algae problem

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I have had my light's on for 12 hour span's for some 15 year's in the saltwater hobby most algae bloom's are easily traced to where your water is coming from, Are you throwing in a cube of frozen? Or thawing it out in a separate container then dumping water in tank? Most of these thing well 99.9% of algae problem's can be traced to those factor's as well is there a sufficient algae clean up crew? enough flow conditioned water from a RO/DI unit?

mr.reef24
 
Get the filters, and save money on the color change resin and just get basic resin, and plump in a tds meter. with RO units, you need a tds meter so you know when you need to change filters etc.... A dual meter will work awesome, one before the DI and after the DI. This will tell you how well your RO membrane is, and tell you when to change your resin. It will save lots of dollars down the road. If you algae is as bad as it is, id almost say just do a black out for a couple days. I dont normally suggest those because its a temporary fix, but it will atleast get rid of some of the algae, while you work on getting your RO water up and running, and getting your lights set to good times.

As far as frozen goes, if you put tank water in a cup, thaw the cube then feed its still releasing all of those phosphates in your tank. You need to thaw with tank water, then dump that water out, while keeping the food in the container. I took the lid to a flake food container and cut just the ring part with the threads out, and hot glued some nylon screen to the lid. This holds the food back but allows the water to drain through. You can get some very small sized mesh screen that will work perfect for the job. If you do this before feeding and only feed once evrey 3 days, you will see huge improvments in your tank.
 
sweeTang21;3174597; said:
Get the filters, and save money on the color change resin and just get basic resin, and plump in a tds meter. with RO units, you need a tds meter so you know when you need to change filters etc.... A dual meter will work awesome, one before the DI and after the DI. This will tell you how well your RO membrane is, and tell you when to change your resin. It will save lots of dollars down the road. If you algae is as bad as it is, id almost say just do a black out for a couple days. I dont normally suggest those because its a temporary fix, but it will atleast get rid of some of the algae, while you work on getting your RO water up and running, and getting your lights set to good times.

As far as frozen goes, if you put tank water in a cup, thaw the cube then feed its still releasing all of those phosphates in your tank. You need to thaw with tank water, then dump that water out, while keeping the food in the container. I took the lid to a flake food container and cut just the ring part with the threads out, and hot glued some nylon screen to the lid. This holds the food back but allows the water to drain through. You can get some very small sized mesh screen that will work perfect for the job. If you do this before feeding and only feed once evrey 3 days, you will see huge improvments in your tank.

thanks for saying what i said lol. you could also get coffee filter's for a strainer and use PVC pipe cut to a small size and use a zip tie and boom thaw food in cup pour through pvc and coffee filter no phosphate and easy food strainer. Most people thaw in a container and feed then dump water in which is a no-no then say why do I have algae or have 10 snail's in a 55 gallon and wonder how the algae went wild.

mr.reef24
 
Thanks guys for all the posts and suggestions, i have since got some phosphate pads and put them in with my canister, over night my tank cleared and has been crystal clear since, besides today had to scrape some algae off the glass, oh and do you guys recommend keeping a glass lid on when having a compact flourescent light above , its the one that has legs and the acrylic cover covering the bulbs because im having to refill like twice a week.
 
I dont use glass tops for a few reasons, all my tanks have canopys so i dont need to worry about fish jumping out. Other reasons are for heat issues. I would rather have more evap then high temps all the time. CF's run hot so heat should be a concern for you. Other options for a lid would be to cut some "egg crate" to fit the opening. Thats what ive known it as. If you go to your hardware store and ask them for plastic egg crate, they should know what your talking about. There also used for light covers. I know its the worst description, ill try and post a pic of what im talking about.

heres a pic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/2846359489_85192b25a5.jpg

once you cut this to fit, your have a lid to keep fish in the tank, and allow good light penetration and heat disapation. Although you'll still have to refill the tank due to evap.
 
thanks appreciate you taking the time to put the picture on here, but actually i have since then changed plans with everything im going to be moving to VA so im going to be selling the tank :(
 
cichlidman1888;3231519; said:
thanks appreciate you taking the time to put the picture on here, but actually i have since then changed plans with everything im going to be moving to VA so im going to be selling the tank :(

that suck's you have to sell it all

mr.reef24
 
cichlidman1888;3163890; said:
yeah tap water i have a r.o unit i just need to find the replacement filters for it , cheap that is! it has the three canisters on it.


I have a 75g SWT and lately have had a hair algae bloom. I have an RO/DI unit but recently have gotten lazy and not used it. I've been using RO purified drinking water from the super market and the algae has BLOOMED. Well, its back to the RO/DI unit.
 
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