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Dr Tims waste away or phosphate removers, need help?


Clown79

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Has anyone used this product with success? Any advice or bad results? Better to use waste away or phos removers?

 

My hubby changed the pump in 1 of our tanks which lowered the filteration...the result is a hair algae on the substrate. Nothing on rocks.

 

Prior to this change the nitrates, phos, was low and I had no issues.

I use distilled water and vacuum the sand regularly.

 

I know the problem was changing the pump as it was the only change.

 

I have now replaced the lower gph pump back to the higher one but thought about using Dr Tims to reduce the waste now in the sand before having to replace it all.

 

Any help or suggestions is appreciated

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I unfortunately can offer no help, but needed to respond. For some reason I always thought you were a guy! No idea why I thought that. MIND. BLOWN.

 

Yay for lady reefers!

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Lol. A lot of ppl have thought that. I think its because a lot of ladies aren't interested in the hobby.

 

Yay for lady reefers!

 

No worries. I know this will be work, its hair algae- wish it was cyano. Learning lesson to myself and others - don't change your return pump on an aio from 300gph to 100!

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Lol. A lot of ppl have thought that. I think its because a lot of ladies aren't interested in the hobby.

Yay for lady reefers!

No worries. I know this will be work, its hair algae- wish it was cyano. Learning lesson to myself and others - don't change your return pump on an aio from 300gph to 100!

Ha! I think you're right! When I go into a fish store with my husband everyone talks to him, not me and he just says "I'm definitely not the one you should be talking to".

 

I did that but opposite with my 12 long I turned into an AIO! I put too powerful of a pump in there and overflowed the DT. Whoops!

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Mind

Blown

 

I would have edited for tact approximately 62% of my typings having known that tidbit.

 

changing the pump has no impact on the algae imo. if you want to post a full tank shot we can alt fix it. adding those retail dosers isn't harmful per directions, they just aren't what algae correction threads use to amass 60 pages

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Brandon, thats funny. No need to change anything. :)

 

Yup I'm the one who's the reefer in the home. Hubby enjoys the tanks, loves them but I'm the one behind the research and work.

 

 

No. The prime is on my 15g but changing lights definitely can aid in algae. Less whites and reds and more blues with help control that problem, so if anyone is having that issue with new leds, dial down the whites, keep reds low, keep blues high.

 

I had added Aquavitro fuel 2 times at 1/2 the dose but stopped that, that was 2 mnths ago I think.

 

Stopped adding reef roids for now

 

I eliminated things for trial and error.

I feed very little.

Changed nothing but my return pump and immediately noticed a difference in the tank within a week.

 

I have removed some sand to lower the amount in the tank, did a good vacuuming(noticed alot of detritus trapped which wasn't the case with the higher gph pump) did over 50% waterchange and pump is back up.

 

Unfortunately, i expect to see the hair algae come back because its the biggest PITA.

 

I know ditching the sand is the best option but I'd prefer to go a different route at the moment. If possible.

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I wouldn't be without sand in mine for sure, like the looks. its so easy to part out the tanks, rinse out the bed 100% w tap, then saltwater, then reassemble all clean without a cycle. makes a sb function like a non-sb, because there's no waste and in the meantime that w wash out that algae or allow spot kill access anywhere else it may be

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I can't overhaul the tank right now. Its definitely got to be a big plan. My rocks are epoxied to eggcrate under the sand. Right now I have too much going on but its definitely something I know is the best route.

 

Hubby chose black sand which is a bit bigger in grain size and its a PITA. I suspect there was too much in the tank...prefer the pink fiji. Took out some yesterday to lower the amount. I hate bb tanks, just not my thing either.

 

If it was a pico- i'd do the overhaul in a few hrs. I need the hubby's help and he can't right now.

 

I would take a pic but its actually hard to see on the black sand, its a brownish hair algae and only on the sand.

 

I wanted cerith to help keep the bed clean - can't find them anywhere!

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I unfortunately can offer no help, but needed to respond. For some reason I always thought you were a guy! No idea why I thought that. MIND. BLOWN.

 

Yay for lady reefers!

 

Haha! Me too! Yay for Lady Reefers!

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So what's the phosphate level, what kit do you use, and have you been monitoring it since before you had this problem? Keep in mind that the bloom will be utilizing inorganic phosphate to fuel the bloom. While you don't want to strip out all of the phosphate from your tank, adding a phosphate remover like Phosguard is probably warranted. Testing is very important when using this media.

 

While I agree with Brandon that the flow change shouldn't directly impact algae, it might affect the efficiency of your filter media. This might result in more organics in the water, and possibly less detritus being kept in suspension (to be removed by your filter floss).

 

Generally, there are several things which, when combined together, can cause a problem. However, we often look for only one thing to correct it.

 

While nutrients ultimately cause the problem, we should look at where they are coming from and how to correct it. I know that you are proud of how well you maintain your tank, but I'm guessing that you sand bed might be getting saturated with organics. DrTim's Waste Away might be helpful in breaking it down.

 

I would also more aggressively siphon off the algae from the substrate. This will remove some of the sand, but you can rinse it well, soak it in some peroxide, then return it to your display.

 

The lighting might be a contributing factor, but if you remove the organics and nutrients, it should become a non issue. However, in the meantime, you might wish to adjust the spectrum, intensity, and/or duration of your lights.

 

And finally, adding some more herbivores will help. I might try a scarlet reef hermit or an emerald crab.

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I really truly believe it was the pump change because nothing else was changed. I have been religious on my maintenance and always vacuum so I suspect its the exact reasons you suggested regarding pump, filteration, and suspension.

 

I noticed within 2 weeks with the new pump a big difference in the amount of detritus that was coming out of my sandbed when vacuuming and my nitrates had spiked from 5 to 20.. Its the only logical thing I can truly blame.

 

 

I have been aggressively vacuuming the sand since this started.

 

I changed the pump back to the mj900 and removed a layer of the sand as well. Plus theres a hydor 420 in there.

 

Gotta go pick up some more herbivores and products.

 

I have to test my tanks tonight. I haven't been able to, had a family emergency that put testing on the back burner.

 

Before that, no detectable po4 in water but with sand 0.03 using Salifert.

 

Thank you so much for the help.

 

I was thinking phosguard with matrix carbon or seagel.

 

Currently using chemipure blue.

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I was thinking phosguard with matrix carbon or seagel.

Currently using chemipure blue.

Chemipure Elite would be better than Chemipure Blue, as it contains a little GFO. However, you are on the right track with Phosguard or SeaGel (which contains Phosguard). The nice thing about making your own GAC/Phosguard mix is that you can control how much or how little of each you run (and can adjust the ratio as phosphate levels change).
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Areas with low flow in my tank tended to grow algae, I was trying to minimize my energy footprint on my new tank and tried using a sea swirl to direct my return pump flow to for circulation. Areas that were shadowed with rock would continue to grow algae (cyan and hair) despite how low my nutrients, I finally bit the bullet and put in a Maxspect gyre and algae problem cleared up in a few weeks. Not saying this is your problem just stating my experience.

 

Bill

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Well i think the mj900 and hydor 420 is quite a lot of flow for the 10g. Since the change back to mj900, things look a lot better.

 

I think I will go with the phosguard and matrix carbon- i like the option of seperate mix for better control.

 

Thanks everyone

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