About the same...MISTAKE. I just cut back from 8 hrs of MH time to 5 hrs. The rest is Actinic 216w for another 3 hrs. Then Blue LED's. I changed the direction of the pumps to the algae areas. The bare areas of algae were in the paths of the pump. They ar dead aras. I have to get more flow i there also. That is my job tomorrow.
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Increased brown algae due to new MH lighting....
- Thread starter wienerdog
- Start date
That may do it - just the additional flow will prevent the nutrients from accumulating in those dead spots driving the algae growth. with the stuff kicked up and about the algae spores will have less opportunity to settle on the spot to grow.
Also - with regards to the clean up crew, You said you had a few "turbo snails" - i assume those are those asian top-hat astrea snails? They do an "ok" job on the glass but are terrible for the LR/sand. Just like a good ecosystem has different stuff, a good clean up crew will have a few of each for different jobs.
But perhaps what mnat said is also legit- perhaps the lighting is part of the root cause.
btw - do you have filter feeders? if not - dosing phyto plankton is unnecessary in my opinion. As Darren mentioned the phyto feeding may be simply feeding the algae. Phyto is normally consumed by zooplankton and/or filter feeders. As we have no zooplankton (or very limited) in our tanks, people may dose phyto for say a non-photo synthetic gorgonian, or barnacles. Otherwise it will simply decompose and breakdown into nutrients for algae to consume.
Also - with regards to the clean up crew, You said you had a few "turbo snails" - i assume those are those asian top-hat astrea snails? They do an "ok" job on the glass but are terrible for the LR/sand. Just like a good ecosystem has different stuff, a good clean up crew will have a few of each for different jobs.
But perhaps what mnat said is also legit- perhaps the lighting is part of the root cause.
btw - do you have filter feeders? if not - dosing phyto plankton is unnecessary in my opinion. As Darren mentioned the phyto feeding may be simply feeding the algae. Phyto is normally consumed by zooplankton and/or filter feeders. As we have no zooplankton (or very limited) in our tanks, people may dose phyto for say a non-photo synthetic gorgonian, or barnacles. Otherwise it will simply decompose and breakdown into nutrients for algae to consume.
Hey Brian, looking at the pics I see a few different things. Cyano, and what looks like diatoms. You may have Dino's but without bubbles it's hard to tell. Try some good wc's like we talked about and skim wetter. If its Dino's, big wc's and carbon are the trick. Blast the rocks before your wc to get as much junk into the column.
Have you found dead snails? That's usually the first sign of Dino's and toxic water.
Twisteds 180 Reef
Have you found dead snails? That's usually the first sign of Dino's and toxic water.
Twisteds 180 Reef
Len...my snails are healthy and active. Couple astrea's and large turbo's. I am mixin up some water tonight and tommorrow will do a change and clear off the rocks. I also moved my powerheads. Big difference. No junk settlin anywhere....that was a bit more difficult than I anticipated. Thanks for te info today.
Anytime. If it is Dino's I think u are at a good time to nip it early. Next is to correct the issue. All food liquid and solid contributes to algae issues we face. If you ro water is good then cut back on feedings and rember most corals will do fine with minimal spot feeding. Also, test your water out of the ro and then in the container it's stored in. Oh, and let the ro water run out about a pint or so then test.
Does your ato top off your res constantly? Or do u fill it when it empties?
Twisteds 180 Reef
Does your ato top off your res constantly? Or do u fill it when it empties?
Twisteds 180 Reef