What am i doing wrong?

[anthonygaliazzo]

I am putting so much time and energy in the hobby, i do 25% water change, when i do i siphone my sand bed,i give 10h of light per day i have a jns vs1(90-120 gallon) capacity and i still yave some algae problems.My rocks seem fine but my sand started growing a lot of algae in it and i cant stand it. I tried using phosguard 2 weeks before this happened. Anyone have any advice on what this depends and how to stop it

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Are you using tap water or RODI? What livestock do you have and what's your feeding schedule? What is the flow in your tank?

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Your params would help as well. And do you do these wc's weekly?

 

[Holygral]

You posted this exact questions a few weeks ago, people advised you and ask you questions to help figure it out, but you never responded but now you asking again? No one can help you unless you participate. If you are not using good quality RODI water you may never get it fixed, it also appears that you have a heavy stocked tank which means a lot of left over food and waste

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

I am using natural spring water that i buy from the grocery store in 19L volume. My nitrate are 20 ph 8.4 and i have 2 clowns,2 chromis,midas blenny green wrasse 1 fire shrimp , 1 cleaner shrimp hermits snails. I have 1 powerhead of 740g/h towards the surface to keep it moving. I never tested phosphate but in preatty sure its too high but i wanna know what causes my phosphate to go up. I feed them everyday all you can eat of brine shrimp for 1 minute, putting in little by little and waiting for them to finish before adding more. How expensive is ro/di water?

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

25% water change was every 2 weeks but i think il do it every week from now on

 

[jeremy upshir]

I would start using RO DI water and start mixing salt rather than palm springs water.. its ok stuff but I wouldn't use it in a saltwater aquarium.. if you buy your own ro di unit it will pay for it self in a couple months.. you can get them anywhere from 120 on up. I would get atleast a 4 stage system and make sure you get a digital gauge and a pressure gauge with it. be sure to get it at a saltwater fish store or online(not one from lowes or hardware store they are a little different)

 

[Holygral]

yes I suspect your water, spring water is made to drink not to support a reef. Even lfs water can not be trusted, they never change filters when they need change as they will milk every penny out of the profit margin. You spring water could be 50-300 tds, you need a handheld meter to check it. You make purse water with a rodi unit by, bypassing the di cartage. An added benefit with a few cheap valves is pure drinking water. An rodi unit should be the first piece of equipment that you but, even before the tank, it is that important. It is 95% of your reef, its the heart of it. Its really hard to help you without using rodi , everything else would be a guess.

 

[mr_X]

Feeding every day all they can eat for a minute is too much. Feed them a few times a week for a while, and all they can eat in about 15 seconds. It doesn't matter if they eat it all, the food is still in the tank.

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

Ok but im scared that my shrimps dienoff because they barly est anything even during the all you can eat, the fish eat it very quickly

 

[Sniperhank]

Your problem is simple. What you put in needs to go out. If not, algae and parameter issues. Cut way back on feeding and use ro/di, or ro at best, for water changes. Manually remove the algae during water changes. There are two articles on algae issues in my signature that will help you out.

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

Thanks! What would be a good feeding schedual for the stock i have? And how long should the feeding periode be? Thanks for all advices

 

[Sniperhank]

I feed my tank twice a week minimally. Until you get your issue under control, I'd suggest the same. Minimally for my tank is a cube of frozen food. For a fish or two it might be a third of a cube, if that.

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

I had a reef expert comme to my place and check my tank out and test it. My nitrates tested 0 and same with phosphats to my surprise. I am guessing ill need to replace my bulbs soon thats why i have algae

 

[Holygral]

I had a reef expert comme to my place and check my tank out and test it. My nitrates tested 0 and same with phosphats to my surprise. I am guessing ill need to replace my bulbs soon thats why i have algae

Phosphates are very hard to test for, I doubt it's your lights, you pay experts so they in my opinion can be persuaded, experts here have no venue

 

[anthonygaliazzo]

I didnt pay him to come i bought a bit of live rock and zooplankton and offered to come and check my tank, he knows what hes talking about he imports fish and corals andd sells them I know he knows what hes talking about

 

[Stlrockguy]

If you have a lot of algae growth your tests will measure 0 since its all being used up

 

[Holygral]

I didnt pay him to come i bought a bit of live rock and zooplankton and offered to come and check my tank, he knows what hes talking about he imports fish and corals andd sells them I know he knows what hes talking about

Ok. I guess you have everything you need, all lfs import and sell fish and corals, that doesn't mean they know what they are talking about, telling you that you have 0
phosphates in my opinion means they really don't know what the are talking about. As rockguy said, the algae is using the phosphates to grow, that's why it shows 0, but I'm no expert, good luck

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

If you have a lot of algae growth your tests will measure 0 since its all being used up

+1. With algae like that your levels are probably very high in both nitrate and phosphate, and you should proceed accordingly

 

[Stlrockguy]

If I was you I'd invest in an rodi unit. One of the best investment you can make. At the very least go to your LFS and buy rodi water. Do Large water changes while vacuuming as much algae as you can. I'd also reduce feeding and your lighting time until you get it under control