Tank has starting to look nasty
- Thread starter cooltop
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Would be helpful to know what the water readings are. Particularly nitrate and phosphate. And how long are the lights on?
Will likely need larger water changes more often to get it back together.
Will likely need larger water changes more often to get it back together.
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Agree with the info Austinsdad asked for... as well as what you have in there for a clean-up crew (snails, crabs, etc).
Also agree that more frequent water changes will help get things back - something on the order of 10% per week, at a minimum.
Also agree that more frequent water changes will help get things back - something on the order of 10% per week, at a minimum.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
So far we know you have a 72 gallon tank with 3 fish and you do about a 10% per month PWC.
So now for the questons:
What type of filtration are you using?
What is the substrate?
How much LR do you have?
How much water movement do you have?
What type of lights and wattage?
How long are the lights on each day?
What type of water do you use for top off (RODI/Tap)?
What type of water do you use for the PWC?
What do you feed the fish?
How often do you feed and what do you feed?
What does your clean up crew consist of?
Are you using any supplements? If so, what, what dosage, how often?
What has changed in the past 6 months?
What are the water readings for
Temp
SG
pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Calcium
Alk
Magnesium
Please give actual numbers for those items you have a test kit for.
Then we can try to help
So now for the questons:
What type of filtration are you using?
What is the substrate?
How much LR do you have?
How much water movement do you have?
What type of lights and wattage?
How long are the lights on each day?
What type of water do you use for top off (RODI/Tap)?
What type of water do you use for the PWC?
What do you feed the fish?
How often do you feed and what do you feed?
What does your clean up crew consist of?
Are you using any supplements? If so, what, what dosage, how often?
What has changed in the past 6 months?
What are the water readings for
Temp
SG
pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Calcium
Alk
Magnesium
Please give actual numbers for those items you have a test kit for.
Then we can try to help
You can follow my build to see exact equipment here
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/new-72-gallon-bow-front-108328.html
Only thing changed is a new Octopus Skimmer 100
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Only thing that jumps out at me (other than low pH) is the lack of snails. Doesn't sound like you have any corals, so I'd dump at least a half dozen big Turbo Snails in there to munch away on that stuff. Turbos have a tendency to bulldoze and knock corals around, but if it's just FOWLR, then go for it!
I bet if you increased the frequency of water changes to something like 20% every 2 weeks, your pH levels would get back up into a better range - in addition to helping decrease whatever is feeding the algae.
I bet if you increased the frequency of water changes to something like 20% every 2 weeks, your pH levels would get back up into a better range - in addition to helping decrease whatever is feeding the algae.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Also please recheck the SG reading you posted. It should be 1.018 - 1.023 for a FOWLR.
Your pH is low too. It should be at 8.0 to 8.3
What time of day is that taken and how long before lights on/off?
Please take a new reading just before lights out and post that.
Some Mexican turbo snails may help. Are you rinsing the frozen food wit RODI water before adding to the tank? Frozen is usually a source of phosphates.
Your pH is low too. It should be at 8.0 to 8.3
What time of day is that taken and how long before lights on/off?
Please take a new reading just before lights out and post that.
Some Mexican turbo snails may help. Are you rinsing the frozen food wit RODI water before adding to the tank? Frozen is usually a source of phosphates.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Flake food and frozen (brine and mysis) without being rinsed are my prime suspects for phosphates and that growth. Never did provide the phosphate reading, so I'm thinking it could be the problem.
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cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
+1 for Ray on the PO4 being a culprit.
You may want to take a water sample to the lfs and have them run the tests you don't have and check the other results for you.
You may want to take a water sample to the lfs and have them run the tests you don't have and check the other results for you.
Yes I have Corals or atleast 1 left that is doing good. That was post to be a 1.25 on SG. I just dont know where that much PO4 would be coming from wich I have problems with my SUMP gettign nasty looking to. Mabey its the lack of LR
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Did you understand what I was saying about the food you're using?
Just wonderin since you still say you "don't know where that much PO4 is coming from".
Just wonderin since you still say you "don't know where that much PO4 is coming from".
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
How about the flake food? That everyday? Phosphate city too. What kinda frozen food are you using?
No its flake food in between the frozen. Ex flake skip a day then frozne then skip a day flake..... I can not rember what kind it is but there little frozen cubes of shrimp. Mabey a recomndation of what kind of food I can change to ?
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Use a brine shrimp net to rinse the food.
Have you tested for PO4 yet?
What's that number?
Have you tested for PO4 yet?
What's that number?
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Shrimp will not melt away when rinsed. Get a small net and add a few cubes of the brine and/or myisis shrimp. Rinse it with fresh water. Dump it in a small tupperware container or ziplock bag. Get either some nori sheets and break them into very samll pieces or get some Formula 2 frozen vegatable food - hopefully the kind withOUT gel added. That's ususally the bag, not the cube version. Your fish don't need just meat. They do will with meat and veggie matter.
After all the food is mixed together, get some Zoe and Garlic Guard and add a few drops to the food mixture. Garlic boosts the immune system and Zoe is a vitamin. I think Selcon is another. Look them up.
After all the food is mixed together, get some Zoe and Garlic Guard and add a few drops to the food mixture. Garlic boosts the immune system and Zoe is a vitamin. I think Selcon is another. Look them up.
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Krypt
Aquarium Advice FINatic
A cheap efficient way to rinse your food is to get an old container (like a small cup), cut the bottom out, then take a coffee filter and put it in using a rubberband to hold it in place. Drop the cube inside the filter, rinse and viola, your golden.
