luv2jeep Posted December 4, 2002 Share Posted December 4, 2002 Well, after having a monstrous hair algae outbreak post 96W Quad, I finally have everything back under control! I ended up finding several culprits and fixed MANY problems in the process. 1. RO Water does NOT filter Phosphates! I had to buy an add-on DI filter to remove the Phosphates. 2. RO Water has a pH around 5! I am against "chemical" additives, so I now use AragaMight (crushed arogonite powder) to raise pH and buffer RO alkalinity. 3. Added a top-off system to prevent salinity swings. 4. Replace substrate (too much algae on old sand) 5. SCRUBBED the LR! 6. Removed the 96W Quad in favor of 2-24W PC's (1-10K, 1-Actinic) 7. Removed powerheads (AKA heaters) and added a second AquaClear Mini for flow. In the end, the corals look better than ever! The Finger Leather is 50% larger than it has ever been! And not a hint of algae problems after being back up now for about a week. Even the remaining hair algae that was on the snail shells and coral bases is now gone. I'll update the specs and pictures on the website sometime this week. Now that everything is back in check, I'll be making a trip to Tropicorium this weekend for a 9 for $99 softie pack! Link to comment
Crakeur Posted December 4, 2002 Share Posted December 4, 2002 congrats. I am just coming out of my afro algae outbreak and my tank is starting to shine again. I still have some hair that I cannot reach to remove but it seems to be dying off. I didn't compile a list as thorough as yours but I attribute my algae's demise to a bag of algone, an oral b toothbrush, my amazing little lettuce nudibranch, elbow grease, patience and luck. Link to comment
luv2jeep Posted December 4, 2002 Author Share Posted December 4, 2002 Congrats! It sure feels good when you beat it doesn't it? Heh-heh ... I should have taken pics from Friday (Algae D-Day!). I had all my corals and fish in Tupperware on the kitchen table whilst I scrubbed the tank. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted December 4, 2002 Share Posted December 4, 2002 I never got to the point of taking everything out. I scrubbed the rock where it was in the tank. took out a few small pieces that were overgrown and either scrubbed or tossed them. You went all out on the tank and are clearly being rewarded for your efforts. Link to comment
BCOrchidGuy Posted December 4, 2002 Share Posted December 4, 2002 Algae isn't a push over is it.... it is like a leach that you can't get to and it just sucks you dry. Glad you got the algae problem fixed I thought I heard a sigh of relief. Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 I spent a good 3 hours last week pulling a TON of hair algae out of my 90, but alas, it's growing back like usual. I think I'm ready for the pull out and scrub method Link to comment
ross76053 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 "an oral b toothbrush" Crap - I'm sportin' a Crest Complete toothbrush....I KNEW that was the problem!Added a top-off system to prevent salinity swings Hmmm....didn't know this affected algae growth. Does it? If so, I need to hook up my float switch NOW. Link to comment
Hinecken Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Hey Jeep, are you interesting in unloading that powerquad? or have you done it already? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Christopher Marks is HE-MAN I spent a good 3 hours last week pulling a TON of hair algae out of my 90, WOW A TON ! thats LIKE... Like.... Like 2,280 some pounds ! Holy Snikies Bad Man ! so how much does your tank weigh and is there water in it too with that TON on algae? Sorry... I needed my "pick on Chris" fix.... fer the day Link to comment
luv2jeep Posted December 5, 2002 Author Share Posted December 5, 2002 Originally posted by Hinecken Hey Jeep, are you interesting in unloading that powerquad? or have you done it already? See the For Sale Forum... Link to comment
luv2jeep Posted December 5, 2002 Author Share Posted December 5, 2002 Originally posted by ross76053 Hmmm....didn't know this affected algae growth. Does it? If so, I need to hook up my float switch NOW. It doesn't directly, but cyano in particular LOVES unstable water conditions. I.e. temperature, salinity, pH. So, just to make sure, I got the top-off. Also changed to open top tank which keeps my temp rock solid at 78 now as well. Link to comment
edying Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 About the pH of RO water... From what I've read in the past, a lot of the test kits don't read accurately for RO water. Not sure the actual mechanism, but something about since there is absolutely no buffering capability of the water and wild swings in pH due to almost anything. Perhaps someone else can elaborate further??? -Ed Link to comment
Crakeur Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Originally posted by ross76053 Crap - I'm sportin' a Crest Complete toothbrush....I KNEW that was the problem! Funny thing is, when I went to the local drug store to buy a toothbrush, I was hoping to get one of those wierd shaped skinny ones so I could access the tough to reach places in my tank. Alas, they only had these funky fat brushes so I bought the two for one Oral-B. My wife thought I was nuts spending what I spent on the Oral-B's for a fish tank. My only defense was that the blue strip down the center of the brush will fade when it is time for me to get a new one. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 It doesn't directly, but cyano in particular LOVES unstable water conditions. I.e. temperature, salinity, pH. Unstable conditions will cause things to die in your tank: algae, bacteria, fish, corals, everything you have in there ect. This die off will become organic matter in your tank. Organic matter is the facny way of saying dead crap decaying in your tank... This is what cyano as well as many other algae consume. The cyano is a fast bloomer, and as well all know can cover a nano in about 2 days or so if you have a lot of ummmm "organic matter." I hadn't topped of my tank in a few days, then I left for Thanksgiving... Total: 7 days with no top off. Results, high salanity and some "organic matter." Nothing visibly died, just a bunch of bacteria I guess. But I had a spot of cyano on my sand when I returned. My solution, did a water change with a low SG. And added carbon to my filter. Two days later, everything is fine. Also remember if you forget to top off, and your SG is out of wack do NOT try to correct it all at once... SLOWLY bring your SG back into line!! Link to comment
s800 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 It's really more accurate to say that RO/DI water doesn't even have a pH. The reading of 5 is more representative of the reagents in your test kit, or the materials in your probe. Don't worry about measuring pH for RO or DI water- it's not useful data. R Link to comment
cmoreash Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 A reason for the low pH maybe... water that has low levels of oxygen in it (high levels of co2) will be much lower in pH. I'd aerate the RO water for a day or so, and see how that affects the pH. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 That makes sense to me cmore... Sounds like a fiarly probable answer. I will tell you that RO/DI really should have a nutral pH! If it doesn't something wrong... Whether it is contaminated (temporarily or permanently) or whether your test kits are off... something is fishy (and no that is not a lame pun). Link to comment
luv2jeep Posted December 6, 2002 Author Share Posted December 6, 2002 Originally posted by printerdown01 That makes sense to me cmore... Sounds like a fiarly probable answer. I will tell you that RO/DI really should have a nutral pH! If it doesn't something wrong... Whether it is contaminated (temporarily or permanently) or whether your test kits are off... something is fishy (and no that is not a lame pun). Not from what I've been told by numerous LFS and a few authors (Calfo, Pro & Fenner). RO Water is always low pH. But I think a few of you misread my post. I NO LONGER have an issue with this since I now dose AragaMight into my RO/DI water. I dose both my top-off and my saltmix water with it. I like it because it isn't a chemical, just 100% pure powdered Aragonite. So it buffers pH, carbonate, calcium, and other trace elements. For those familiar with a Ca Reactor, CO2 is used to lower the pH to "extract" the Ca from the aragonite medium. Because RO is already low pH, that is why this stuff works so well. Link to comment
RVMcCarthy Posted December 7, 2002 Share Posted December 7, 2002 You could always use macroalgae and/or a refugium to stop unwanted algal growths, maintain water stability in all areas, add to pH and generally just make your tank healthier. I'm putting one on my 20L soon. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted December 7, 2002 Share Posted December 7, 2002 i'm w/ printer on the neutral pH of ro/di. it should technically have a pH of 7, if it's pure. if it's been sitting there or aerated it may have a lower pH of 6.8 from ambient CO2 interaction (??? bcguy mentioned that in other thread). i think the 'low' pH the others mention is relative to high pH found in marine environment (pH 8+), which really ain't that high. (kalk=high) then again this point is moot since luv2 says he doesn't have a problem anymore tho. just giving the horse a kick. X) Link to comment
tgrupert Posted December 8, 2002 Share Posted December 8, 2002 does it matter if the water is airated before aor after the salt is added? Link to comment
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