Algae problem

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm having trouble raising the mag. I don't know why...
I'm adding every other day but it will not increase the test result...
maybe my mg supplement is not good. I'll try another brand.

What are you using to increase the magnesium? Did the algae start up on you when you started dosing for magnesium?

 

[Hydrocephalus]

mathematician needed! if the safe level of phosphate is 0.02mg/l what would the nitrate level be if assumed at 16n to 1p ?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Is that kinda like "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

If so, not sure how that helps the original poster with his problem.

 

[Hydrocephalus]

well... hair algae does not get in the tank by stork delivery, perhaps a water evaluation with some decent accurate testing would show more than the 0 phosphates level the current test reveals? I would have suggested vodka or sugar to reset these values but that would be just wrong without true knowledge of the tanks parameters and potentially dangerous

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm glad to know that hair algae doesn't come in by stork because that's one less thing the original poster doesn't have to watch for. But algae issues can normally be solved by (1) manual removal and (2) removal of the food source. (1) is easy, but time consuming. (2) is difficult because there can be soooooo many different sources of "food". I think that's what many of us are trying to zero in on with the original poster... the source of the "food". I'm not looking to blow someone away with a thesis on nutrient uptake.

Maybe I'm just a relative newbie who is "old school" at heart, but it sure seems easier to locate the source of the problem and correct it, versus "resetting" water parameters by the latest fad that hits the streets.

 

[Hydrocephalus]

ok Kurt, sorry about that, didnt realize you were the ministry of educational content and current fads, have a Nazi xmass and a couple of beers

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm in the US so the correct term is "Department", not "Ministry".

You have your opinion. I have mine. Don't think it makes me a Nazi to question your opinions, but if you want to play nasty I'll keep that in mind. I always chuckle when someone is confronted with opposition to their opinion and it immediately goes to name calling!

To the original poster... sorry about the little off-topic distraction. I'm still curious about what you're adding to bump up your magnesium and if it coincided with the algae outbreak.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Free of algae with Redfield Ratio | Aquariumpagina's van Charles Buddendorf

 

[CaptainAhab]

I've always heard, though not tried, that raising mag was a sure fire way to kill of algae. I'm at that point now w/ the new tank that I'm going to bump it into the 1500 range for a bit and see if it has an effect.

I switched salt too. Ran low and had to get some and it wasn't my brand. All coincidence.. I dunno.. but the tank is a couple months old, pure ro/di .. 2 fish and some inverts.. so it's not overstocked or over fed.

 

[msargent]

I have green hairy like moss

we have a 99 gallon saltwater tank and we got new light for the coral, and a litte while after, we started to get this green hairy moss stuff growing on the live rock. we kept pulling it off, but it would just come back. we have done everything the fish store people said to do, but it is not helping. we even took out all the rocks and scrubed them clean and cleaned out the hole tank, put the rocks back in and it stayed clean for about a month and the green stuff just came back. we cant get rid of it. it has taken over are hole tank. we need to know how to get rid of it.

 

[brandon429]

--

man Im sorry you are having that continual problem, even after all your remediation attempts.

This happened to me once like it did you, and all I did was drop in a submersible UV sterilizer and it never came back.

UV didn't kill algae already on the rocks, but it kept it from ever coming back because we also changed the bad water parameters that let it get hold in the first place. I know there are ideal biological controls to prevent reinfestation...but after those didn't work, a good ole fashioned UV cheat made it like it never happened...just another option for you, 99 gallons is too expensive to have to keep tearing down, try the cheat!

B