Algae Problems

[enjoiskater158]

about 5 months ago I set up a 30 gallon tank with 40 lbs of LR and 20 lbs of live sand. I have this brown algae that covers my LR and sand. i have been shiponing it out for about a month now and in about 3 days its all back. i have been using tap water which comes from my well in the backyard and my dad tells me that it should be fine for the tank, but im starting to think this might be the reason that the algae won't go away. I'm going to do about 6 or 7 gallon water changes every week for a month or so using distilled water and see if that works if anyone has any suggestions that would be great thanks in advanced

tank stats

ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 5
pH - 8.2
SG - 1.023

 

[SkiFletch]

That is Cyanobactiera, 100% sure. The combination of slime appearance and rust/purple color combination give it away. Add that to the tank's age and the growth rate and thats a 100% sure diagnosis. Check your water and your supply for phoshates for sure and report back

 

[enjoiskater158]

thanks ill have to go to my LFS tomorrow and pick up a phospate test kit I havn't had extra money to pick one up yet

 

[Wave Ace]

i have been using tap water which comes from my well in the backyard and my dad tells me that it should be fine for the tank,

Your dad is wroung

Get some OR water from your LFS and also some phoshate renover

 

[enjoiskater158]

my LFS doesnt sell RO water they just have fish and some corals would distilled water be ok? it was closed today for new years eve but their open tomorrow so ill have to get the stuff tomorrow

 

[enjoiskater158]

The only phosphate removal they had at my LFS was Phos-Zorb i was told to use rowphos or something but they didnt have it would the phos-zorb be ok and the phosphate test kit turns yellow when its supposed to turn light green to dark blue

 

[SkiFletch]

Is the Phos Zorb a white compound?

 

[enjoiskater158]

yeah, and its in a little white bag

 

[SkiFletch]

White ceramic based phosphate removers work for sure, but they exhaust themselves within a week and run the risk of leeching phosphates back into the aquarium when they're exhausted. Longterm its not a very convenient or economical solution, but if you have the stuff and can't take it back, there's no harm in using it

 

[enjoiskater158]

should i take it out after about a week than?
is there any other type of phosphate remover that doesnt release phosphate back into the water

 

[JaminRat]

I've heard good things about Phos-zorb. I would recommend keeping a close eye on your phosphate level and as soon as you notice an increase change the stuff. The leaflet says it'll last 3-6 weeks.

 

[SkiFletch]

I've heard good things about Phos-zorb. I would recommend keeping a close eye on your phosphate level and as soon as you notice an increase change the stuff. The leaflet says it'll last 3-6 weeks.

Problem is, when it first starts leeching phosphates back into the tank he wont be able to detect it because the algae present will gobble it up too fast. There will be less than 0.25ppm of free phosphates at any given moment so the test kit wont know how much is leeching back out.

I too have heard good things about phos-zorb, but never used it myself. Rowaphos I have used and does NOT leech phosphates back into the water. It's really really helped me keep my hair algae levels down since I started using it. Would totally reccomend the stuff.

 

[JaminRat]

I'm also using Rowaphos at the moment but have some Phos-zorb here that I'm going to try. I'm using the last of my Rowaphos at the moment so when thats dead I'll try the Phos-zorb. I'll let you all know what i think once I've tried it

 

[enjoiskater158]

thanks the fish sotres around here dont carry rowaphos, so ill make a trip to thatfishplace this weekend and pick some up there and i did find a LFS abuot 30 mins away that sells RO water so ill be using that from now on. thanks for the help