targeting specific water params

[jamesnmandy]

My tank is now basically self maintaining, all normal parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, alkalinity, ph, temp, salinity are well under control and what you would call near perfect and stabilize themselves other than the occasional water change to get rid of ammonia.....

 

Now my problems are two only and have been for some time.

 

I am getting brown and a little bit of green slime algae growing on the sandbed. Cyano I guess from what I have read?

 

I am also getting hair algae that grows in patches and continues to grow until i physically remove it.

 

The only thing I can figure out so far is it is light related. Anywhere the sandbed gets lots of light it grows the slime algae. Any sand surfaces that do not get direct light do not get it.

 

The hair algae I have not found any specific cause to.

 

Perhaps I should cut back my light cycle (Current USA Sunpod 150W MH 14k)? For months I have had it on a timer to run 9 hours on the MH lamp with overlapping white and blue LED moonlights three hours before and after.

 

I am also not currently measuring for phosphorus in the RO/DI water I get from the LFS is one thing I thought of.

 

Suggestions?

[jamesnmandy]

25 views and not a single idea or suggestion?

 

guess i will have to talk to the LFS

[Jackopus]

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_parameters.php

 

use the search as well,, there are about 5 listings on the forum, other than this one

[jamesnmandy]

sometimes using the search feature results in finding a bunch of threads where people asked the same question and got told over and over to use the search feature instead of just answering the question.........

 

thanks for the link anyways....

[HecticDialectics]

To get rid of algae you have to get rid of nitrates and phosphates. If algae is growing, and you are reading 0 nitrates/phosphates, you're either not using a test kit that's very accurate, or your algae is consuming it as it is made. Having algae in your tanks means there -are- nitrates and/or phosphates, they are just in the form of algae.

 

As far as ideas on what to do? Skim? Refugium? Are you feeding too much? Bioload too heavy? A lot of lfs "ro/di" water is a joke...

[this1fish]

also along with what HecticDialectics said, how is your flow like? are there many dead spots with little to no flow? with efficient flow, cyano algae won't be able to grow at all. While with the green/brown stuff, just let snails take care of it or lessen your lighting cycle.

[msn711]

I would suspect low flow in the areas you are seeing cyano. I would add some nassarius snails to keep the sand bed stirred. I would add trochus snails to eat the hair algae (much better than asteas IMO b/c astreas are always falling over and you have to right them; trochus snails will right themselves). I would also consider a phosban reactor or phosphate removal media in a filter sock if you don't have somewhere to stick the phosphate reactor.