Water changes?

[mr . salty]

Instead of doing a 35-40gal change monthly,could I do 10 gallons weekly in my 125? I started doing this three weeks ago,and other than nice clear water, no changes. My ammo,and ites are at zero,or real close to it by my testing. But the nitrates stay just below .40. Any thoughts. I'm also getting alot of slime algae,both red and green. The red is real dark,almost brownish/red. STEVE

 

[jimi]

If you have the time, small changes are better as your tank is more stable.Your nitrates are kind of high so that is probably causing the algae but the red algae can be caused by incorrect lighting, high phosphates, poor circulation or low calcium levels.

 

[kb]

Mr. Salty, I had the same problem in my 150FO tank. I had so much of that slime it covered the bottom and my coral. The only thing that helped was a product called red slime remover. I got it from petwhse.com it was only like 14.00. First check your phosphate level and lower that than use this product. It had no effect on anything in my tank except all that junk. It went away completely in about 3 days!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mr . salty]

I already had planned on buying that stuff this weekend if no other suggestions came in. I guess thats the way to go. That and check the phos. and adjust. STEVE

 

[clayton]

If you change the water weekly then the redox potential of the water can drop. This can cause problems including algae

 

[mr . salty]

Pardon my STUPIDITY,but what is RO/redox???????? STEVE

 

[jimi]

It is a measure of a tanks capacity to oxidize material. Small changes will not hurt your Orp as much as not doing them. The build up of detritus,dirty filters,or dirty substrates all lower your orp.

 

[mr . salty]

THANKS JIMI

 

[clayton]

Originally posted by clayton:
If you change weekly then the redox potential of the water can drop. This can lead to problems including algae.

 

[clayton]

Meant redox not RO (it was late). Redox stands for reduction oxidation potential and refers to the oxidation and reduction of substances by the loss or gaining of electrons. Tiresum chemistry really but if you are getting serious the levels should be 300-400mV.
Originally posted by MR . SALTY:
THANKS JIMI