[LittleDevil]

I am in need of some help, My tank is not doing so well. I have a big hair algea bloom, Red and Brown. My Capnella is closed up, I have lost three baby stalks of pulsating Zenia. My frogspan is not opening all the way..

I use r/o water for water changes. I only feed every other day.
Temp:79-80
nitrate-0
amm-0
nitrite-0
alk-9dkh
cal-250 last I tested.
I have 250w mh and 2 40w actinics

What am I doing wrong? and what should I do?????????

Thanks for the help......

MAtt

[kevinpo]

A few questions:

What type of skimmer do you have?
Do you have a DSB?
What test kit brand are you using?
Have you tested for phosphates?
Do you also use RO water each day for your make-up water?
What is your PH? In the AM when the lights first come on and in the evening just before they go off.

Note: Your calcium is very low. It should be around 400 ppm. (being low will not cause your algae problems though).

Regards,
Kevin

[LittleDevil]

Kevin,

Thanks for the reply....

I do not have a skimmer. I have been looking for one, but they are really expensive. Any ideas ??

I have a r/o, so I make all my own water.. But I have not changed any of the cartridge's have had them about 1 year.

I dont have a phosphate tester, but I am going to the lfs today to buy one.

The name on the test kit is Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.
I have not tested for ph in a while. From what i remember it was a little low???

How can I get my ca levels higher??

Thanks
MAtt

[tendar]

Your ro unit probably needs all new filters if it has been a year and you have a 150 gall tank. You may want to get a TDS meter to that you can test your ro water out put so you know when they need changing. You can get a hand held HANNA for around $35. YOu my want to consider adding a DI unit on to your RO.
Skimmer would hlep alot but like you said they are not cheap but worth thier wait in gold when your having a algea problem. Euro reef and My reef are good skimmers.
There are a lot of calcium additives out there to raise you calcium and you should be able to find one at you LFS.
For test kits Salifert makes about the best most acurate for the hobby. They are a little more expensive but worth it.

[kevinpo]

I am a big believer in heavy skimming but there are other very successful ways to do the same thing. While a reef tank can run without a skimmer there must be another way to export nutrients from the tank such as a deep sand bed (DSB) or algae turf scrubber, or tons of live rock, refugium etc. The goal is to export excess nutrients so the alga is starved. Sometimes a combination or all of the above is needed depending on the bio-load and the size of the tank.
"The Marine Aquarium Reference" by Martin Moe Jr. The soft cover is about $20 and covers these type systems in detail.

Here is a link to some skimmers I have done and am doing testing on with very favorable results. IMO $225 for the skimmer and $175 for a pump to drive it is a very well spent investment that lasts for years and years (not like bulbs that need to be replaced every year).

http://barraquatic.com/index.html

I also use Salifert test kits and find them very reliable.

HTH,

[scubadude]

Originally posted by kevinpo
I am a big believer in heavy skimming but there are other very successful ways to do the same thing. While a reef tank can run without a skimmer there must be another way to export nutrients from the tank such as a deep sand bed (DSB) or algae turf scrubber, or tons of live rock, refugium etc. The goal is to export excess nutrients so the alga is starved. Sometimes a combination or all of the above is needed depending on the bio-load and the size of the tank.
"The Marine Aquarium Reference" by Martin Moe Jr. The soft cover is about $20 and covers these type systems in detail.

Here is a link to some skimmers I have done and am doing testing on with very favorable results. IMO $225 for the skimmer and $175 for a pump to drive it is a very well spent investment that lasts for years and years (not like bulbs that need to be replaced every year).

http://barraquatic.com/index.html

I also use Salifert test kits and find them very reliable.

HTH,

YESSSS! Kevin is definately on cue here! I couldnt have said it better!
I have a fairly large refug and I skimm heavy and I clean my skimmers religiously, and I change my RO membranes and/or Sediment/DI cartridges as soon as I see my TDS go down

[LittleDevil]

Thanks guys....

I have ordered new cartridge's for my r/o unit. 1-micron filter and new carbon, and a difilter.

Where would be a good place to find that r/o tester? Would any of the r/o testers work?

When I get a my new filters, should I do a big water change? how much should I do (150gallon)???
Thanks
MAtt

[hcp28]

Have you thought about DIY skimmers? Building one yourself would be a lot cheaper, being a college student I would know. do you have a refugium? Do you have any fish in the tank? Do you feed the tank? I can't remember but I heard that Xenia benefit from some nitrates in the tank and will absorb them as nutrients. HTH

Henry

[Unresistible Blue]

Little Devil - I'd advise you get a TDS meter to check the performance of your RO. If you went a year w/o changing your carbon block cartridge, and with the water usage in a tank that large, you may have run well past exhausting your carbon block and nuked your RO membrane with chlorine.

Before I'd get on a short-term heavy water change kick, again, I'd check the water you've been putting in the tank - it may be OK, may not be.

Like tender said, have you thought about adding a DI unit? Might help as well. You can get a full size DI unit for about the price of a TDS meter.

Blue

[Reinhold]

I don't see how skimming can be the answer, given the large number of reefers who are successfully operating tanks without skimmers at all.

There must be some sort of nutrients for the hair algae to be growing like that. The fact that your nitrates are zero just means the algae is using it all up.

Look closely for a source of nutrients (i.e. overfeeding, dead snails in the LR, dead creatures in the DSB, etc.)

[LittleDevil]

WEll here is a update:

After the reply's, I did go out and by a TDS meter. I bought a Milwaukee sm301. When I first tested my R/O water it was around 200, Is that bad????
Then i bought new micronfilters, carbon, and a new Di filter. Now there the meter reads nothing.
Also bought a Euro-Reef Skimmer, within the first 24 hours I had to empty the collection cup. It was full of brown crap

The reddish color algea it pretty much gone, the green algea is still all over the back wall, How do I get rid of that without scraping the corline off???

Thanks in advance!!

MAtt

[LittleDevil]

I forgot to mention That I also added a 50 gallon sump, bought 10 lbs of miraclemudd and some culurpa.
MAtt

[Unresistible Blue]

If the water coming out of your RO is 200, your RO membrane is shot and your new DI resin is cleaning up 200 ppm water and will be exhausted in short order.

Give me a little more info to tell for sure. Tell me the TDS in ppm for:
1. your tap water
2. water from your RO
3. water from your DI.

Blue

[LittleDevil]

If the water coming out of your RO is 200, your RO membrane is shot and your new DI resin is cleaning up 200 ppm water and will be exhausted in short order.

I see your point, how do I check and see if my membrane is bad? But I got that number before I change any of my filters.
The water out of my tap is around 250. My RO unit and Di filter is all in the same unit so I dont think I can check then individually? or can I?
I have only had the RO unit for about 1 year, I thought the membranes where supposed to last 3-5 year depening on how much you used them.
Thanks for the help,
MAtt

My RO unit is reading 40, thats after all the filters including the DI

[Unresistible Blue]

40 after the DI?? Hmm. Not good. Something is wrong.

Your RO and DI are in the same unit? Again, Hmm. Can't imagine that. Can you post a picture?

Does your RO unit look something like this one from Aquatic Reef Systems? The water flows through the far right hand housing first (sediment cartridge), then to the center housing (carbon block cartridge), then the the horizontal housing above (RO), then the vertical housing on the left (DI). BTW, the sediment cartridge and carbon block cartridge don't do anything to reduce TDS levels that you'd notice on your meter.

We need to get to the water being produced by the RO and check the TDS level in that water.

Look at your RO housing. One end of it unscrews, the other end doesn't. From the end that doesn't, there are two tubes exiting the housing. One is near the edge of the housing (this is the waste line). One is nearer the center of the end - this is the RO product water you want to test with your TDS meter. If you need to, unhook the plastic tubing to get a sample.

I'm guessing your RO membrane is toast, and because it wasn't doing its job, you've already burned through your new DI resin.

So we now know:
Tap: 250 ppm
After RO: ?
After DI: 40 ppm

Blue

[LittleDevil]

Yes my RO unit looks just like that one. So I did what you said and un-hooked the line coming from the end, right next to the drain line. I filled a bowl of water and it is reading 90.

When I bought the new DI filter, I bought the one that changes color. I see no noticeable difference. The new sediment filter is already changing its color though??? 5 micron.
Thanks, what should I do now?
MAtt

[tendar]

From the way it sounds your membrane is worn out. I wear mine in less than year but then my tap water is horrible it reads anywhere from 600-800 ppm out of the tap.
Once my reading get over 30 I replace the filters except membrane and replace membrane every other time.

Do you have a flush kit?
They are only $15 and really help extend the life of your membrane. You can call ARS and they are very helpfull and will hock you up with what you need and diagnose any problems you may be having with you unit.

[snoopdog]

All of the above ^^^ is correct. Also might want to add some scarlet hermits and some emerald crabs to help take care of the hair algae. They will stop the algae but not the source.

[Unresistible Blue]

Matt - 90 after the RO? Yes - sounds like your membrane is shot.

But I'm a little confused - you said your DI wasn't changing the TDS reading? If that's so, then your DI resin is exhausted as well. If your resin is new, either you got a bad batch of resin, or your meter is malfunctioning.

I've got the parts you need for a flush kit if you don't have one - c
cheaper than $15!

Suggest your next sediment filter be a 1 micron pore size, rather than 5 micron.

Blue