one time.
The last bloom I had my PH had dipped to 7.6. I had changed buffers and the new one did not work well with the old water. Took me about a month to get the PH back up to 8.3.:D
 
fishking

fishking

Active Member

Originally posted by bustedup21
toss your bio balls a little at a time. removing all of them may send your tank the other way.:joy:

oops bad me lol, that waut i did
 
cool clown

cool clown

Member
The test that I have for alk just reads low. I don't have a good tester. I used to use B-ionic 2 part cal & alk but ran out and have not ordered more. Would this help to start adding it again? Thanks Again
 
bustedup21

bustedup21

Member
Definitely would help. Generally you use the two parts in tandem. I use the same. 10-15 ml every 3-4 days once you have your level right should work for your size tank. Try testing at the same time of day as well because the temp of your tank as well as the amount of time under the lights will effect the ph. I did not know that being involved with reef keeping was going to require me to go back and learn my chemistry again, never thought I would use that info again.
What you do needs to be consistent. You watch for suttle changes to prepare for adjusting your additives. Small adjustment put a lot less stress on your livestock. Keep in mind that you will see nitrate and ammonia in your system on occusion. Could be something died or you added some rock or overfed. Test every 4 or 5 days for now. Hopefully once you get things straight again the livestock will relax a bit.
best :jumping:
:jumping:
:jumping:
:jumping:
 
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