Its kickin my butt!!

Yes, But Chaeto Floats!!!

 

posting a pic in a few ...I'm sure this help to understand. Hope tangster don't see it !! I know the flow should be lower... guess about 80 per hr...easy fix...but that shouldn't be the problem with growth should it ?

Bioload load is very little on the DT ...only 2 fish in the 125 DT and CUC

SG is 1.024

 

Mine don't float ? never did .....I have a circulaion in the tank...and it would just sink ..I moved it around so it didn't just fall to bottom...but eventually it just sinks

 

Pics as of 2 min ago.

 

IF I drop back to reverse lighting ......will it stress the plants even more now that they are going down hill ??

 

A fuge is suppose to be like a swamp. Low flow so the nutrients have time to settle. 55g fuge for a 125g display is way to big in my opinion. The SW gods always told me 1/10 of the display tank in gallons and 1/10 of the flow in gph.

125g display = 12.5g fuge at 12gph flow.

This is not set in stone and others will tell you different. This is what works for me so that is all I can offer. Its really like having enough fertilizer for 1 acre and then trying to spread it over 55 acres and wondering why it won't grow.

 

How old is this system again ? 6 weeks i think I saw and its a 55 gal fuge on a 125 main tank ? if I am correct in what I think I saw then the system is to clean and new for any nutrients to feed the algae and then unless you have a massive bio load on this fuge its simply just way to large also. I would consider a 55 gal fuge if I had a 500 gal reef display tank for it to feed the fuge I did use 75 gal fuge in a 750 gal main tank..

Unless you have a F/O with some huge meat eating fish then by time you build up enough DOC's to grow and feed algae then you will loose a Mixed reef from pollution . Less is sometimes more then enough.

Having been using algae scrubbers and refugiums for many yrs I have found that a fuge 1/10 to size of the main tank and then flow 1/10 of the water volume of the fuge through the fuge every Hr. say a 125 gal mixed reef then 10 to 15 gal fuge and then about 10 to 15 GPh through the fuge..

Your algae is like a lawn in need of fertilizer and you don't have enough chickens in the yard making fertilizer for it.. Thats about what it comes down to Cut the skimmer off and it will start to do better and 12/12 reverse and no it will not stress the plants any further then they already are .

 

I knew it was large, but I figured i would still be ok as long as it grows... I understand the new water part and no fertlizer ....I just started the skimmer yesturday for the first time ...was on back order....never ran the lights during the cycle until about 1 week ago. Diatoms are present in DT but very little.....was told ok to start some macro algae as it need lights mainly and the fertlizer ( bio load ) was a secondary part of growth.

Soon as I saw Tangeter it was like the principal walked in the room!! yikes.... I went with the 55 gal only because I had it .....and figured the more the merrier ...as long as the lights were sufficient to support the growth...no harm no foul. but I guess I'll give it a few more months before I introduce plants.

thanks again

 

You are chasing your tail now the skimmer will just hurt the fuge and the fuge is already starving , There is little need for any skimmer for about 5 months once the tank is starting to be stocked and the after the skimmer is in place at say 4 months of r people in a hurry then there is a lag time of a month or two more before a fuge is needed and a properly sized one .. say the guys garden next door is growing like mad and yours is brown and dieing out and they both get the same sun and rain But he applies the needed fertilizers to his .. And he only has allowed enough fertilize for a 10x10 Garden now if he went to a 50x50' garden whats going to keep feeding that size garden ? he best find a added source if plant food .. Or he will have a 50x50 brown patch also.. I just try to pass on what it took mtself and others many many ys and good and bad fuges to figure out .Size do matter! ;D

 

One thing i noticed with my fuge. When the nitates in my tank goes up the cheato will grow like crazy but when the nitrates are close to zero it will die off some. You probably dont have enough bio load for the stuff to grow. Are you skimming as well?
or what Tangster said lol