Update 30g reef

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Frogspawn

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
486
Location
Falling Waters WV
hey guys, just wanted to give an update on my tank and see what u guys think i should do.

last sunday i did a complete cleaning of my 30g reef. i had to do this due to the overwhelmess of hair alage. after i completed cleaning the whole tank, it was cleaner then when i first set it up. now a little less then a week later i am starting to see more hair alage growing. why is this? what could it be? i use premade salt water from dr.fostersmith.com.
 
a couple of questions:
what are tank inhabitants, fish, inverts?What is your clean up crew ?
how many lbs LR/LS?
lighting, MH,VHO,PC?
how old are your lights?
how long has your tank been up?
filtration?
flow, ph?
parameters:
Ammonia?
nitrItes?
nitrAtes?
PH?
phosphates?
silicates (don't know if you can test for that)

coule of suggestions:
continue with 20%/30% H2O changes weekly.
manual scrubbing and siphon.
run tank dark for about 3 days, then limit your lighting until it goes away.
hair algae is difficult to get rid of as it is however with limmiting your source of Phosphates and DOC it will go away . You may also consider a phosphate sponge to help as a bridge while you get rid of the HA ... It is a real pain but sometimes taking out all the LR and scrubbing it down , rinsing in fresh Salt H20 and placing in a bin of fresh salt H20 in a dark room will help kill it off (it is also known as cooking your LR) ... Just remember that you will need to keep that water pristine and the temp and water moving so that it doesnt kill off your bacteria ...:)
 
2 fish clown and six line walrus,
30lbs tonga branch LR
150matt MH i just got a new light bulb for it last month.
my tanks been set up for about a year.
no filter for the most part just a protine skimmer. just added a HOB filter last week
3maxi jet 900's on a wave maker
water parameters are great. ph is a little low.
cant test for phos, and silicates. i need to take my water and go get that checked.
 
When asked to post water parameters please post actual numbers.

What are you feeding?
How much do you feed at a time?
How often do you feed?

What make/model is the protein skimmer?
Is it producing skimmate?
How much? (how often do you need to empty the collection cup)?

I had great luck with turbo snails. They went right ot work on my ha and I could see paths of it disapper every day. I also cut way back on feeding to once very 2-3 days, and dropped my photo period for a few weeks.

The key is to identify the source of the nutrients and eliminate them.
 
all my parameter are at 0ppm nitrate is >5ppm's my skimmers not on at this moment do to cleaning. i went out and purchessed a HOB filter rated for 100g. add some carbon for a few days and my waters crystal clear. i feed once every 3 days as much as they can eat in 5 mins.

as for what i feed? i feed frozen brine shrimp and omega flake food soaked in a vit/garlic supplement.

going to do another water change tonight. and every friday. going to cut the lights out for a few days also. :) i dont have a great clean up crew anymore. only aout 3-5 snails and a few hermits.
 
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