canadawest
03-02-2007, 07:30 AM
Well I finally was getting to the end of my rope....
Brief history... had a 108gal tank setup for 5 years, stopped taking proper care of it during the last year, it became a ridiculous hair algae cesspool with not a single coral left and only fish and a tiny few clean-up crew remaining... :( I always used RO/DI water, but only had Berlin skimmer (w/ MAG 7 and larger air tubing) and did very infrequent water changes.
Fast forward to 1 year ago... I buy a 72gal bowfront reef-ready tank with sump, and tear down the old tank and sell. All 150lbs or so of green fuzzy live rock gets put out on the rear deck to sit in the warm sun for a week to bleach away to death all of that f#$@ckn algae. The the LR (now dead) was scrubbed with a stiff brush and RO water, then put into the dishwasher (no detergent of course) and run for a complete disinfecting cycle. Brand new sand and RO/DI water is put into new 72gal bow to cycle with now sterilized rock (now essentially base rock) for 1 week before fish get transferred (no losses!!!). :) I have a new found love of the hobby again!
Fast forward to 2 months ago... new outbreak of algae (hair, film, etc) begins... Coraline has not taken hold after 9 months, and still essentially white rock is now turning a familiar green mess. Newly purchased Acros are now bleaching and being overtaken by green hair and brown algaes. I am now deciding if I want to deal with a new algae catastrophe or not, but I really do love the fish in there, some of which I've had for almost 6 years!!! :( So I finally get around to putting a 65W 50/50 PC lamp over my sump and add some chaeto and caulerpa to the refugium in the sump as well as attempt to raise ALK, reduce photoperiod a bit, and restrict feedings to every other day.
Fast forward to 1 week ago....No change in algae, it's the same if not worse. It's pretty much everywhere now including glass, powerheads, and the oh-so-very green rocks despite the best efforts of several dozen or so snails, hermits, and a tuxedo urchin and red starfish (except the sand which is kept quite clean by a healty tiger-tail cuke). So I decide to make one final stand before perhaps giving up on hobby (ala EmilyB). I go to Ocean Aquatics with the intent of buying a Phosban Reactor and some phosphate media (which I do) when good karma finds that a Sea Hare has just been returned from active duty in another tank! :biggrin:
So I take home the new Phosban Reactor, fill it with a container of Phosban media and plumb it into the return line while the Sea Hare is drip aclimating. I also drop in a Chemi-Pure bag for good measure.
Fast forward to today.... The Phosban Reactor has been running for a week now, and the Sea Hare is an algae eating MACHINE!!! Every night I go flashlight hunting for the so-ugly-he's-cute Sea Hare to watch him go postal on any algae he mows through. The tank looks AMAZING compared to a week ago and I suspect will be hair algae free in another week or two!
Now I did also reduce the lighting period (from 12 hours actinic/8 hours MH to 11 hours actinic/6.5 hours MH), add a bag of Chemi-Pure, do bi-weekly 10gal water changes, reduce feeding to every other day, etc, but I truly didn't see any major change until the Phosban Reactor and Sea Hare introduction.
I will now be a full-time Phosban Reactor user, and when the Sea Hare is done decimating the algae, he'll go back to OA to hopefully find a new home for an algae smorg.
Moral of this LONG story... if you are at the end of your rope with algae, get yourself a Phosban Reactor, some quality Phosphate media, and if you can find one, a Sea Hare. This duo in combination with other good maintenance practises like a few water changes, perhaps a refugium with macro algae, and decent stability including raising ALK is truly a 1-2 punch against that nasty algae battle.
Wish I had introduced a Phosban Reactor many moons ago, I might not have ever made it to the dispair I faced a week or two ago, but better late than never right? ;)
I'm thrilled to have re-kindled my passion for the hobby once again!
-----------
For reference to those who will undoubtedly want to point causal fingers:
2x95W VHO Actinics (6 months old - Icecap Ballast - 11 hours)
1x250W MH lamp (6 months old - Icecap Ballast - 7 hours)
Monthly 10gal water changes (Kent Mix)
ALK - 9-10 dKH, Ca 300, Salinity 1.025, Temp 80-83F
Flow - Tunze 6060, Maxijet 900 w/ Hydor, MiniJet, MAG 9.5 return (coming
soon - Koralia 4 powerhead)
Berlin Turbo HO Skimmer (in sump) w/ MAG 7 & larger size air tubing
65W PC 50/50 over sump - reverse photoperiod (13 hours)
Refugium in middle of sump, fine sandbed, rubble rock, cheato and other macros
Phosban Reactor 150 w/ Phosban Media (plumbed into return, dialed for low flow)
Brief history... had a 108gal tank setup for 5 years, stopped taking proper care of it during the last year, it became a ridiculous hair algae cesspool with not a single coral left and only fish and a tiny few clean-up crew remaining... :( I always used RO/DI water, but only had Berlin skimmer (w/ MAG 7 and larger air tubing) and did very infrequent water changes.
Fast forward to 1 year ago... I buy a 72gal bowfront reef-ready tank with sump, and tear down the old tank and sell. All 150lbs or so of green fuzzy live rock gets put out on the rear deck to sit in the warm sun for a week to bleach away to death all of that f#$@ckn algae. The the LR (now dead) was scrubbed with a stiff brush and RO water, then put into the dishwasher (no detergent of course) and run for a complete disinfecting cycle. Brand new sand and RO/DI water is put into new 72gal bow to cycle with now sterilized rock (now essentially base rock) for 1 week before fish get transferred (no losses!!!). :) I have a new found love of the hobby again!
Fast forward to 2 months ago... new outbreak of algae (hair, film, etc) begins... Coraline has not taken hold after 9 months, and still essentially white rock is now turning a familiar green mess. Newly purchased Acros are now bleaching and being overtaken by green hair and brown algaes. I am now deciding if I want to deal with a new algae catastrophe or not, but I really do love the fish in there, some of which I've had for almost 6 years!!! :( So I finally get around to putting a 65W 50/50 PC lamp over my sump and add some chaeto and caulerpa to the refugium in the sump as well as attempt to raise ALK, reduce photoperiod a bit, and restrict feedings to every other day.
Fast forward to 1 week ago....No change in algae, it's the same if not worse. It's pretty much everywhere now including glass, powerheads, and the oh-so-very green rocks despite the best efforts of several dozen or so snails, hermits, and a tuxedo urchin and red starfish (except the sand which is kept quite clean by a healty tiger-tail cuke). So I decide to make one final stand before perhaps giving up on hobby (ala EmilyB). I go to Ocean Aquatics with the intent of buying a Phosban Reactor and some phosphate media (which I do) when good karma finds that a Sea Hare has just been returned from active duty in another tank! :biggrin:
So I take home the new Phosban Reactor, fill it with a container of Phosban media and plumb it into the return line while the Sea Hare is drip aclimating. I also drop in a Chemi-Pure bag for good measure.
Fast forward to today.... The Phosban Reactor has been running for a week now, and the Sea Hare is an algae eating MACHINE!!! Every night I go flashlight hunting for the so-ugly-he's-cute Sea Hare to watch him go postal on any algae he mows through. The tank looks AMAZING compared to a week ago and I suspect will be hair algae free in another week or two!
Now I did also reduce the lighting period (from 12 hours actinic/8 hours MH to 11 hours actinic/6.5 hours MH), add a bag of Chemi-Pure, do bi-weekly 10gal water changes, reduce feeding to every other day, etc, but I truly didn't see any major change until the Phosban Reactor and Sea Hare introduction.
I will now be a full-time Phosban Reactor user, and when the Sea Hare is done decimating the algae, he'll go back to OA to hopefully find a new home for an algae smorg.
Moral of this LONG story... if you are at the end of your rope with algae, get yourself a Phosban Reactor, some quality Phosphate media, and if you can find one, a Sea Hare. This duo in combination with other good maintenance practises like a few water changes, perhaps a refugium with macro algae, and decent stability including raising ALK is truly a 1-2 punch against that nasty algae battle.
Wish I had introduced a Phosban Reactor many moons ago, I might not have ever made it to the dispair I faced a week or two ago, but better late than never right? ;)
I'm thrilled to have re-kindled my passion for the hobby once again!
-----------
For reference to those who will undoubtedly want to point causal fingers:
2x95W VHO Actinics (6 months old - Icecap Ballast - 11 hours)
1x250W MH lamp (6 months old - Icecap Ballast - 7 hours)
Monthly 10gal water changes (Kent Mix)
ALK - 9-10 dKH, Ca 300, Salinity 1.025, Temp 80-83F
Flow - Tunze 6060, Maxijet 900 w/ Hydor, MiniJet, MAG 9.5 return (coming
soon - Koralia 4 powerhead)
Berlin Turbo HO Skimmer (in sump) w/ MAG 7 & larger size air tubing
65W PC 50/50 over sump - reverse photoperiod (13 hours)
Refugium in middle of sump, fine sandbed, rubble rock, cheato and other macros
Phosban Reactor 150 w/ Phosban Media (plumbed into return, dialed for low flow)