Algae with good water?

Discussion in 'Algae' started by 1sleeper, Mar 3, 2007.

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  1. 1sleeper

    1sleeper Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2006
    Messages:
    43
    Location:
    Syracuse
    Hey guys, I'm stumped. I have this algae starting to blanket everything. Here are my params:
    3 month old lights
    950 gph return w/ (2) koralia3's (850 ea.) 80 gallon bow
    Urchin Pro skims makes 4 oz a day of green tea
    10gallons of my fuge full of cheato and pods
    SG-1.024 @ 77.6 F
    Amonia-0
    No2-0
    No3-.2
    Iodode-.1 mg/l
    Si-0
    Ca-420
    PH-8.1
    Alk-4.5 meq/l
    Phosphate- .07mq/l
    Mg-1300ppm
     

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    Last edited: Mar 3, 2007
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  3. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    Location:
    CT
    What color is the algae and how long has the tank been set up for?
     
  4. mattgeezer

    mattgeezer Montipora Capricornis

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    1,024
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    try some phosphate sponge
     
  5. 1sleeper

    1sleeper Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2006
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    43
    Location:
    Syracuse
    Dark green/brown/ and the stringy stuff looks black. Tank was set up 3 months ago.
     
  6. philip_r5

    philip_r5 Feather Duster

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    Location:
    Daytona Beach, Florida
    Looks like cynabacteria. Its form of algea that mainly harvests off good light and excess food or dead material in the water. Given your parm's and it shows you got a skimmer. Do you do water changes often? If not do them a little sooner then normal. Also try to reduce your feeding and your bio load.
     
  7. 1sleeper

    1sleeper Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2006
    Messages:
    43
    Location:
    Syracuse
    Yes, I skim. Yes I do water changes. A 30 gallon on Tue and it's still spreading. I neglected to say that I run Rowaphos through a reactor which is the reason my Phosphates are so low (that water change didn't hurt either). We feed sparingly and almost all gets eaten. There is only two fish so we can spot feed them pellets one at a time. The only time food isn't acounted for is when I feed mysis and it is only 1/4 cube at a time. It looks all gone in about 2 minutes.
     
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  9. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    Either cyano bacteria, dinoflagellates or both. The "algae" is mostly likely taking phosphates and nitrates out of your water so your test kits won't be able to register it. A few more questions. Are you using r.o./d.i. water? If you are, have you tested the output of the r.o./d.i. unit for phosphates and nitrates? Is there any water circulation/flow in the areas that it's growing?
     
  10. philip_r5

    philip_r5 Feather Duster

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    Location:
    Daytona Beach, Florida
    Man, I really don't know much to tell you. You seem to be combating it with what you should be doing. I had a big cyna outbreak also, you can see pics of my galleries. All I did was got a better skimmer and put more flow where the cyna was. I fed a little less and it all disappeared in no time. One other thing you could look at is do you have your lights on a timer and how long do they remain on for!
     
  11. 1sleeper

    1sleeper Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2006
    Messages:
    43
    Location:
    Syracuse
    Philip, I do have them on a timer. Actinics on at 10a off at 10p, daylights on at 11a off at 9p. I just shortened it today and started it at 8am to coincide with natural daylight coming thru the sidelights in my entry door. The daylight is not direct but my house has a lot of window. I see you're in Batavia, I don't think that's too far from Syracuse.
    Amcarrig, I have a RoDi set up that is only a couple months old. It better not be putting out phos and No3. I'll check it though. There is flow too. You can see the flower pot is bent over right next to the algae.
    Thanks for all your help guys. I appreciate it.
     
  12. djnzlab1

    djnzlab1 Aiptasia Anemone

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2006
    Messages:
    567
    Location:
    Va Beach, Va
    That hidden Phos

    HI,
    One article I read talks about hidden Phos in you system, I try and add lime water to help calcium in my tanks and didn't realize that one of the positive aspects is the calcium precip that may occur can capture and hold that Phos thats a plus unless you have a change in PH that dissolves any carbonate this releases phos to feed the bloom
    And phos reactors can't fix the phos until its released and you may have used up the phos reactor by then.
    Man this saltwater is tricky.:eek:
    Doug