so will the phosphate remover not take it out?
Grape/red looking Derbesia Algae
- Thread starter audioworx3
- Start date
It will but the nitrite will worsen it. Try and get some Seachem Stability which is a whole lot of nitrifying bacteria
my method may remove some if not all life from your rock, i'm not sure, but its a quicker option imo. i did it to dead rock so i didn't lose anything, if you are worried about your life in your rock go the route of the reactor
what exactly will the reactor do? It sounds like it could generate power for my house 
Firstly a warm welcome to MASA Audioworx ....
In My opinion you need to take a step back..... All the treatments proposed have their merits, but none will ensure long term success, i think you should address some fundamentas first then apply one or multiple of the suggestions (please understand i am not saying none of the suggestions will work, they will remove the algae but in my opinion to keep it away you need to do some change to your system)
1. your sump needs to have a DSB..... this is a layer of sand (I use reggies play sand R20 for 20kg) you sump is set up perfectly for this..... the middle compartment, the sand must be 15-18cm deep. (rem to wash the sand first !!!) the DSB will populate with bacteria (putting LR on top for a few days will help this or get a seed from another reefer) the bacteria will help in the removal of nitrates and nitrites (i am no guru on the chemistry of this though)
2 put a ball of chaeto on top of the DSB.... this is a type of macro algae... a weed if you will. with an energy saving light on top of this, set on a timer for 16 odd hours, the chaeto will grow mad..... essentially eating up all the nitrates and phosphates in the water column, which will help starve the red algae in your DT.
3 IMHO you do not have enough flow in your DT...... from the pics i see you have 2 regular pumps there..... with 400L this is way too little. depending on the corals you want to keep, 20 - 20 times water turn over is the aim...... that means in your case prob at least 2x4000L/h pumps as a min ! I would guess that what happens is that the low flow causes excess food and other S$%t to accumulate in or on the rocks and gravel in your tank... this fuels the algae growth !
4 your substrate looks too course and may be a detritus trap.... removing this SLOWLY as in over a period of weeks should also help.
just my 2c worth ... use it or not
In My opinion you need to take a step back..... All the treatments proposed have their merits, but none will ensure long term success, i think you should address some fundamentas first then apply one or multiple of the suggestions (please understand i am not saying none of the suggestions will work, they will remove the algae but in my opinion to keep it away you need to do some change to your system)
1. your sump needs to have a DSB..... this is a layer of sand (I use reggies play sand R20 for 20kg) you sump is set up perfectly for this..... the middle compartment, the sand must be 15-18cm deep. (rem to wash the sand first !!!) the DSB will populate with bacteria (putting LR on top for a few days will help this or get a seed from another reefer) the bacteria will help in the removal of nitrates and nitrites (i am no guru on the chemistry of this though)
2 put a ball of chaeto on top of the DSB.... this is a type of macro algae... a weed if you will. with an energy saving light on top of this, set on a timer for 16 odd hours, the chaeto will grow mad..... essentially eating up all the nitrates and phosphates in the water column, which will help starve the red algae in your DT.
3 IMHO you do not have enough flow in your DT...... from the pics i see you have 2 regular pumps there..... with 400L this is way too little. depending on the corals you want to keep, 20 - 20 times water turn over is the aim...... that means in your case prob at least 2x4000L/h pumps as a min ! I would guess that what happens is that the low flow causes excess food and other S$%t to accumulate in or on the rocks and gravel in your tank... this fuels the algae growth !
4 your substrate looks too course and may be a detritus trap.... removing this SLOWLY as in over a period of weeks should also help.
just my 2c worth ... use it or not
Firstly a warm welcome to MASA Audioworx ....
In My opinion you need to take a step back..... All the treatments proposed have their merits, but none will ensure long term success, i think you should address some fundamentas first then apply one or multiple of the suggestions (please understand i am not saying none of the suggestions will work, they will remove the algae but in my opinion to keep it away you need to do some change to your system)
1. your sump needs to have a DSB..... this is a layer of sand (I use reggies play sand R20 for 20kg) you sump is set up perfectly for this..... the middle compartment, the sand must be 15-18cm deep. (rem to wash the sand first !!!) the DSB will populate with bacteria (putting LR on top for a few days will help this or get a seed from another reefer) the bacteria will help in the removal of nitrates and nitrites (i am no guru on the chemistry of this though)
2 put a ball of chaeto on top of the DSB.... this is a type of macro algae... a weed if you will. with an energy saving light on top of this, set on a timer for 16 odd hours, the chaeto will grow mad..... essentially eating up all the nitrates and phosphates in the water column, which will help starve the red algae in your DT.
3 IMHO you do not have enough flow in your DT...... from the pics i see you have 2 regular pumps there..... with 400L this is way too little. depending on the corals you want to keep, 20 - 20 times water turn over is the aim...... that means in your case prob at least 2x4000L/h pumps as a min ! I would guess that what happens is that the low flow causes excess food and other S$%t to accumulate in or on the rocks and gravel in your tank... this fuels the algae growth !
4 your substrate looks too course and may be a detritus trap.... removing this SLOWLY as in over a period of weeks should also help.
just my 2c worth ... use it or not
i hear you out with having a filtration story in the sump, i spoke to the guy who helped me set it up. he says i must not add anything to the sump.
Have you got some pictures of your setup i could maybe look thru?
ok i spoke to somebody at the oceanaruim, he says its the top up water thats mineral enriched hence causing the algae to flourish!
hi suggestion is 10% or more water changes once a week.
Does this sound right?
With the ro water do i have to add salt?
hi suggestion is 10% or more water changes once a week.
Does this sound right?
With the ro water do i have to add salt?
Look up "neils 1.2m reef" under members systems and setups, large tanks.....
I would suggest some reading through MASA, everything i have suggested is tried and tested.....
The sump is the lungs of your system, the algea is a good indication that something is not working....... IMHO you sump and flow
As far as top up, yes that is another possibility .... are you using tap water or RO water. Top Up water should never have salt added to it, top up water is used only to replace evaporated water, as salt does not evaporate, adding salt would push the SG up too High !!!
in terms of water changes if i were so close to the ocean, NSW would be my fish option !
hey audio welcome bro.
fish waste etc is decayed into ammonia then from ammonia the bacteria in the rocks etc convert it to nitrite and from nitrite further bacteria in the oxygenated areas of the rocks convert it to nitrate,then BACTERIA IN OXYGEN POOR WATER convert the nitrate into free nitrogen which is harmlessly released back to the atmosphere.
now your problem is caused by too high nitrite readings and tony has confirmed that your type of algae is normally as a result of nitrites.
FISH POOH(WASTE FOOD ETC) - AMMONIA - NITRITE - NITRATE-Free nitrogen.
Now it becomes apparent from this that you need more nitrite to nitrate converting bacteria,so i would suggest you get more live lock and add some stability or any bacteria from somone elses mature system or even some ocean water....
fish waste etc is decayed into ammonia then from ammonia the bacteria in the rocks etc convert it to nitrite and from nitrite further bacteria in the oxygenated areas of the rocks convert it to nitrate,then BACTERIA IN OXYGEN POOR WATER convert the nitrate into free nitrogen which is harmlessly released back to the atmosphere.
now your problem is caused by too high nitrite readings and tony has confirmed that your type of algae is normally as a result of nitrites.
FISH POOH(WASTE FOOD ETC) - AMMONIA - NITRITE - NITRATE-Free nitrogen.
Now it becomes apparent from this that you need more nitrite to nitrate converting bacteria,so i would suggest you get more live lock and add some stability or any bacteria from somone elses mature system or even some ocean water....