My little Reef

[karazy]

i like it. it looks kinda tidepooley

[Patrice]

Thanks!
The tank is now a year older! I don't have much pictures from that last year but I will take some to show you where I am now.
The problem is that I have a huge hair algae problem right now so you won't see it at it's best. I got stuck with some fish and I think it's why I can't control that algae now. I really need to get rid of some fish.

I'll try to get the pics tomorrow.

[Patrice]

As said above, I have an algae problem. The tank looks close to what it is on the last picture above but it's more green.

I know where that problem came from, all I have to do is to fix it. My filter was a little too strong so I remove some of the media in it. Right after, I got 3 new fish. It also took too much time before I changed the bulb. It was over 15 months old when I changed it the last month.

So I finally got a new bulb and I will donate 2 fish to a school. I found some macro algae last month but I am not sure what it is exactly. I hope this will help.
I keep doing 25% water changes once a week and I am using some Metal Gone in my filter. That product is a non-chemical algae remover I am trying. I started using it a week ago and it should take a month before it remove all the algae (according to the instruction). They say all I have is to syphon the algae when I do a water change. For now, noticed that the algae is easier to remove from the rock. They look weaker than usual and I can remove big patches of green algae with no effort. So I removed as much as I could while doing the water change.
There is still lots of algae left in the tank. I'll keep doing this for the next 3 weeks to see how good (or not) this product is. Anyway, even if it does not remove all the algae, I am glad I found a non-chemical product to assist me with that fight.

While doing the water change, I got burned by the frogspawn coral. I know I should use gloves but I always forget.

[fencer]

A biologically active cycling tank will run through its algae cycle
Did you account for the amount of phosphates in the tank as well as nitrates
Filters too strong...never heard of that. the more flow the better
Water quality is everything carbon and phosphate removers help along with water changes
When your tank is stable consider adding snails and crabs

[Patrice]

Originally Posted by fencer

A biologically active cycling tank will run through its algae cycle
Did you account for the amount of phosphates in the tank as well as nitrates
Filters too strong...never heard of that. the more flow the better
Water quality is everything carbon and phosphate removers help along with water changes
When your tank is stable consider adding snails and crabs

I have not check nitrate and phophate for a few weeks. I'll run some test later today.
About the too strong filtration thing, I am reffering to what I have been told by the guy who sold me the filter. That filter kept my No3 and Po4 to zero for a long time but as I have been told, it also remove all filter feeders need. So I adjusted it and some corals are happier since then.

I will add some more snails (probably not crabs) next time I get new live stock.