Hope I fixed the Problem!

[Hellathafish]

I have/had a hair algea problem that I hope to fix with the new sump. I just took out all the rock and scrubbed it for the 2nd time in 6 months. Had to put the sump on hold due to car problems 6 months ago but have it togeather now and just have to pick up a few more plumbing supplies before it is ready to be hooked up. Here are the pics of before the clean, after the clean, and the sump. Please tell me what you think !

 

[roka64]

Looks good. You should try to work on the problem that is causing the hair algae.
How old are your lights?
How long is your photo period?
What, how much, how often are you feeding?
Are you using RO/DI water?
How much flow do you have in the tank?

 

[Hellathafish]

I know that the phosphates are high and the nitrates. That is the problem right now and that is caused by using tap water for the water changes. I don't have the money for an RO/DI system. But that is in the plans for the future, the joys of military pay it is not that much. Lights are only 3 months old and those are in the plans to be replaced with a t5 setup of some sort (probly mid month). Photo period was redused from 8 to 6 hour when i started having the problem, now the period is at 0 for the next few days. As for feeding I only feed once every 2-3 days, and only as much as the 5 fish can eat. Total flow in the tank right now is around 600gph, once sump is done it eill increase to around 1000gph. I do weekly 20% water changes but again not with RO water, I know that this is causeing some of the problem if not all of the problem. I also have cruched coral as my substrate, put this in before I knew better. The pictures are missing another 25lbs of rock that is finishing curing as I type this.

 

[roka64]

Ok, yeah the CC is probably fueling your issue. Do you clean it on a regular basis?

 

[Hellathafish]

I clean the CC every week when i do the water changes. That is where the tap water is not helping out. I plan on changing over to a sand bed when i get enough sand to do it.

 

[roka64]

How far is Hancock from Frederic? I have a 30Lbs bag of sand just sitting around.

 

[Fluff]

Scott,
Hancock is about an hour up I-70W from Frederick. Which is about the same amount of time to go from where you are to Hancock.

 

[roka64]

Nice, I just looked at a map and there is no real direct route there....good ole Wv road system! LOL!

 

[Hellathafish]

Ya, it is not that easy to get to from WV unless you in Winchester.

 

[Hellathafish]

I would be willing to come and pick up the sand that would give me a start on the sand that i would need to get the change done. I picked up the last of the plumbing that i need to finish up the sump so that should be up and running by late Sunday. I don't have a day off till Sunday so all has to wait till then to get done. Joys of the Army! I am out of the house for 16-17 hours out of the day on the days that i work. I drive an hour to and from work so I get alot of road time.

 

[roka64]

Sure, you can pick it up and see what else I have sitting around.

 

[Fluff]

That's really great of you Scott. I tried to rep you but apparently I don't give out enough cause it wouldn't let me. Kudos to you.

 

[Hellathafish]

That would be great! I have come to love the people that I have met in the forums they are alot of help and have taught me alot. But i know that I have SO MUCH to still learn.

 

[roka64]

Thanks Cindy! Hellathafish, you should join us on our next LFS trip. We get together and visit LFS around our area.

 

[Hellathafish]

If my schedule permits it I will join you all. I work 3 days on and 3 days off with a few unexpected days in between so it is hard to plan things out sometimes.

 

[Hellathafish]

Here is what the tank looks like now that I have cleaned all the algea out and added the new rock. I also did a 20% water change and tested all is good except the nitrates which are high but I knew that they would be after all that algea.

 

[roka64]

I like the scaping!

 

[Hellathafish]

Thanks it took awhile to do. Cleaning all the rock was a pain. I have all the pluming done on the sump and ran out of time dialing in the flow. Will have to get it all tuned in this weekend on my days off.