Algea growth

[dobz55]

Hi again all,
I am getting a large amount of Algea growth in my tank, (pic sent) it is both green and red/brown, I have to clean my glass every day,

50 gall tank,
ph 8.0
Alk normal
Nitrite 0.2 ppm
nitrate 20 ppm,
specific gravity 1.025
Ammonia 0.1 ppm
Carbonat Hardness 120
Phosphate 0.25 ppm
Temp 25,

[dobz55]

PS ignor the date I just replaced the batteries in the cam and did not re-set iy

[CSeaSee]

Your nitrates are high. Even though your test kit reads 20 ppm- which is still a little high- what's happening is that your algae specimens are utilizing the excess nitrates to bloom with great speed- artificially keeping the NO3 level reasonably low. This is your tank's way of coping with dirty water- without the algae the values would be even higher. Here are some reasons for your nitrate problems:
-poor skimming
-overfeeding
-decay of dead critters
-infrequent water changes
-polluted make-up water
-unestablished tank- if this is a new tank, give it time and the algae should eventually clear out as the biological balance is sorted out and your tank settles down.

You've also got nitrites in your tank, which screams "cycle!" or "dead fish!" Since I don't know too much about your tank's history, I won't speculate further as to what is the cause.

[dobz55]

Thanks Carl, Tank is only 3 months old, I do 30 percent water changes every week, as for skimming I have never been overly pleased with my red sea skimmers efficiency, if I turn it up much higher it just fills the overflow/cup with clean water. I did loose a fish that I cannot find, over feeding is a definate possability I feed my fish twice a day maybe I should cut it down to once for awhile?? The other thing is that I have just increased my light effiency I bought a T-5 set up 4 x H/O fluros, but I have 2 x t-8 marine Blue on as well???as the colour is lousy and no-one around here has blue t-5,s in stock, I could possably remove a globe or 2 ?

Inmates in my Tank

2 x small Tomatoe Clowns,
2 x Blue damsil,
1 x Dolmio Damsil,
1 x 6 bar Angel
1 x Fox face rabbit fish,
1 x BTA,
1 x Carpet Anemone

[CSeaSee]

The lights aren't your problem- in the absence of pollutants, nuisance algae won't grow no matter what lights you have over the tank. Now the skimmer: no offense, but that skimmer is crap for a tank of that size. I speak from experience- I had the same one on my 55 for a year and a half (when I started out in this hobby) before I figured out that my lack of any worthwhile skimming was slowly killing the tank. e-Bay has some great sales right now on CPR factory seconds- you won't find them cheaper, and they work great. There are other skimmers out there as well, but from my experience, the CPR skimmers work well on a 50-55 gallon tank. Check them out: eBay: NEW CPR BAK-PAK2R WITH BBX PRE-SKIMMER/BUBBLE TRAP BOX (item 280062176265 end time Dec-25-06 14:31:14 PST)

IMHO, until you fix your skimming capabilities, you will continue to have these problems to some extent- buy a good skimmer! It is the most important piece of equipment for your tank!

You can cut down on feeding your fish to 1x/day- some fish don't even need to be fed every day. Also, find the dead fish if you can. Its decaying carcass isn't helping the cause...

[dobz55]

Thanks Carl the Red sea skimmer cost me $265 Australian and is supposed to support a Tank twicw this size, (buggar) next week after Christmas I shall have to look for another one (ouch)

[Ninong]

Thanks Carl the Red sea skimmer cost me $265 Australian and is supposed to support a Tank twicw this size, (buggar) next week after Christmas I shall have to look for another one (ouch)

If you have a Red Sea Berlin Turbo skimmer, it should be able to handle a 50-gal tank if it's working properly.

As far as your 0.2 ppm nitrite measurement is concerned, what test kit are you using? Same question for your 0.1 ppm ammonia. Most hobby test kits aren't capable of measuring ammonia down to 0.1 ppm anyway. The 20 ppm nitrate is nothing to be concerned about for a tank that is only three months old. Your phosphate is too high, assuming your test kit is accurate.

I have a feeling that your test kits are not accurate, especially since you're reporting alkalinity as "normal" instead of giving the actual number. Are you using a calcium test kit? What is your calcium reading? Most of the less expensive test kits are not all that accurate.

Unfortunately, your tank is not large enough for any of the carpet anemones, so that's something to think about, especially since you also have a bubble tip anemone.

[CSeaSee]

If you have a Red Sea Berlin Turbo skimmer, it should be able to handle a 50-gal tank if it's working properly.

Thanks, Ninong- this is true. I had in my mind the small Red Sea Prizm skimmers

[dobz55]

Hi guys it is a red sea prizm, but untill recently the last 2week I have never been able to run it flat out as it just filled the over flow chamber with water last 3 days for some reason I have been able to increase it,s through put to full and it is only removing hard? foam scum, any way I am using Aquasonic test kits 9Australian Made) and am checking the Nitrate and Nitrite PH and Alk results with Red sea test kits and getting very similar results I tested today and results are
S.G 1.025, a little high
Nitrite Undetectable less that .05 PPM
Nitrate 20 PPM
PH 8.0 have never been able to get it higher
Phosphate 0.25 ppm
Alk 2.0 the Red sea set up has low up to 1.7 normal 1.7 to 2.8 and High, the colour matches about the middle of the 1.7 to 2.8 range
Ammonia 0.1 ppm

so how do these readings appear, the test kits markings are this

Ammonia 0-0.1-0.5-1.0-2.0-5.0-10.0
Nitrate 5ppm-10ppm-20ppm-40ppm-80ppm
Phosphate 0.1ppm-0.25ppm-0.5ppm-1.0ppm-3.0ppm
Nitrite 0-1ppm-5ppm-10ppm-20ppm ( I got a zero reading today)