What is this disease?

[hackteck]

About the fridge I'm not sure I've never done it maybe another member can chime in

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by hackteck

About the fridge I'm not sure I've never done it maybe another member can chime in

Ok thanks. But just confused, ive had the tank running for a while now & diatoms are everywhere. Could it be because ive added over 50 pounds of base rock from reefcleaners, does the rock need to cycle itself?

[KSum89]

Just tested both the filtered water And tap. They both contain nitrates, so possibly both will bring diatoms in. Guess nitrates dont effect my clowns and wrasse, as they have been living in it and my cleaner shrimp couldnt handle it and died after 1 night. Guess i better invest in a ro di before i buy more fish

[Sarcothelia]

I'm sure there was some die off from the rocks, would caused a mini cycle along with the diatoms in response to the change in water quality.

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by Sarcothelia

I'm sure there was some die off from the rocks, would caused a mini cycle along with the diatoms in response to the change in water quality.

Ok that explains the random diatom bloom. I let the base rocks sit in a big tub of warm water before i put them in but this seems reasonable.

[hackteck]

Originally Posted by KSum89

Just tested both the filtered water And tap. They both contain nitrates, so possibly both will bring diatoms in. Guess nitrates dont effect my clowns and wrasse, as they have been living in it and my cleaner shrimp couldnt handle it and died after 1 night. Guess i better invest in a ro di before i buy more fish

my local tap water contains a high amount of nitrates and phosphates thats why i dont use it yea getting an ro/di or even an ro unit is a good investment they sell them real cheap on ebay

[hackteck]

also you might have a hair algae problem down the road if you continue to use tap water it could have alot of phosphates in it

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by hackteck

also you might have a hair algae problem down the road if you continue to use tap water it could have alot of phosphates in it

Is hair algae the kind of algae that looks like grass?

And could u link me to a good cheap ro unit, that isnt a generic kind that will stop working in 3 months. I dont trust ebay and havent used it in a while anymore after getting ripped off for more than $200.

[hackteck]

Yup can make this hobby a pain overnight

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by hackteck

Yup can make this hobby a pain overnight

How can i get rid of the hair algae, i bought some live rock with some on it. I thought it was cool and didnt pay any more attention to it.

[hackteck]

Scrub it off but if you keep adding tap water it will come back possibly I run a phosban reactor with phosphate media and use ro di water to keep my phosphates at 0

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by hackteck

Scrub it off but if you keep adding tap water it will come back possibly I run a phosban reactor with phosphate media and use ro di water to keep my phosphates at 0

Is 10ppm of nitrates bad? Because i was googling hair algae and ran across a site that said nitrates must be within 0-10.

They were already on my rock when i bought it. I didnt know what it was. Its not much but its still there.

[hackteck]

Nah its not your right 0-10 is were you wanna be

[KSum89]

Originally Posted by hackteck

Nah its not your right 0-10 is were you wanna be

So do i still need one of those ro units or as long as my tap contains at max 10ppm or less nitrates itll be okay?

Im just staying away from cleaner shrimp for a while at least until i get a ro. i see 10 isnt bad but confused how i lost my cleaner in one night. Someone on here told me they are sensitive to nitrates but mine never exceed 10.

[hackteck]

Well hair algae mainly grows from phosphates so you might need to get a phosphate test kit I have an unused one that came with my tank if you want it I wouldn't mind sending it to you if you want it just send me a pm

[KSum89]

Heres a pic of the small amount thats been on a chunk of rock i had in there for at least 2 1/2 months. Its on the right hand side, i think its green hair algae.

I dont know what that black stuff is either. This rock has alot of different colors on it. Its why i chose it, Not knowing if its all good or not.

[hackteck]

Well you can get a nice ro di on ebay for under 60 so maybe you can save for one but in the mean time if you see any hair algae just remove it