Please, any advice

[Thane]

My tank is around 6 months old now, I'm using DI water (making it my self with Aquarium pharmaceuticals water purifier, and adding the electro-right to it). I'm pulling this stuff off like its going out of fashion, my light is on for around 10 hours a day (13w 1000k 50/50 + 11w 6500) and this is getting out of hand now, every thing is full of the stuff. I have got a whole assortment of snails, hermets etc etx. I know the pics are bad, but it's long, green and looks like grass... please, this is really bugging me. Thanks in advance

[Acoustic]

That looks really sad. I feel like I'm back in Nam. Dam rice paddies! Charlies around every corner. Incoming! Get down! Incoming!

[Acoustic]

Okay.....Just trying to lighten things up a bit. I can see you are in a fragile state.

 

Here's what you can do now:

 

1) Take out each and every rock and scrub it like hell.

2) Stop putting new things into your tank.

3) If you have any fish in there. Get rid of them.

4) Only stock turbo snails and fighting conchs for a cleanup crew.

6) Change your water ALOT! I mean every week on the nose.

7) Now.........wait. It will grow back again. But don't worry. This time it will grow slower and weaker. It will.....overtime kill itself.

[Thane]

Thanks for the reply, I only have one fish, small perc and I don't over feed him, and then my brother brought 2 anemone up from the coast. Water parameters are good, nitrite: 0, nitrate: between 5 and 10, ammonia: 20, so must I still get rid of the fish? and everything else except the crabs and snails? Won't washing the rocks also kill off the bacteria etc that are living in the rocks? and won't the cycle start all over again?

[MrKrispy]

Umm I don't do homemade DI water, but what is adding electro-rite? Isn't that just adding salts and buffering components back in to clean water? If so, I think that is supposed to be for freshwater tanks, not saltwater. You want the purest water possible, everything you need (or don't) is in your SW mix.

[Paulc]

MrKrispy is right you don't need to use the electro-rite. Your saltwater mix will add the correct mix of salts to the DI water.

 

PS I use the same water purifier

[Thane]

And you don't use the electro-right?

[Dingo]

That stuff is just to add something back to the water for fresh water fish. Absolutelly not necessary for SW. It may be the source of the nutrients causing your algae problem.

[caja]

What acoustic meant by scrubbing the rocks is putting them in a bucket of salt water and scrubbing the hair algae off with a soft toothbrush. It's messy and smelly and will take a while to do, but it does get rid of the majority of the alge. I would also suggest using some sort of phosphate remover in your HOB if you have one. Rowaphos or Phosban are both good products.

[2manytanks]

Originally posted by Thane

...Water parameters are good, nitrite: 0, nitrate: between 5 and 10, ammonia: 20,  ......

 

please tell me that's a typo...

 

that's gotta be a typo....right ?

 

your poor perc.....

[MrKrispy]

awwww sheesh

[mattie]

damm that is a jungle in there pheeew

 

scrub the rocks consider an emerald crab for short term usage and the big ol mexican turbo.

 

i had a similiar problem a month ago or so and

scrubing even removing a few rocks adding the emerald and a pair of large mexi turbo snails cleaned the tank up in about 2 weeks of course scrubbing the rocks gives instant gratification

 

and what with the ammonia being at 20 that means your tank has not finished cycyling your something big is dead in there

[nalbar]

turn your lights down to a MAX of 6-7 hours. that is first. then STOP DOSEING YOUR TANK! DO NOT DOSE FOR ANYTHING. you need to check your water BEFORE you add the salt. my guess is you are using VERY poor water and then putting additives in it and making it worse.

 

nalbar

[Paulc]

Originally posted by Thane

And you don't use the electro-right?

 

No you don't need this as the marine salt mix you use will add the correct balance of ions.