[bakana]

What are some brand names? I have only seen what looks like a micron pad that has the instructions to leave it only in the tank one day and throw it out. Can't remember the name though. Is that what you are talking about?
Also, would phosphates at.1ppm really cause a forest of hair algae like my tank or just a little bit?
Also, I have taken the rocks out about 7 times and cleaned all the visible algae off them but the hair algae comes back with a vengeance after 2 weeks.
It drives me crazy. I wish it would work.
Also, if the kalk helps reduce phosphates maybe i should do nothing.
What do you use to remove them?
Oh and:
Fish list in my 90 gallon:
1 blue/green chromis
2 Banggai mated cardinal fish
1 cleaner goby
1 purple firefish
1 six line wrasse
1 kole tang
1 lawnmower blenny
1 foxface
I feed one-half to one cube of food/day with selcon and garlice added.
also, cyclopese 2x per week
Corals:
45 red mushrooms
1toadstool leateher
3 pruple mushrooms
2 brown mushrooms
2 green mushrooms
starpolyps (I am not counting them)
45-50 Brown, yellow, and green button polyps
1 kenya tree coral
2 wellsophilia brains
1 red brain
1 bubble coral
3 scolymia
2 torches
1 frogspawn
1 branching hammer
Thats all but inverts
My lights are on for 8hr 23 min/day
All four of them because I have an icecap 660 ballast.
But as for the algae, i don't know what to do.
also, I tested calcium and alkalinity again and they are fine
Thanks,
Mike

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

What are some brand names?

There are several manufacturers making phosphate sponge products that utilize ferric oxide/ferric hydroxide as the sponge. Here is one: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...egory_Code=TLF

Also, would phosphates at.1ppm really cause a forest of hair algae like my tank or just a little bit?

I don't know. I've never had any detectable amount of phosphate in my tank.

Also, if the kalk helps reduce phosphates maybe i should do nothing.

No, I think that since you know you presently have a problem with phosphate, you should try one of the ferric oxide based products AND use Kalkwasser.

What do you use to remove them?

I have never measured any phosphate in my tank since it was set up on July 8, 2003. I dose limewater every night, anywhere from 1 to 2 gallons, depending on evaporation.

Oh and:
Fish list in my 90 gallon:
1 blue/green chromis
2 Banggai mated cardinal fish
1 cleaner goby
1 purple firefish
1 six line wrasse
1 kole tang
1 lawnmower blenny
1 foxface
I feed one-half to one cube of food/day with selcon and garlice added.
also, cyclopese 2x per week

I have a 120-gal with five fish: one Signaus vulpinus (Foxface Rabbitfish), one Pseudochromis fridmani (Orchid Dottyback), two Cirrhilabrus scottorum (Scott's Fairy Wrasses) and one C. lineatus (Lined Fairy Wrasse) and I feed more than triple what you are feeding daily. I usually feed my fish three to five times a day. In addition to two to three cubes of various frozen foods (Mysid shrimp, brine shrimp, blood worms, squid, Marine Cuisine, homemade concoction that is mostly finely chopped table shrimp, frozen Formula Two), I also feed Formula Two flake twice daily because of the Foxface, Formula One flake sometimes, Formula One pellets sometimes, Omega One sometimes, freeze dried Cyclop-Eeze three or four times a week, phytoplankton for the clams three times a week, etc. I have 150-lbs. of live rock and a 6" deep sand bed.

[bakana]

I only feed that lille because of the hair algae the lfs said to limit the amount of food as it adds to the food that algae eats.
Hope that is a good idea. Not sure though.....
Also,
i have 90 lbs of live rock with a 1 inch sand bed.

[Ninong]

If your one inch sand bed is crushed coral, it could be adding to your problems by trapping detritus.

[bakana]

It is crushed coral, so should I remove it? ( i vacuum this at water changes.)
I have many bumble bee/narcissus snail and a cucumber and a sand sifter.
Also, the film that is on top of the water dosed with kalk; does it need to be removed prior to adding water to dripper or is it ok, and if so, how do you remove it?
I remember you saying add only the clear water.

[bakana]

sorry to double post but if crushed coral is bad then what do I use? I used sand a year ago and had a nice grassy substrate(The hair algae was all over it.)

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

It is crushed coral, so should I remove it? ( i vacuum this at water changes.)

I don't care for crushed coral myself but if someone wants to use it, I think they should limit the depth to 1/2" and be prepared to vacccum it frequently. I would switch to a sand bed if I were you but that's up to you. I think a 3"-4" sand bed would be better.

I have many bumble bee/narcissus snail and a cucumber and a sand sifter.

I don't care for bumble bee snails because they have been known to attack other snails. I like Nassarius vibex snails but they don't like crushed coral very much. They require a soft sediment. Whatever you are calling a "sand sifter" would prefer a sand bed over crushed coral. If you are referring to a white sand shifting seastar, I don't care for those in a sand bed because they eat all the beneficial sand bed infauna.

I think a cucumber (Holothuria sp.) is a good idea but they very much need a real sand bed instead of crushed coral for good health.

Also, the film that is on top of the water dosed with kalk; does it need to be removed prior to adding water to dripper or is it ok, and if so, how do you remove it?

Are you talking about a film that sometimes forms on the surface of the mixed limewater in your mixing bucket? If so, just skim it off with a large kitchen spoon and discard it. Be sure to keep your limewater covered at all times to reduce air contact.

[bakana]

Yeah it is a sand sifter star, and I stopped using sand because algae covered it(hair algae) I also was wrong it is about 1/2 half inchdeep not 1 inch, but does the detritus in it feed the hair algae?
Would it make sense to remove it all out and have no substrate?
Also, yes that is the film on top of kalkwater I was talking about. But when I use a spoon, it breaks into a million pieces. any advice?
Thx,
mIke

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

Yeah it is a sand sifter star, and I stopped using sand because algae covered it(hair algae) I also was wrong it is about 1/2 half inchdeep not 1 inch, but does the detritus in it feed the hair algae?

Yes, detritus decays producing nutrients. It is best to not have detritus. A deep sand bed is one way to deal with detritus. Another way is to blow it around the tank with extremely strong water currents so that it is perpetually in suspension and going over the overflow into your sump to be handled there. You can't really use that approach if you have a fine particle sand bed because the sand particles will be blowing all over your tank, too.

As far as the white sand shifting seastar (Archaster typicus) is concerned, it consumes sand bed infauna and is therefore not recommended for tanks with deep sand beds because you want to keep as much of the infauna in the bed as possible to keep it healthy.

Some of the German aquarists favor a shallow substrate (1cm) of large particle crushed coral but they make sure that it does not become a detritus trap by constantly vacuuming it and stirring it, etc. This is not something you would do if you had a fine particle sand bed.

The original Berlin Method called for a bare bottomed tank with live rock, good water flow, good lighting and a good protein skimmer. Nutrient processing was handled by the live rock and the protein skimmer.

Then there was a movement, especially in the U.S., towards "natural filtration" that incorporated a sand bed as an additional nutrient processing resource but retained the live rock and the foam fractionation.

There are also those who favor other methods that do not employ protein skimmers: Algal scrubbers, very large refugia, etc.

Would it make sense to remove it all out and have no substrate?

That's entirely up to you. There are all sorts of different ways to go. You have to decide which way is the one you want to try.

Also, yes that is the film on top of kalkwater I was talking about. But when I use a spoon, it breaks into a million pieces. any advice?
Thx,
mIke

I'm afraid I can't help you there. The only time I had anything similar was when I allowed some mixed limewater to sit in the bucket for three days while I was using saltwater to top off my aquarium in order to raise my salinity. The film on the surface was not much at all and I simply lifted it off with a large wooden kitchen spoon and discarded it. Try a wire mesh stock skimming ladle. "Stock" means soup stock. Try a bunch of paper towels. Maybe the film will stick to the paper towels.

[bakana]

One other question: Is fin and tail rot fatal? I just noticed that my female cardinal has it. They are a pair so I want her alive. If it is fatal I will take her to the "hospital" and treat with maracyn 2 (only successful product that I have experimented with.
TY,
Mikey

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

One other question: Is fin and tail rot fatal? I just noticed that my female cardinal has it. They are a pair so I want her alive. If it is fatal I will take her to the "hospital" and treat with maracyn 2 (only successful product that I have experimented with.
TY,
Mikey

I don't know the answer to your question but I have heard that it is a bacterial infection and that some people have used Maracyn-Two in a hospital tank to treat it. Be sure to treat for the full five days.

[bakana]

Do you think I should post a new thread to ask or do you think it is somewhere?

[bakana]

Okay, now I know i sound like a broken record, but starting 2 days ago, my mushrooms started to melt and die.
As of today the count is 7.
Is the kalkwasser to blame (meaning is it to strong) or is it something else?
And if so what could it be.
btw, water parameters are ok, see other posts.
THX,Mike

[Reefland]

Mike,

The only reason I can see that kalkwasser would cause anything to be stressed is if you are dripping it too fast causing the pH to become elevated and stress the animals. You should test your pH frequently throughout the drip to see if the pH is becoming too high and if it is, reducing the drip rate.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

Is the kalkwasser to blame (meaning is it to strong) or is it something else?

It can't be too strong. It's either saturated or it isn't. It's saturated at two teaspoons per gallon of water. That's not too strong.

It is important that you allow it to rest for several hours in the mixing container before carefully pouring off the clear liquid into the dosing container. It is important that you drip it slowly, preferably at night.

People who dosed their limewater too fast often report problems with mushrooms. This is commonly reported by someone who added a gallon or two of limewater all at once instead of dripping it over several hours. The exact cause of the problem is a rapid rise in pH to an unhealthy level.

[bakana]

I make the water 24 hours before needed. I drip 1000 ml into a 90 at one drip/ second. That is good right? Since mushrooms are the only ones dying, I would conclude from what you guys are saying is that the kalk is killing them right?

[bakana]

Oh and I make a 1400 ml solution and dose it with 1/2 tablespoon of kalk. and the 90 I was referring to was a 90 gallon.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

I make the water 24 hours before needed. I drip 1000 ml into a 90 at one drip/ second. That is good right?

Excellent!

Since mushrooms are the only ones dying, I would conclude from what you guys are saying is that the kalk is killing them right?

No, not necessarily. It could be the problem IF you had dumped your limewater into the tank all at once but it should not be a problem at all the way you are doing it.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bakana

Oh and I make a 1400 ml solution and dose it with 1/2 tablespoon of kalk. and the 90 I was referring to was a 90 gallon.

Limewater is saturated at two teaspoons per gallon of water. Anything more than that just settles to the bottom. Therefore, if you are mixing up 1400 ml of water, the maximum amount of calcium hydroxide powder that can go into solution would be 3/4 teaspoon. One-half tablespoon is exactly twice as much as can possibly go into solution in 1400 ml of water. I would suggest that you use no more than 3/4 teaspoon or even 1/2 teaspoon until you determine your tank's calcium demand.

BTW, this would not have made any difference whatsoever unless you dumped the sediment from the mixing container into your dosing container. Whether you used 3/4 teaspoon or 3 Tablespoons, the clear liquid that resulted would have been exactly the same.

P.S. -- To save people the trouble of doing the conversion: 1400 ml = 0.3725 U.S. gallons

[bakana]

Cool, but what about the 'shrooms?
Do they have trouble with certain things the other corals listed above in my tank don't?
I thought they were extremely easy, I thought. I know diagnosis is impossible, I guess I am looking for possibilities for the death. P.S. they are in liw to moderate current.
P.S. I should read the directions more carefully, I thought it said table