Algae bloom

Cheesehead

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2011
685
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WI
Well I now have a great collection of almost all types of algae. I have red slime algae, diatoms, hair, and coralline (yay!). My phosphates and nitrAtes are both 0 (I don't know how my nitrates are 0 though...) I also have an intank fuge with chaeto. Any ideas on how to get rid of this stuff? Also I did the tests after a 2.5 gal w/c, so they may be skewed (stupid I know.) hopefully if I have time tomorrow I can do a few more tests.


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DripN.Wet

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2012
21
0
0
Bloomingdale, Ohio
Algea doesn't grow without food(i.e. phosphates and nitrates), so I would say your results are definitely skewed, be it the waterchange or bad test kits(happens more than people realize)!!! Also cyano could be a result of low flow in the tank, 80% of the time, in my experience, cyano goes away simply by adding another powerhead.
 

Cheesehead

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2011
685
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WI
The test kit is only about a month old so I would really hope it isn't skewed lol. I will check again later today. Also I would definitely add another power head, but my corals all seem to like the current flow. I also have a Aqueon 55, so I was hoping that would be enough.... Here are pics:
The lights just came on so that is why all if the corals are closed.


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erin gervin

Feeder Fish
Nov 8, 2012
6
0
0
Falmouth, ME
help me!! you all seem like much more experienced fish keepers and you talk of plecos and i have this great 8" polka dot pleco in a 60 gallon and he's the only fish who survived when the power went out for 2 days and my 5 baseball-sized Orandas died...my 3 1/2 year old daughter named him "Detail" when she was 21/2 and now he's grown into this cute lummox who gets scared of me if i stare at him and talk to him for too long. i would like to put him in a 120 gallon tank ( it's one craigslist, i have my eye on it) along with about 20 Platys--bought 5 and then they started having babies--11 Black Lace Tetras (?!) and 2 blue Gouramis, one pair of reg. Corydoras, with 5 or 6 short-finned Bettas--hard to positively identify in the Miasma--and about a million snails. currently i have this many fish divided between two tanks, a 60 gal and a 20 long... o.k. so i have 2 tanks and now both are completely cloudy...they've been cloudy for the past 6 mos. and i have these tiger striped lilypad plants i got as bubs which now sprout all the way to the top in the 60, and i've got swamp-like growth of Water Milfoil and those odd little plants that resemble a bunch of bananas with these War Of The Worlds tendril-roots.
i have two boxes of primordial soup. my most ardent hope is to set up the 120 gallon with partial old gravel--seeded gravel?--and partial new, all the plants and rocks and Detail's ceramic flower pot bat cave, and as many snails as i can transfer w/out crushing...little pond snails, i think...but have the water miraculously be clear because i start with all new water. i have well water, i live in Falmouth, ME and i have access to 60 gallons filled n' reserved well water, and would use well water for the rest. what do i do for filtration with a tank that big? i don't want a vat of murky water...i do bi-weekly water changes, i have at least double the necessary filtration now, but i don't know how to get my tank clear. whenever i can see my fish, they look great. the Platys have a second generation of babies as big as you'd buy in a petshop, so what am i doing wrong? what should i buy for filtration for this big tank--and i know it's not big like you guys all have, but 120 gallons is big to me--to have it be clear like everybody's? please advise
 

erin gervin

Feeder Fish
Nov 8, 2012
6
0
0
Falmouth, ME
i'm sorry, computers and i are not friends, not at all, and i'm not even sure what threads are. can you help me find where i should post questions?
 

Cheesehead

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2011
685
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WI

DripN.Wet

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2012
21
0
0
Bloomingdale, Ohio
Cheesehead,
Just looking at you tank pics I would say turn that HOB into an algae scrubber and you'd be fine...It shouldn't cost more than 10 bucks and it would eliminate the algae in the display tank and keep the nitrates from spiking in the event of an over feeding incident. There are tons of DIY tips on the internet with step by step instructions.

Anyway, that would be my 2 cents. There are others who will offer all sorts of other advice from carbon filters to bio-pellet reactors, and they are all capable of accomplishing the same thing. The algae scrubber just happens to work for me and is very cheap to make. I also like the fact that I don't have to run a massive protien skimmer any longer!

Also, before someone crusifies me, I will say that my tank consists of LPS corals, Sponges, Anemones and lots of fish....and only one Montipora Cap. So I don't grow Acros or any other crazy SPS so I won't claim it is a solution for everyone. However, when I start adding a few SPS, I'll keep everyone posted on how they do in a skimmerless system.
 

Cheesehead

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2011
685
1
0
WI
ok cool I will check that out.
 
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