Help please algae issues

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

2 Power heads are pointed at the surface. I've brushed and removed as much as I can of the algae, vacuumed the sand and basted rocks plus a 25 gl water change done.

That's great! Don't pilfer too much flow for the surface though since you do need to have flow throughout the tank.

Sponges are cleaned each time I clean the canister and are replaced every 3 months. If they need to be replaced more often I'll do so.

I would not recommend rinse and reusing sponges. In freshwater tanks, sure. In saltwater tanks, no. Rinsing the sponges doesn't kill the nitrifying bacteria. If you don't kill the nitrifying bacteria the sponges become biological filters which pump out nitrate.

Most of the sponges that you buy at the LFS that are made for each filter are expensive to change out so often which is why I suggested you start sign cut-to-size media.

The skimmer was dialed in but now have to reset it. I've run tubing into a bucket just in case, the overflow is quite low on this skimmer.

Which skimmer did you buy anyway?

I'll test the water in an hour or so and see what's going on.

Wait about 24 hours so the nutrients have time to leech out of the rock and sand equalizing with the nutrients in the water column.

Think I'll be picking up an emerald crab as well. Cleaned out all dead corals and snail shells, one absolutely reeked.

Not all Emerald Crabs will eat bubble algae, I've found only about 1/3 to maybe 1/2 do. You may need to add a few of them. Be aware that the males get quite large and can grab and eat small fish.

The trouble with clean up crews though is they don't tolerate high nutrients, so don't go too crazy on a clean up crew yet as they may not have very good survival in your tank right now.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Myka

I would not recommend rinse and reusing sponges. In freshwater tanks, sure. In saltwater tanks, no. Rinsing the sponges doesn't kill the nitrifying bacteria. If you don't kill the nitrifying bacteria the sponges become biological filters which pump out nitrate.

Most of the sponges that you buy at the LFS that are made for each filter are expensive to change out so often which is why I suggested you start sign cut-to-size media.

With all due respect to Myka, as she definitely knows her stuff, I am not sure I agree totally with all of this statement. The reason I say that, is that I use a sponge filter with one of my sumps, only because it was built for that, and there is no room for any filter socks. It is a large sponge filter and I only have to clean it once a week. I have never replaced it and it is several years old. When I clean it, a lot of ugly crap comes out of it. And I have no doubt it has nitrifying bacteria. But because I clean it frequently, the crap gets rinsed out and does not have a chance to turn into nitrates. And this tank has zero nitrates. And BTW, this sponge filter is a lot easier to clean than my filter socks which I use in my other tank sump. They too can become nitrate factories if not cleaned frequently.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

With all due respect to Myka, as she definitely knows her stuff, I am not sure I agree totally with all of this statement. The reason I say that, is that I use a sponge filter with one of my sumps, only because it was built for that, and there is no room for any filter socks. It is a large sponge filter and I only have to clean it once a week. I have never replaced it and it is several years old. When I clean it, a lot of ugly crap comes out of it. And I have no doubt it has nitrifying bacteria. But because I clean it frequently, the crap gets rinsed out and does not have a chance to turn into nitrates. And this tank has zero nitrates. And BTW, this sponge filter is a lot easier to clean than my filter socks which I use in my other tank sump. They too can become nitrate factories if not cleaned frequently.

That is perfectly fine, your tank is obviously able to handle the nitrate produced. There are also denitrifying bacteria within our systems, they are anaerobic and mainly live in the live rock and sometimes in DSBs. Their main purpose is to convert nitrate to mainly nitrogen gas and oxygen. A nitrate buildup occurs when there is more nitrate than the denitrifying bacteria can handle. In a tank that is suffering excessive nitrate, limiting all possible sources is very important.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Myka

That is perfectly fine, your tank is obviously able to handle the nitrate produced. There are also denitrifying bacteria within our systems, they are anaerobic and mainly live in the live rock and sometimes in DSBs. Their main purpose is to convert nitrate to mainly nitrogen gas and oxygen. A nitrate buildup occurs when there is more nitrate than the denitrifying bacteria can handle. In a tank that is suffering excessive nitrate, limiting all possible sources is very important.

Well, this is the tank/sump that I run my bio pellet reactor on, so you could be right, any nitrates are readily dispensed with...

[aquatechy]

Order this stuff:

http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_...FMCHRM-vi.html

Works wonders on dealing with algae problems.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by aquatechy

Order this stuff:

http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_...FMCHRM-vi.html

Works wonders on dealing with algae problems.

Have you used it yourself? Tell us more about your before and after conditions and experience with this product.

[ckmullin]

If nitrite/nitrate are part of the problem, what about Purigen. I've used it to polish water in FW tanks and works like a charm. By Seachem's own product guide this will help remove nitrate.

[aquatechy]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Have you used it yourself? Tell us more about your before and after conditions and experience with this product.

I'm sorry, where is are my reefkeeping manners?

Stats on my tank have been very good after I started using this stuff:
Nitrates: used to average around 2-3, now closer to 0.5
Phosphates: essentially close to zero now (0.12, average), used to be 1.1
ORP: used to sit aroud 375, now around 398

Overall, I started using this stuff because i was getting brown algae on my sand, and cyano. This stuff has the benefit of absorbing organic carbon as well, which is an added plus if you're running bio pellets. The elimination of algae was definitely noticeable. Coral vitality seemed alot better, perhaps because of the increase in ORP. this stuff has the benefit of lasting months too, not just weeks.