gaker
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have a case of the uglies that has popped up in my 28 gallon nano cube over the last few weeks. The tank has been up and running since Nov/Dev of 2012, so it's coming up on 1 year old.
I'm getting an outbreak of green hair algae on my rocks as well as a bit of slime algae on the sand bed. Phosphates, Nitrates, Nitrates and ammonia all read at 0. I realize I must have nitrates and/or phosphates due to the presence of the slime/hair algae, but I'd think I would see a reading above 0.
I do my best to vacuum up nasties on the top of the sand bed during water changes, and I've run an aqua c remora skimmer with a maxijet skimmer since day one. I also threw an MP10 in a few weeks ago (set really low) to get some additional flow in the tank.
Water changes, I do 5 gallons every 1-2 weeks and have since the tank cycle was "over"
I've done big cleanings on the return pumps and the skimmer in the last two weeks. The skimmer hasn't produced any skimmate in over a week now when set to the lowest level. (clean water?)
The water looks clear, and I do run a bag of chemipure (which I changed about a month ago)
As for what has changed. Well, I got my Yellow Watchman Goby a friend (tiger pistol shrimp) about two months ago. It took them about 3 weeks to pair up. Since then, the pistol has been very busy rearranging the tank to his liking. I'm fine with that. At this point, about the only reason I can come up with as to why this is happening is Mr. Pistol Shrimp disturbing the sand bed as much as he has.
So if this is the case, what would you do? Heavier water changes? Remember, my numbers read 0, so in theory, one could say my water is relatively "clean", right? What about waiting it out? If this is some sort of mini-cycle, the bio filter should catch up at some point, right?
In the meantime, the fish and corals seem just fine. My Aussie Scoly is a wee bit pissed at the additional flow, so I have the MP10 on the timer with my lights (noon-5pm now to give less light to the algae), which it seems to be cool with.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
-greg
I'm getting an outbreak of green hair algae on my rocks as well as a bit of slime algae on the sand bed. Phosphates, Nitrates, Nitrates and ammonia all read at 0. I realize I must have nitrates and/or phosphates due to the presence of the slime/hair algae, but I'd think I would see a reading above 0.
I do my best to vacuum up nasties on the top of the sand bed during water changes, and I've run an aqua c remora skimmer with a maxijet skimmer since day one. I also threw an MP10 in a few weeks ago (set really low) to get some additional flow in the tank.
Water changes, I do 5 gallons every 1-2 weeks and have since the tank cycle was "over"
I've done big cleanings on the return pumps and the skimmer in the last two weeks. The skimmer hasn't produced any skimmate in over a week now when set to the lowest level. (clean water?)
The water looks clear, and I do run a bag of chemipure (which I changed about a month ago)
As for what has changed. Well, I got my Yellow Watchman Goby a friend (tiger pistol shrimp) about two months ago. It took them about 3 weeks to pair up. Since then, the pistol has been very busy rearranging the tank to his liking. I'm fine with that. At this point, about the only reason I can come up with as to why this is happening is Mr. Pistol Shrimp disturbing the sand bed as much as he has.
So if this is the case, what would you do? Heavier water changes? Remember, my numbers read 0, so in theory, one could say my water is relatively "clean", right? What about waiting it out? If this is some sort of mini-cycle, the bio filter should catch up at some point, right?
In the meantime, the fish and corals seem just fine. My Aussie Scoly is a wee bit pissed at the additional flow, so I have the MP10 on the timer with my lights (noon-5pm now to give less light to the algae), which it seems to be cool with.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
-greg
