Brown algae

by **spongebob4460** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:00 am

i don't usually come into the salt world, but i do love the look of your tank and was actually wondering how hard it is to do water changes and reach in there, as its custom built into the cabinetry. Or do you just have a service come and do it?

by **lbmash** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:05 pm

Thanks DH,
I do value your opinion, it seams like you are one of the first people on here to help someone whenthey have a problem. I read books for about 4 months before i built the tank, but the books dont realy take into consideration any variables that mauy happen along the way.
When i built the refugium i used mud, live sand, macro algae and about 20 lbs of live rock from my lfs display tanks. They told me this would jump start the system.
I did google water perameters and that was very helpfull, mine are as follows;
AM temp 80.2 ( after no lights at night )
PM temp 82.2 ( after lights for 14 hours )
Amonia .8 ( been here for about 4 days )
Nitrite .2
Nitrate 0
PH 8.2
Alkalinity 12.6

Can i do anything to help these perameters or should i just let it ride ?

Thanks DH, Lee

by **lbmash** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:12 pm

Thanks Angus, i did build it all myself, and it took about 2 weeks start to finish working at night. If i can get everything working correctly, i will be very happy with it.
As far as the fish, i dont realy know anyone with a tank here to fish-sit for me and the other problem is how do you catch the litle bastards without distroying the tank ?
Lee

by **lbmash** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:23 pm

Thanks for the compliment spongebob,
i am having a 20 gal storage tank made that will fit next to the refugium in the lower cabinet, i think i can pump about 8 gals out of the refugium, turn a couple of valves and pump in the new water from the storage tank. I think if i do this 2 or 3 times a week, i am hopeing it will be ok. Most of my maintenance and tests i can do from the lower cabinets and hopefully just feed the fish from the upper cabinets. The only problem so far that i have is with high temps from the built in cabs, i am going to have to add some sort of ventilation to help cool the water temps.
Thanks Spongebob, Lee

by **dick_headers** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:29 am

Hi Lee,
Yes they were right, live rock and the mud in your rfg will help to start. But you have a huge tank mate. You'd have to have much more live bacteria to introduce. Are the fellas ok in the tank? The ammonia and nitrite levels you have now are very dangerous.. Not because they're too high, but they can spike up any minute now.. I think your nitrate is 0 because the cycle hasn't been through yet.

You did a beautiful job on your set up. You should be proud if you designed and built this system. Hats off !!

Your alkalinity is kinda' high, it could be a source of Ph problems later on.. Are you using tap water?

by **lbmash** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:50 am

Hey DH, thanks for the reply. The fish are doing great, everyone is eating real well except for the puffer, he is very active, just doesnt seem to be eating.
Have been reading about the nitro cycle and you are right about the nitrate, i dont think i have reached that point yet. Are there any bacteria addatives i can put in the tank to help speed things up a bit that you know of ? I am using water strait out of the tap after ageing it for a few days. Thanks for the comps. on the tank, I have been designing and building things for a living for about 20 years now, I can build just about anything, now I guess we will see if i can keep stuff alive !
I detect an accent in your speach, where are you from ?

Thanks again DH
Lee

by **saltwaterpimp** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:13 am

imbash also the brown diotom algae will be a constant problem if you use tap water imo. most often silica-phosphates-and nitrates are introduced throgh tap water.ro water will save you a headache and time cleaning your aquarium. if you dont rinse your food off or over feed fish this will also fuel the growth...good luck
swp

by **dick_headers** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:20 am

wow, am amazed by the fact that your fishes doin' well. I mean that's great.

Once I broke the biological cycle in of my tank, with a 50% water change. Way too much at the time. I did a very deep research on a product made by Fritz. ( not the biggest and most known company out there, but their products are great).
They have a stuff cold Fritz- Turbo start.. Now that thing is something. It is nothing but pure live nitrifying bacteria. I introduced the solution to my tank, and the results were great. It kicked my water back where it was before in 2 days. They have to use overnight service, because the product has to be refrigirated. Very nice, and useful stuff. Do some research on it, and you'll see.

I'm originally from Hungary-Europe. That's why am a smart ass..lol.. Actually i'm not. It is just a disguise, so I can fool you all..:-)

Anyways.. We are here to help you, don't hesitate to ask anything you'd like to know. The reason I said what I said about the nit cycle ..that's a very long story, and there are some great articles about the whole cycle..

OK, I'm sleepy as hell, so i'm sorry but I'll check your response tomorrow... Good night,
Sonny

by **lbmash** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:22 am

Hey Pimp,
Thanks for the info, I will try the ro water on my next water change. great pics by the way, luv the corals, you obviously have been doing this for a while.
Lee

by **saltwaterpimp** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:28 am

it may take more then a water change to correct a problem. use ro every time if you can.thanks your set up is sweet also ...goodluck
swp

Brown algae

25 posts • Page 2 of 3

Brown algae

25 posts • Page 2 of 3