Please dont flame me

[stevechouinard]

I havent done a water change in a long while...I tested my tank yet all the parimeters were good. PH=8.1 Nitrates=0 Nitrites=0 Amonia=0
I have alot of filtration and a protien skimmer. What are the pros and cons of my behavior. Tanks been up for 3 years... I do have green hairy algee growing but I think its the lighting... someone please help but try to take it easy on the little guy

 

[bang guy]

If it works for you then that's great.
The most common downfall is a buildup of organic acids. This would typically show up as a difficulty in maintaining Alkalinity and PH. You don't seem to have this trouble for whatever reason so something in your system is breaking down these metabolic acids. My guess is a combination of good skimming and low bioload.
While I don't recommend this maintenance routine, I don't see a problem if it is working for you.

 

[reefkprz]

well. not doing water changes is telling its own tale. green algae is consuming your nitrates and phosophates, that would be why your testing nil on trates. you have them but they are getting consumed by the algae.
another draw back of not doing sufficient water changes is the slow build up of organic waste, right now its only to the point of feeding algae, later it could get to tank crashing porportions.
I'm going to guess that this is a reef tank since you posted this in the reef section. your trace elements are being consumed by your corals and not being replenished by waterchanges. spelling eventual death for them. the build up of excess waste can also lead to diseases in your corals as when corals are stressed the microbial colonis on their surface shifts and cvan become danfgerous to the corals. lack of ceartain elemants can cause them to grow slower, or not at all, or cuase them to build weaker skeletons that are more prone to damage.
I would reccomend doing a decent sized water change after pointing a powerhead at your rocks to blow the gunk out of them and gget it suspended in the water column.

 

[ameno]

Sounds like you have a good balance going, I checked my trates this weekend and they were at "0". I think my last water change was maybe

6 months ago. I know I'm overdue though and I would be doing one but I'm about to switch over to a new tank, normally I would do a change every 2 to 4 months, depending on how things were looking. but with a good set-up with a fuge a good skimmer ect. and supilimenting with trace elements I think it's fine, I know a lot disagree with that though, but my tanks been running for almost three years and the corals have grown to were there is no room for anything else in the tank.

 

[renogaw]

pros: not having to spend money on salt, not having to lift water, etc.
cons:
your trace elements are probably shot so everything may have troubles growing etc unless you're adding them. but, now by adding them you have to own the product and the test kits for them
your salinity cannot be very stable. salt creep is probably reducing the salt content of the system and you're not adding any more in.
you're not exporting nitrates or phosphates. this is evident with your algae growth. while you are testing zero nitrates, it is probably a false zero because your algae is using it up.

 

[stevechouinard]

Its not a reef tank yet but will be going there very soon. Its has been 9 months sence my last confession...lol J/k sence my last water change and results are always the same = perfect I replace evap. water with fresh RO and skimmer does its job well. So IDK my fish are doing great there color is awsome as you can see by my avitar, also what causes a cycle??? cause I wanna move my current 30 gallon set up into a 50 gallon tank now if I put everything thats in my current tank into the new one plus 20 gallons of new water what will happin

 

[ameno]

algae could be from several issues, not just trates, good be lighting, what type lighting and how long since a bulb change, could be water, what water are you using? I had a algae bloom at one time, tried everything including a water change twice a week with no effect, finally figured out that the DI unit I was using was not getting enough TDS out of the water, changed water supply and algae cleared up.

 

[stevechouinard]

I will do them more often now

 

[michaeltx]

that was my first thought your trace elements that water changes replenish isnt there.
I have went this route when I first setup a tank didnt know any better as I expanded my knowledge and started doing water changes the corals in the tank started to look much healthier and expanding and growing more than when i wasnt doing them.
The green hair algae will use up the nitrates as said the only way to get them under control is to kill its food source.
Mike

 

[ameno]

if you have a fuge with cheato or some type nitrates absorbtion method it will help keep the algae problem down. I have no algae now.

 

[stevechouinard]

Have a powercompact with 50/50 bulbs havent yet changed bulbs lights are on from 8am to 9 pm

 

[stevechouinard]

Dont have corals but will have some zoos and shrooms this week hence the posting in this section

 

[stevechouinard]

Originally Posted by ameno
if you have a fuge with cheato or some type nitrates absorbtion method it will help keep the algae problem down. I have no algae now.
No fuge

 

[ameno]

I would try cutting back lights to 10 to 12 hours and get some new bulbs, also make sure your using water that has 0 TDS. also nitrates have to be absorbed somewere so if you don't have fuge that could be part of the problem

 

[reefkprz]

I dont undersdtand why people blame algae growth on lights

no matter what spectrum bulb you have algae cannot grow without the nutrients it requires.....

 

[stevechouinard]

Well i was gonna go to a 50gal and make my 30 a fuge...also what causes a cycle??? cause I wanna move my current 30 gallon set up into a 50 gallon tank now if I put everything thats in my current tank into the new one plus 20 gallons of new water what will happin

 

[stevechouinard]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I dont undersdtand why people blame algae growth on lights

no matter what spectrum bulb you have algae cannot grow without the nutrients it requires.....
So RO water once a month will = no algae
Excuse the lack of knowlage here I have had my tank for 3 years without any guidance I am here to learn

 

[renogaw]

i'm curious... what's your salt level testing at?
with a skimmer, you are removing salt. with salt creep, you are removing salt. adding just RO water... i bet your SG is really low...

 

[michaeltx]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I dont undersdtand why people blame algae growth on lights

no matter what spectrum bulb you have algae cannot grow without the nutrients it requires.....
actually the LOW k rated bulbs are perfect for algae growth I dont think thats whats going on here but if you put a lower k rating LEss than 6500K it is more apt to have a big algae problem even with the small amount of nutrients we allow in the tank.
in this case its the nutrients though and probably a combonation of the bulbs changing spectum helping the algae growth.
Mike

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by SteveChouinard
So IDK my fish are doing great there color is awsome
fish defiantly dont require trace element replenishment as dearly as corals will. they use very little in the way of trace elements though they do use some. so in a balanced system being fish only water changes wouldnt be as important. as long as like your saying the water is testing good. but for the eventuall adding of corals I would set up a waterchange schedule and adhere to it just to make it automatic. honestly you can avoid dosing a lot of things if you do sufficient water changes.