210gallon

[vindell]

HEY GUY'S AND GALS, nEW TO YOUR SITE, BEEN RUNNING A 210 RR OCEANIC. LOOKING FOR SOME ADVICE. NOT A NEWBEE, HOWEVER THIS TANK HAS NEVER SEEM TO RUN RIGHT. BOUGHT IT ON CRAIGSLIST A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS AGO. HAVE RUN SEVERAL REEFS WITH OUTSTANDING RESULTS. SET THIS TANK UP AFTER A 150 REEF BLEW IN THE HOUSE ( 150 GALLAONS OF SALT IN THE HOUSE, WHAT A MESS, LOST ALOT OF GREAT CORALS, HAD THEY BEEN IN THE OCEAN, THEY'D STILL BE AROUND ! DECIDED TO GO AFRICANS. THE PROBLEM I'M HAVING IS ALGAE ON ALL THE ROCKS. THE TANK IS SITUATED IN A ROOM THAT RECEIVES ALOT OF LIGHT. FIGURED OUT THAT PROBLEM ABOUT A WEEK AGO, THE WINDOWS HAVE FILM NOW THAT ALLOWS NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT. SELL VEHICLES FOR A LIVING, NEVER HOME !
HAD A UNUASUAL EVENING AT HOME, IN OFFICE WHERE TANK IS, AND BAM, THERE IS A OCTAGON WINDOW IN THE WALL, AND IT I####TING ANOTHER DOOR IN THE OFFICE AND I SEE A 1 FOOT BEAM OF LIGHT ON TANK, CORRECT THAT BY FILMILG THAT WINDOW. A WEEK OR TWO HAS PASSED, THOUGHT I WAS OUT OF THE WOODS, BAM ALGE HAS COME BACK. RUNNING A AUQUA CLEAR 500 GPH, A PROCLEAR 125 & 175
WET DRY ON TANK, WITH A EQUILIZER BAR INSTALLED BETWEEN THE BOTH. A EHEIM PUMPIN THE 175 ( 600 GPH ? ON THE LIGHT SIDE ) &
A MAG 7 IN THE OTHER. FELT RUNNING AS MECHANICAL. WEEKLY WATER CHANGES. WAS USING A DECLORINATOR SINCE SET UP. RECENTLY LEARNED NOT TO. I WAS TOLD AFRICANS LIKE THE HARD WATER IT WAS'NT NEEDED IF THE RIGHT PRECAUTIONS WERE TAKEN. I REALIZE THAT BENIFICIAL BACTERIA ARE GOOD. RUNNING 4 40 WATT LIGHTS OVER TANK FOR 8 HOURS A DAY. HAVE TWO MAXI JETS RUNNING ON TIMERS 15 HOURS A DAY. JUST DONT GET IT, WATER SUPPLY IS OK, HAVE A 25 FOR MY KID, GOLDFISH OF ALL DIRTY CREATURES, WITH A 305 FLUVAL, AND THE TANK RUNS FINE. CRYSTAL CLEAR NO ALGAE. ANY SUGGESTIONS ??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi Vindell,

Here's my spiel on algae that will hopefully help you understand the problem

Algae like any other plant needs 3 things to live, CO2, food and light. You'll have lights in the tank and the tank may also receive direct sunlight so this gives one factor, the fish's poop effectivley becomes compost and gives food to the plants and there is always some CO2 in the water. If you have any body of water where you have all of these things then you will get some algae growth. However these are also the same things which make any live plants in your tank grow. Every plant and type of algae has different requirements for the amount of CO2 food and light they need. You can quantify this for the purposes of explanation as follows (the quantification isn't real, just representative to help explain). If your water naturally has 10 parts of co2, food and light, and the plants that you have need to use 10 parts of co2, 7 parts of food and 6 of light, once they've used this up they then can't make use of the left over food and light because there is no CO2 to go with it, this is where the algae comes in, it's much less demanding than the plants and as such can use up the remaining food and light with only trace amounts of CO2 and as such you'll get algae growth.

Essentially when people go for live plants in their tanks they aim for one of two methods, either 'high tech' which is where they add CO2, food and lights in such large quantities that the plants have everything they could possibly need and more, the plants then outcompete the algae and as such you just get good fast plant growth and very little algae. the second option 'low tech' is where you aim for the right balance of co2, food and light but only in relativley small quantities, the plants use it all up, grow relativley slowly but because you've not got 'left overs' the algae can't really take hold.

Now realistically, we all get some algae, you just need to scrub the glass to remove it or pull it out depending on the species of algae. However if you are getting a lot of algae growth then you need to adjust the balance of CO2, food and light getting to your tank so that you achieve a better balance and the plants get it rather than the algae. It's not an exact science as there's a lot of different factors, you generally just have to tinker until the algae dies back.

Just a quick note though, if you type all in capitals on a forum not only is it hard to read but it's also construed as shouting so some people will think you're being rude if you type like that. Not having a go or anything just thought I'd mention it so you know for next time.

 

[waterdrop]

vindell,

MW has given you a bit of one of her wonderful explanations. This one shows you a glimpse of the details in the algae skill set.

My own simplification (probably over-simplification, lol!), in case it helps any, is that, disregarding fish, the "planted tank" has 4 skill sets, each taking time to learn and get better at:

1) Lighting skill set
2) Plant Nutrition skill set
3) CO2 skill set
4) Algae skill set

My own take is that the Algae skill set is the most difficult, as it depends on understanding and knowing a bit about how to manipulate the other three within a given tank setup. Miss Wiggles explanation gives you a nice look into the kinds of things you have to think about in skill set number 4 above.

I just offer this in case it helps a little, sort of like seeing a roadmap before a trip...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[vindell]

vindell,

MW has given you a bit of one of her wonderful explanations. This one shows you a glimpse of the details in the algae skill set.

My own simplification (probably over-simplification, lol!), in case it helps any, is that, disregarding fish, the "planted tank" has 4 skill sets, each taking time to learn and get better at:

1) Lighting skill set
2) Plant Nutrition skill set
3) CO2 skill set
4) Algae skill set

My own take is that the Algae skill set is the most difficult, as it depends on understanding and knowing a bit about how to manipulate the other three within a given tank setup. Miss Wiggles explanation gives you a nice look into the kinds of things you have to think about in skill set number 4 above.

I just offer this in case it helps a little, sort of like seeing a roadmap before a trip...

~~waterdrop~~

Sorry for the caps, lol , it doas appear that im screamin