Originally Posted by Smellslikefish
My tank is about 3 months old (I upgraded my lights 2-3weeks ago) I run my actinics 10 hours and run my 10k's 9 hours a day. As far as water flow I have a Maxijet 600 and a power head 201 along with the return pump. I do water changes every 3 weeks. I'm not sure what my phosphate levels are because they dont test for that at my LFS. I have a sump and not a fuge. I started to feed every other day instead of everyday.
My BTA has looked like the third picture I have posted for a while. Could the algae be causing it to close up? Also, Do I need to get a RODI unit to control this algae?
Thanks everyone,
Here's a couple things that will likely help:
1. What is your current water source? If it is currently tap water, either get water from your LFS or Walmart or get an RO/DI unit. If you currently get water from your LFS or Walmart, get an RO/DI unit. But, be sure to test your water source for phosphates prior to mixing the salt, then after mixing the salt and prior to putting it in the tank. This will show you where you might be getting "fuel" for the algae.
2. Cut your lighting back a bit and see if it helps slow/stop the algae growth. Do 7 hours with the actinics and 5-6 with the 10k.
3. What size tank? You need to measure your flow by adding any return pump turnover (as long as you have directed nozzles attached to that) and powerhead turnover, then divide by the volume of your tank. For example, if you have 2 powerheads rated at 200gph each, plus a 300gph return, that would be 700 total gph of directed flow. Divide that by the size of your tank. If you have a 55g tank then you have a total flow rate of 12x. That example would be somewhat low, depending on what you keep. You should probably try to either redirect your flow or increase it to be around 20x or more to help with the algae problems.
4. Do you have any sunlight hitting your tank? If so, stop it.
Hope that helps.
