Save my tank!

[jason604]

I don't think lights is my only problems cuz my tank was beautiful before under the same light.

[Galizio]

Originally Posted by jason604

Perfect! I'm gonna try another total black out first if it fails I'll grab this from u for sure


Thinking about ordering these lights. What u guys think http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2pcs-New165W-...item2c7ab3f7ab

Ok, no problem, let me know, hopefully you can get the algae under control without using algae fix....
Those lights looks good and a good price, I always look at those on eBay, I wonder if they are any good.....

[jason604]

Originally Posted by Galizio

Ok, no problem, let me know, hopefully you can get the algae under control without using algae fix....
Those lights looks good and a good price, I always look at those on eBay, I wonder if they are any good.....

Yea I'm debating between these and the evergrows but u can't beat around $200 for 2 fixtures

[BubblesUp]

New light would likely make it worse. Just sayin' from recent experience. I got a piece with cyano on it early this year and learned that chemiclean did a good job. It also affected the hair algae. I'm also in the later stages of a Kent Tech M treatment currently which, although slow, is showing good signs of cleaning the whole tank. I'll be doing another chemiclean treatment later today.

As a gardener, know your enemy: http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide has been helpful in figuring out which ones I have and how to deal with them. In retrospect, I should have been more aggressive early-on with the toothbrush. A cheapo submersible battery toothbrush would have been perfect, if there is such a thing. I had the misfortune of being poisoned by a neighbour with an organophosphate and ended up in VGH almost dead. While I was there, my mother decided she was going to feed the seahorses. With her hand tremors and turkey baster overfeeding combined with the death of a softball sized Sea Hare led to a massive hair algae outbreak. Even though I was sent home unable to walk, I immediately did a 50% WC followed by 25% later in the day and another 50% the next day. The deep sand bed held quite a bit of crud. A few months later, the tank is virtually algae free and the macros are doing a good job of stealing what's left of nutrients from the hair. When I installed my new LED, I turned it too high and lost a Monti. The hair algae has also been quite robust. I've been regularly doing the toothbrush scrub and mag-float scrape with great filtration from a canister with UV.

I hope you do get a handle on it. It took me some time but I have won the battle.

[Galizio]

I did not know Rowa could be that much of a b****, always learning something new....

[Reef Pilot]

Well, it's your tank, so do what you like. But raising P04 is certainly not the route I would go.

If low P04 is so bad, then explain to me why ocean water is typically less than .03 ppm and as low as .005. Here is what Randy Holmes-Farley has to say about that. Do you think he is wrong!??
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php#1

[jason604]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Well, it's your tank, so do what you like. But raising P04 is certainly not the route I would go.

If low P04 is so bad, then explain to me why ocean water is typically less than .03 ppm and as low as .005. Here is what Randy Holmes-Farley has to say about that. Do you think he is wrong!??
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php#1

I don't think it's wrong but my problem was stripping water of p04 way too fast that I believe crashed my tank

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by jason604

I don't think it's wrong but my problem was stripping water of p04 way too fast that I believe crashed my tank

I thought you said your P04 was already zero, so how could you be stripping P04 from that??

Are you sure it was zero? Are you using a Hanna Checker? The color test kits will show zero long before the Hanna. The color kits can show zero while the Hanna will show .1 or higher. Then indeed you have to be careful not to lower too fast. But you still want to lower it, just more slowly.

[jason604]

Bought another sea hare to eat some long hair algae but seems like it's just going for the film algae again! Dammit. Checked my alk and it's at 10.2kh. Never been this high is it because a majority of my sps is dead so it's raising? Is this causing more sps to die cuz it's still happening. Guess I should lower my alk doser

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Despite some seeming evidence, I am skeptical about low P04 linked to STN and RTN of SPS. I think it is more the rapid change in parameters especially KH that SPS don't like.

I say this, because my SPS grew fastest (and I mean really fast) and had the best colour when my P04 and N03 were the lowest. When I say low, my P04 usually measured zero with my Hanna checker (only occasionally up to .02 to .04). Then last spring due to some issues (mistakes) it went up to 0.10 and my N03 to 30 ppm. My SPS then lost some colour and growth drastically slowed. But then in the summer I had another problem where my KH dropped to 5 (doser plugged), and that was a fatal blow to some of my SPS. It started with some STN and burnt tips on my SPS, and turned to full out RTN on some others. This continued for a while even after correcting my KH and bringing my P04 and N03 back down. But the good news now, a few months later, everything is turning good again, with SPS colour and growth returning. Even with some of my badly injured SPS (which I had cut off the dead parts) I have signs of life and new growth again.

So I think the big thing with SPS is they don't like change. And once they become unhappy, it takes them a while to recover. Get your parameters in check, and keep them stable, and with a bit of time, things should recover. But if you keep tinkering and changing things, you may continue to have problems. Anyway, that's my theory,... FWIW.

+1 to all of this. I have had identical experiences. And once a coral is angry enough you're almost better off tossing it and replacing it for how long it will take to recover