Absolutely agreed times three.

Algae indicates a problem, source water, inputs to the tank, or lack of export from the tank, imo.

Hmm maybe the evil RO unit has something to do with it :evil: :lol: :evil: :rolleyes: I am not trying to start any fights here, though I do know that Deb, Kari and my self all use RO or RO/DI :mrgreen: Just an idea that popped into my constantly thinking brain.

But hey wait a minute :eek: I started my tank with good old tap water and still didn't get any outbreaks :confused:

Don't go there Jon..... :eek:


---into your constantly thinking brain, I mean..... :lol:

I don't think it's impossible to do everything right, and still have things go wrong. I also don't think it's impossible to not do everything right and have nothing go wrong. Or, you can do things right and things go as expected, or, you can do things wrong and have things crater on you.

I don't think it's completely unreasonable for a new tank to go through different phases. That is commonly why we don't suggest delicate species to go into tanks that are considered too new. You can't always know what to expect.

Technically speaking though, a bloom typically does indicate something is out of balance. I wouldn't take it personally if it happens in a new tank, because so many things can happen before an equilibrium is acheived, but if it persists beyond a few weeks before cresting, then it's something a little more pathological and you need to look at all the things already listed and suggested in this thread, and try to enact some kind of management/control. There are few quick fixes; most of what we do is small and incremental in nature.

RO is a fine investment to make, but if you're thinking that using RO or RO/DI will guarantee you not to have any problems down the road then you are unfortunately deluding yourself. There is no substitute for careful management and planning and load balancing and nutrient control. There are many reasons to use RO or RO/DI, but "so that I will never have an algae bloom" isn't one of them. Maybe "so that I will never have an algae bloom caused by my makeup water", but those are two slightly disparate notions. Just some food for thought.

...

Edited not to repeat my earlier thoughts

Sure. Sorry if anything was ambiguous. I just meant, RO/DI is a great tool in an arsenal of tools we employ for "successful reefkeeping" but in and of itself all it addresses is your makeup and topup water. If a person is, say for example, overfeeding, then there still is the possibility of an algae bloom. BTW, I thought you gave good examples of other things. Basically, the amount of import should roughly match the amount of export, otherwise there is a "creeping effect" (either towards too much, or too little). Export can be by macros or other (I beleive even mushrooms might have a tendency to pull out nitrates and phosphates but don't quote me on that -- it's only a theory on my part), of course water changes, skimming, and so on.

Clear as mud, no? :smile:

Thanks for the discussions. As I mentoned before, since I used RO/DI and since I have nothing in the tank except live rock and am not adding any food, the only change made to the tank recently is the adition of sand.

I bought the RO in order to keep any unwanted nutrients from getting into the system through make-up or water changes.

I'm going to add some snails and hermit crabs and wait a couple of weeks to see how it goes. I will want them eventually for long term maintenance anyway.

The skimmer is not really pulling anything brown out yet but I just cleaned it again so I'll give it another day or two to settle down.