Pink_Mist Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Hi. I've recently setup a 7 gal minibow nanoreef tank. This is my first foray into SW tanks. I've been on this site reading all sorts of posts daily to try and gather as much knowledge as I can from other's experiences. This is what I have so far: 7G Minibow 17" 48W JBJ Lights w/10K and Blue Actinic bulbs Approx 2-3" CaribSea Aragonite Fiji Pink substrate Approx 7-8lbs Fiji LR Aquaclear 201 PH Aquaclear Mini HOB w/o media 50W Pro Titanium Heater The tank has been up and running for about 2 months now. I've stocked it with the following so far: 1 Fire Shrimp 2 Astrea Snails 3 Nassarius Snails 1 Margarita Snail 1 Turbo Snail 1 Scarlet Reef Hermit 5 Blue Legged Reef Hermits 1 mint green Ricordia frag There also appear to be a couple of hitchhikers, so far. A couple of different kinds of starfish and a crab (haven't seen him recently) that I think might be a 'hairy crab' from perusing through different threads. Not sure yet. I've only seen him really good once. And the usual assortment of bristleworms. Anyways, I've run into a bad problem with algae here recently. I've got everything growing from brown hair algae on the LR, to red cyanobacteria in a couple of small spots, diatoms on the sand, and some new lime green algae that just started to show up on the glass and LR. One of my problems is that I'm not using RO or RO/DI water. I know. Bad me. I've never bothered using it with my larger tanks (I have a 55G and 29G African cichlid tanks) because of the larger volumes required for those tanks while living in an apt and the hassle involved with getting it all the time. My life is already hectic enough due to the military. But due to the fact this is a 7G tank, I'm going to remedy that situation. Now that I've blathered on enough, I get to the real point of all of this. I'm debating on pulling all the LR out of the tank and scrubbing it to get the algae off of it. Not only that, but getting some other things off of it such as dead sponge. One of the pieces has quite a bit of sponge on it that is starting to decay. I never even considered that when I first put the LR in. I think that is one of my problems now. Basically, try and clean everything up and start replacing the current water with RO or RO/DI water. Also, does anyone have any suggestions that might help? Too little flow? Too little LR? Oh, here are the water parameters that I've tested: pH - 8.2 Ammonia - 0.25 ppm (I can never seem to knock it down to 0) SG - 1.022 (Measured with swing arm hydrometer) Nitrates - 20ppm Ca - 400ppm Temp - 80-82F (Don't think that's terribly accurate. Tank is secondhand and had the stick on thermometer already.) Thanks for any help! Mark Link to comment
Satchmo Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I have to admit, I only stopped in here because your screen name turned me on. Then I scroll down and see your name is Mark. Dude, that just aint right. Anyway, it sounds like you know what the problem is. You gotta get off the tap. Cichlids can put up with an awful lot. When you're talking reef inverts and the quality of water that goes with them, anything less than RO is unacceptable IMHO. Algae blooms are to be expected in a new tank, but you're complicating it and setting yourself up for future problems by using tap. I'd also venture to say something is wrong if you can't get the ammonia down at this point. What test kit and how old is it? Can you verify the results with another kit or at the LFS? Nitrates are a bit high too, you may want to increase water changes for a while or look into means of nutrient export (although this could be a direct result of using tap water, in which case, stop using tap water). Last suggestion would be to pull up your SG. 1.022 is good for a FO tank, but you'd be advised to bump that up a bit for a reef. Link to comment
Pink_Mist Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 Heh, the screen name actually has to do with my job. I'm an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist. Pink Mist is what happens when we mess up. IE, we become one. Probably makes my selection even more messed up if you think about it, but hey, sometimes you just gotta laugh at things in life. Anyway, I just bought the kit recently. Granted, that doesn't mean it's not old, especially considering I bought it on post. I think I might have another kit around here. I'll have to look. And yes, I've been trying to raise the SG in the neighborhood of 1.023-1.024. I had it there initially, but it spiked on me. I ended up lowering it too far, so I've actually been doing my topoffs recently with SW instead of FW to try and raise the SG. Link to comment
Xavier Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 *Puts on his plastic single piece rain tarp and pulls the hood up.* I'd go with Satch on this one.. the tap water sounds suspicious.. you could toss some of those polypads (the phospate absorbing ones) into a HOB filter temporarily... If you CAN'T get RO/DI water... at LEAST go with distilled... I've been going with the Arrowhead distilled 5g bottles since I'm still w/o RO/DI, and it seems to be doing ok (now that I've got some other issues under control)... You can fill up from those culligan machines outside your grocery store, or get the 2.5g jugs inside, but it'd be cheaper to go with the culligan machine (just make sure to test it before you use it - you don't know the last time they changed the filter - although by law they have to do it regularly) Link to comment
zizmans Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I think pulling out your rock might be a little extreme as an initial step. How long are your lights on for? Try taking off a few hours. I also found that on one side of my tank that got a bit of sunlight I had an algea prob. after closing the blinds for a couple of days it went away. Also, phosphate remover will help alot. The one I like looks like tiny white spheres, I'm pretty sure you can get it at any LFS. You put it in bag or cut the leg from panty hose and you can just put it in your Aquaclear where the medium goes. About RO I'm guessing that it is your main problem. I have a 7, and what I did was buy a couple of water cooler jugs from home depot, The brand name of the water is Sierra. I called them first to make sure it was RO DI, green cap bottles are. Cost $10, 5 of it deposit. I refill them as needed at the LFS at for $2. I bought a a pump for $5 at petco and ran an airhose to each oone, but I heard you don't HAVE to do that. If getting RO is a hassle just buy like 5 or 6 bottles. That's 25-30 gallons, and should last you for awhile Link to comment
Pink_Mist Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 The reason I thought about taking the rock out and scrubbing it was not only to get the algae off, but also to get some of the other stuff on the rock off, ie the dead and decaying sponge. I figure that can't be helping my situation any. But I didn't know for sure seeing how this is my first reef tank, so I asked. I run my lights for about 11 hours now. I did knock that down for a couple of days, and it seemed to help. Heh, the phosphate remover you're talking about is PhosGuard from the sound of it. The funny thing is I have a whole bottle of the stuff because I use it in my other 2 tanks. I totally forgot I had it. Thanks! I can use that as a temporary fix until I can get to the LFS for some RO/DI water. Also, I'm wondering about flow. Specifically, if I have enough. Most all the algae is on the side of the tank opposite the ph or the very back of the tank. I do have the AC mini on that side, but is that enough? The ph is pointed at a slight angle towards the front center of the tank. I've got it running full open. Also, I've seen posts where people have put an AC 200 on their tank with a piccolo skimmer in it. Been debating about doing something like that since I am in the military and wcs could become something of an issue. Also, would be a means of nutrient export in regards to the nitrates. My wife is pretty good about doing wcs when I'm gone, but she'd feel better about it if she didn't have to. Had a slight fiasco involving the other two tanks, a wc, and no dechlorinator. Needless to say, I came back from deployment to only 2 fish in my tanks. She felt pretty bad about that, so it might spare her the stress if she didn't have to perform wcs if I'm only gone for a short time. Thanks, Satch, for the advice about trying a different kit for the ammonia. I thought it was a little weird that the ammonia wouldn't go down, but hadn't bothered testing with another kit. I just found my other kit and it tested out at 0ppm. The original kit I was using was the Dry Tab Master kit, and the one I just tried was the Wardley Ammonia Professional kit. Next time I'm at a LFS I'll pick up a better kit. Thanks for the advice everyone! Link to comment
Xavier Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Make sure those kits are either fresh/saltwater or just saltwater.. i think I have a Wardley kit that's only freshwater (I keep a 60g FW cichlid tank as well)... If you wanted to get that sponge off, pull that rock and take a toothbrush to it.. it wouldn't hurt.. Also.. if you want to cut back on your wife having to do much with the tank, get an auto-topoff switch so she doesn't have to add water daily between water changes.. she'll love you all that much more I think Physh1 is still selling some.. I have two from them and they work pretty well.. he even added a new fangled snail shield.. I'm jealous Link to comment
zizmans Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I have the AQ 200 with the picollo skimmer. If you do a search with my domain name, I put up pictures and everything (idon't knowhowtopostthread) Link to comment
Pink_Mist Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Hey, Xavier, How big are those topoff switchs? One of the LFSs around here has them for sale, but since I already have a heater, filter, and ph, the real estate is getting pretty scarce in my tank. I definitely like the idea of having one, though. Since I put the new JBJ lights on, I am experiencing more evaporation. Definitely one of the drawbacks of using no hood. Zizmans, How do you like that setup of AC200 and piccolo skimmer? I've seen pics of the setup before (may have been yours), just curious if it gets the job done. Thanks! Link to comment
Xavier Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 umm.. the diameter of the tube is a bit larger then a pen.. and the floater is about the diameter of a bottle cap... I'll see if I can get a picture for you if you're interested... or do a search for "californiareefs" or "top off"... I think there are some pics on the forum from other individuals tanks... Link to comment
Pink_Mist Posted March 28, 2003 Author Share Posted March 28, 2003 Hey Xavier, Could you post a pic of the float switch? I've tried searching around for pics of it, but haven't really found any. That and the californiareefs website is apparently down. I haven't had any luck pulling that site up. I'd greatly appreciate it if you could do that. Thanks! Link to comment
Xavier Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 ... ask and you shall receive... heh heh Link to comment
dickwayne Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 I have the same problem with my ammonia not going down, and suprise! I too am using the dry tab master test kit. I think I may get a second test kit to double check my readings. Ah, the power of the search key. . . Link to comment
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