how is it done???

how do ya'll get your tank looking so clean as in some of those pics. clean sand and not a trace of algae on the rocks. Do you scrub them? siphon the sand? cuc just that BA? or does the algae just go away on its own after the tank has been running a while?

The reason I am asking is I have a 55 gallon that is 2 months old and I have had algae from day 3. I know some is just part of a fresh cycle but dang. I do most of all the things I am told and still algae city. R/o and all that. I guess I should just be patient but its hard.

 

Do you have any type of clean up crew? What are your paramsm are you running a skimmer and how often and what do you feed the tank?

 

CUC is key. I haven't touched my glass sand or rocks in about 3 months now. It stays sparkling clean on it's own. Visit reefcleaners.org and they will set you up with exactly what you need for your tank to stay clean.

ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Custom Clean Up Crews

 

agreed with mike, john will set you up nice with the recomended cuc. It takes time for the ecosystem to become established so be patient.

 

Here are My new pars.
sal. 1.023
temp 80.7
ph. 8.0-8.2
Amm. 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
phos 0-0.25
Dkh 10
cal 400
mg 1250

I use a reef octo protein skimmer and feed every other day. I run lights
150w MH both less that 4 months old for 7 hours. and actinics for 1.5 hours on either side of that.
I have about 30 ceriths. 10 turbos. 30 or so hermits. a few emeralds. an lawnmower blenny and a sea hare from my little tank that had a bad gha problem.

Was thinking of adding a phos reactor.

 

A phosban reactor is never a bad idea. If you find that you don't need it on the tank anymore you can always load it up with some carbon to keep the water clean. Your param's look good. Sounds like it's most likely new tank algae.

 

Cut your MH time down to 5 hours, and run some phosban

 

pictures just make it look spotless.. in reality, there is always something a little dirty unless its just after a huge 4 hour cleaning.. keep up the hard work and it will pay off..

 

Very true. My tank is never fully cyano free.

 

here are some pics

some green fuzzy on the rocks and brown probably diatoms on the sand.
sorry my be blurry my camera don't auto focus though glass very well.