Water Chemistry

[fishman830]

i've been tryin' to kick hair algae out, and finially get my new test kits in...
so here goes
pH -8.9-8.6
Phosphate - 1
ammonia - <.25
NO2- 0
Alk - .33
Cu - <.05
Calcium - 415
i've killed the lights substancially, 1 fish in the system, clarkii clown, but he's in the sump
other than that just inverts

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Fishman830
pH -8.9-8.6
Phosphate - 1
ammonia - <.25
NO2- 0
Alk - .33
Cu - <.05
Calcium - 415
PO4 is the most likely problem.
What's up with the PH? Is that normal for your system?
ALK - .33 is that 3.3 Meq/L?

 

[fishman830]

ah!! that's actually a typo...the PH is 8.3-8.6 and the alk is 3.89 meq/L
and no3 which i forgot to put the value in for is 10-25 ppm.. which is pretty bad, correct?
and what can i do about the phosphate? Water changes?

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Fishman830
ah!! that's actually a typo...the PH is 8.3-8.6 and the alk is 3.89 meq/L
and no3 which i forgot to put the value in for is 10-25 ppm.. which is pretty bad, correct?
and what can i do about the phosphate? Water changes?
What kind of water are you using? RO or tap?
Do you have any mexican turbo snails? The one time I had hair algae, these guys took care of it in 4 days without any light reduction at all.

 

[fishman830]

i use RO...
mexican turbo's? no... regular turbo's.. but now since the lights have been off, the hair algae has been significantly reduced, however, i need to lower the po4 and No3

 

[lion_crazz]

What is the phosphate level of your RO water?
RowaPhos removes phosphates wonderfully. It works and looks like carbon. Water changes get nitrates down.

 

[fishman830]

0.0 PO4 in my RO

 

[reefreak29]

u could use phosgaurd for 2 days

 

[lion_crazz]

I have used both, and I have found that RowaPhos is more effective than PhosGuard. That is just my two cents though.