Hiker4twenty
Reef enthusiast
I added an algae blenny and sea hare over the weekend to end my hair algae problems. Also, you're tank looks awesome. Complete turn around.
The Great Algae Genocide War of 2010….
- Thread starter andysgirl8800
- Start date
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
Don't forget to post your progress too! The HA is incredibly annoying and frustrating to deal with. Mix in the toxic dinos, and..... :) Good luck with your efforts too.
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
For any that may have been following along, I got my IceCap ballast back for my VHOs. IceCap repaired it under warranty (blown fuse and shorted circuit board) so now I am back to my full lighting spectrum!! WOOT!! For the next few weeks, I will be gradually increasing my lights from 4 hours up to 8.
Just an update. I have almost no visible algae left in my tank. My tang, urchin, and snails are making quick work out of whatever is left. My diamond goby (damn she's awesome!!) is keeping the sand pristine white.
My algae screen is hardly growing anything at all. What's there is stringy and weak, and a week after the last cleaning, I can still clearly see the screen. My fuge is TEEMING with pods and other critters, and the rock in there is also staying clean. I am very pleased with this outcome and hope I never have to do it again!!
Just an update. I have almost no visible algae left in my tank. My tang, urchin, and snails are making quick work out of whatever is left. My diamond goby (damn she's awesome!!) is keeping the sand pristine white.
My algae screen is hardly growing anything at all. What's there is stringy and weak, and a week after the last cleaning, I can still clearly see the screen. My fuge is TEEMING with pods and other critters, and the rock in there is also staying clean. I am very pleased with this outcome and hope I never have to do it again!!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Oh wow. Great job! Talk about a turnaround.
puttycat
Reefing newb
wow looks like a brand new tank. I am jealous Nice job
yote
In Memoriam
AInt it a good feelin knowing that you've won the war on dinos? :D
motorcyclereefer
I am Graffiti Petey
Nice tank! Now if my algae will go away!
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
good luck MCR!!
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
AHHHHH! I finally have GREEN on my SCREEN! Since setting up my algae screen 5 months ago, I have NEVER grown anything green on it. Only reddish brown slime. Today is its scheduled cleaning day and when I opened the cabinet door, lo and behold, it has GREEN growing on it!! WOOT! :bounce: Something is finally starting to work in my tank. I'm so excited!!
This is what it has looked like so far:
And this is what it looks like now:
ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Sweet looks great! Looks like all that work is really paying off! I did a 3 day blackout with mine and it greatly reduced my dino's, so I might do another one this next week because they are still there, but the blackouts have helped. I'm glad I can see that it worked for some one else.
yote
In Memoriam
:bounce: :D
Tristan
Detritus
AHHHHH! I finally have GREEN on my SCREEN! Since setting up my algae screen 5 months ago, I have NEVER grown anything green on it. Only reddish brown slime. Today is its scheduled cleaning day and when I opened the cabinet door, lo and behold, it has GREEN growing on it!! WOOT! :bounce: Something is finally starting to work in my tank. I'm so excited!!
This is what it has looked like so far:
And this is what it looks like now:
Great job on the screen, but there should be way more than that. i had that problem too, but when i added two more light bulbs, the algae immediately started to grow way faster than it would grow in the tank. did you rough your screen up?
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
Oh yeah, definately roughed it up. Growing slower now because of the phosban and carbon in the system. No way humanly possible to add any more lights. Its already a tight squeeze under my stand.
Tristan
Detritus
oh yea i know how you feel. i had to make mine outside of the stand. are you also running a skimmer?
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
yep, skimmer, fuge, scrubber, and reactors
My thought would be to run the scrubber or the fuge. If you wanted more room, I would lose the fuge (if it's separate). I am running my 110 with just a scrubber and a skimmer and it is doing great. My only concern would be that if you have macro in your fuge, the scrubber is getting the nutrients first and therefore causing die-off in the macro. Not sure if that is your setup, but something to consider.
Tristan
Detritus
yea you dont even need the skimmer according to expert Santa Monica
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
I removed the macro algae several weeks ago. I want to keep my fuge for multiple reasons, one of them being pod support, another being equipment storage. I will also continue to keep my skimmer, so long as it's still pulling scummy foam outta the water. If I never generated any scum, I might consider doing away with it. I have my system set up with the water going through the skimmer first, then the algae scrubber, then the fuge, then the phosphate and carbon reactors, then back to the tank. Seems to be working fairly well so far.
andysgirl8800
Blenny Badlands
I would like to share an observation I've made recently regarding my tank. If you've been reading along, you'll know that my VHO lighting was offline for a little bit while I waited for the IceCap ballast to be repaired. In the meantime, I was using only my MHs on a 4hr lighting schedule.
Once my ballast returned to me in working order, I reinstalled it and resumed my normal lighting schedule of VHOs on at 10am through 7pm and MHs on at noon through 3pm. A quick note...my VHO lighting consists of 1 72" 160 watt actinic blue and 1 72" 160 watt bright white. Both bulbs were replaced during my 12 days of lights out and repainting the fixture.
After two days of my regular lighting, I began to notice the dinos slowly returning. WTF?? 12 days of blackout and the dinos are STILL present?? I don't get it! Hubby suggested that maybe it was the VHO lighting. I disagreed, but humored him and turned off the VHOs again. Lo and behold...three days later, no dinos visible. It seems that the VHOs are definately contributing to my dino outbreak. I've since decided to rely on MH lighting only, for about 6-7 hours per day. I don't know if this information is helpful to other folks out there also fighting dino outbreaks, but there ya have it. :)
Once my ballast returned to me in working order, I reinstalled it and resumed my normal lighting schedule of VHOs on at 10am through 7pm and MHs on at noon through 3pm. A quick note...my VHO lighting consists of 1 72" 160 watt actinic blue and 1 72" 160 watt bright white. Both bulbs were replaced during my 12 days of lights out and repainting the fixture.
After two days of my regular lighting, I began to notice the dinos slowly returning. WTF?? 12 days of blackout and the dinos are STILL present?? I don't get it! Hubby suggested that maybe it was the VHO lighting. I disagreed, but humored him and turned off the VHOs again. Lo and behold...three days later, no dinos visible. It seems that the VHOs are definately contributing to my dino outbreak. I've since decided to rely on MH lighting only, for about 6-7 hours per day. I don't know if this information is helpful to other folks out there also fighting dino outbreaks, but there ya have it. :)
yote
In Memoriam
Another weapon for use in the war against Dinos.:D
BTW
I'm gonna make this thread a sticky.
Theres just to much good information for it to get buried.
BTW
I'm gonna make this thread a sticky.
Theres just to much good information for it to get buried.
