Dino's or diatom?
- Thread starter hickernellc92
- Start date
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Is it better in the morning when the lights first come on? If so, probably dinos. Dinos gets real mucus-like during the day with air bubbles getting caught in it.
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
That's exactly what happens. What causes it so I can fix the problem?
Smitty
Reef pro
Yeah, that sounds like dinos, that's gonna be a long fought battle, but stay on top of them, and eventually you'll win the battle. Good luck. Check the forum for Yotes thread on fighting dinos...I believe it's in the algae or pests subforum.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
A good skimmer, lots of small water changes, GFO... that would be a good start. I believe the cause is excess nutrients.
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
My bulbs aren't the best quality. Could that have anything to do with my problem?
little_fish
Moderator
It isnt all the of the problem, but getting new bulbs can help
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
New bulbs could also make it worse, giving it stronger light to feed off of, since you see it get worse during the day you know that the dinos love light. But again, the light is just exacerbating the problem which is being caused by too many nutrients/phosphates in the water.
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
Iv been using the salifert PO4 phosphate test kit. And it keeps showing me 0.
ErinCahir
Sausage Wrangler
Phosphate tests can give false negatives... the algae uses it up and therefore it doesn't show up on the test.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Phosphate tests are notoriously inaccurate because phosphate only stays in the water column for an extremely short period of time before being consumed by algae. If you've got dinos, you've got a phosphate/nutrient problem, regardless of what your test tells you!
Are you using RO/Di water? If so, when did you last change your filters and are you using a TDS meter?
How much, how often, and what types of foods do you feed?
How many fish do you have, what do you have for a clean up crew, how much live rock do you have, and what is the size of your system?
Answering all of these questions will help us narrow down the source of the problem!
Are you using RO/Di water? If so, when did you last change your filters and are you using a TDS meter?
How much, how often, and what types of foods do you feed?
How many fish do you have, what do you have for a clean up crew, how much live rock do you have, and what is the size of your system?
Answering all of these questions will help us narrow down the source of the problem!
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
I am using RO/DI water and I last changed the dilters about 2 months ago. I don't know what a TDS meter is, sorry. I feed flake sometimes frozen brine one every other day and only enough that they can eat it all when I'm watching. I have 9 fish. I have scarlet hermits, dwarf blue hermits, astrea, and nassarius snails. I prolly have about 90 pounds in my 125g tank and about 50 pounds in a 70g plus rubble in my 55g refuge. Total my system is about 270g. I ran the 125g and 70g together to same space because me and my dad do this together.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Hook this up to your RODI. It will tell you what the TDS (total dissolved solids) are going into your DI and exiting your DI. Exiting the DI should be ZERO TDS.
http://thefilterguys.biz/tds_meters.htm
So do you have a reactor to run GFO?
http://thefilterguys.biz/tds_meters.htm
So do you have a reactor to run GFO?
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
no i don't but i should get one now that you mention it. what size one would you suggest i use for my system
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Anything would work for your tank. Two Little Fishies makes a cheap one. I prefer the NextReef MR1. PM makes some pricier ones. Lots to choose from out there. As long as you install a small valve to control the flow you should be good. You want the media nice and fluidized with just a slight tumble at the surface.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I'd switch away from the flake food - its got a ton of phosphates in it that are going to be feeding your algae - and just feed the frozen instead. 1 cube a day or every other day is plenty (I have 9 fish as well and they do just fine with 1 cube every other day). A GFO reactor is a good idea as well, and they aren't terribly expensive. I'd also suggest adding some more rock in your sump - you really do want around 1-2lbs per gallon and with 270g total water volume you are going to need more rock than you have. You can add dry rock as you can afford it - far cheaper and if you are adding to your sump then go with base rock since appearance of the rock isn't all that important. More rock will allow more surface area for bacteria to grow that process waste. You might also throw in a big ball of chaetomorpha algae or add some mangroves to your refugium - you've got lots of space with the sump and refugium to grow macroalgae and that should help out-compete the nussiance algae for nutrients. Just make sure to put a 6500K bulb over it and give it strong water flow.
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
I have a TDS meter on the way and I'm thinking of ordering the BRS GFO dual. How often is the media suppose to be replaced with something like that.
hickernellc92
Reefing newb
Could I filter my water with a carbon media To reduce phosphates?
little_fish
Moderator
no, carbon wont take up phosphates. You need GFO to do that which is run in a different type of reactor. You can look into phosban though, it should take up phosphates but I dont know what type of reactor it needs to function.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
FWIW, i was never all that thrilled with the BRS dual. It's OK, but tends to have clogging issues where the flow needs to be adjusted all the time to keep the gfo tumbling. I really prefer this one... it fluidizes so much easier, and it's pretty easy to change the media. You would need two, but again it's easier to control since carbon needs less flow than GFO.
NextReef MR1 GFO and Carbon Filter Media Reactor
You also might want to look into Purigen. It's a phosphate remover but it also has some carbon in it I think??? Anyway, i have never run it in a reactor, but I would think you could. Google might be able to help with that.
NextReef MR1 GFO and Carbon Filter Media Reactor
You also might want to look into Purigen. It's a phosphate remover but it also has some carbon in it I think??? Anyway, i have never run it in a reactor, but I would think you could. Google might be able to help with that.
