Is it safe to use water polishing filter on a reef tank?

[Kris von Mach]

Hello,

I have setup a reef tank two months ago and I am very new to salt
water tanks. I have kept fresh water tanks and fish for over 15 years.

My question is, is it safe to use a water polishing filter like System
1 Pressure Filter or some sort of other diotom filter in a reef tank?
Or will it remove stuff from the water that the fish, corals, and
other organisms need?

The reason I ask is, I have followed the step-by-step instructions on
a successful reef tank setup and two days ago my crystal clear water
turned hazy/cloudy green. And I haven't even added fish yet!

Here are the steps I followed:

I got a 46gallon tank.
Custom Sea Life Power Compact hood.
Tropic Martin salt.
48# of live rock.

Water I have used was top water filtered through a pretty high quality
water filter and mixed salt to 1.025 gravity.

I had the lights turn on for 12hours each day.

I have waited 4 weeks.

Lots of algae grew on rocks and aquarium, but water was crystal clear.

I have added a prizim pro deluxe skimmer and various snails and crabs.

I have waited 2 weeks.

All the algae was eaten, and the tank looked really nice already.

I have performed 25% water change.

And added four corals, very basic ones, Button Polyp, Yellow Colony
Polyp, Hairy Mushroom Coral, and Bullseye Mushroom coral.

I have waited two weeks.

And now my water is hazy/cloudy green. (At this step I was suppose to
add aquacultered corals that are much nicer.)

So is this normal? Should I just add additional corals? Or should I
take care of the green water problem first?

Any suggestions are very much appreciated, since this is my first time
setting up a reef tank, it's very much a learning experience for me.

Please respond to the newsgroup as I don't use the email address used
since I just get spam there...
__
Kris.

[Dragon Slayer]

sounds like your using the good ole "dr foster/smith" method of a
"successful reef" which is a load of it if I might say so.

they have you rush into things way to fast and add entirely to many fish to
such a small tank. its best to read here as well as reefcentral.com and
learn more about marine reef keeping in general before you proceed forward.

as for your question, yes you can use the filter, it does/will remove things
from the water that are welcomed in a reef environment but its not going to
disrupt your system to any great degree.

the green is most likely an algae bloom and will clear and go away in time.
but a water change wouldn't hurt at all, and your water filter I hope is RO
and for reef its best to go with RO/DI. (reverse osmosis deionized) it will
help drematicaly with algae problems.

have a little more patients and slow down quite a bit with the tank and you
and your tank will be happier that you did.

hope to have helped.
kc

"Kris von Mach" > wrote in message
om...
> Hello,
>
> I have setup a reef tank two months ago and I am very new to salt
> water tanks. I have kept fresh water tanks and fish for over 15 years.
>
> My question is, is it safe to use a water polishing filter like System
> 1 Pressure Filter or some sort of other diotom filter in a reef tank?
> Or will it remove stuff from the water that the fish, corals, and
> other organisms need?
>
> The reason I ask is, I have followed the step-by-step instructions on
> a successful reef tank setup and two days ago my crystal clear water
> turned hazy/cloudy green. And I haven't even added fish yet!
>
> Here are the steps I followed:
>
> I got a 46gallon tank.
> Custom Sea Life Power Compact hood.
> Tropic Martin salt.
> 48# of live rock.
>
> Water I have used was top water filtered through a pretty high quality
> water filter and mixed salt to 1.025 gravity.
>
> I had the lights turn on for 12hours each day.
>
> I have waited 4 weeks.
>
> Lots of algae grew on rocks and aquarium, but water was crystal clear.
>
> I have added a prizim pro deluxe skimmer and various snails and crabs.
>
> I have waited 2 weeks.
>
> All the algae was eaten, and the tank looked really nice already.
>
> I have performed 25% water change.
>
> And added four corals, very basic ones, Button Polyp, Yellow Colony
> Polyp, Hairy Mushroom Coral, and Bullseye Mushroom coral.
>
> I have waited two weeks.
>
> And now my water is hazy/cloudy green. (At this step I was suppose to
> add aquacultered corals that are much nicer.)
>
> So is this normal? Should I just add additional corals? Or should I
> take care of the green water problem first?
>
> Any suggestions are very much appreciated, since this is my first time
> setting up a reef tank, it's very much a learning experience for me.
>
> Please respond to the newsgroup as I don't use the email address used
> since I just get spam there...
> __
> Kris.

[Harald]

Your leaving a decent amount of time between additions, however, you didn't
describe how you cycled the tank, and if you have any substrate.

As far as the discoloured water, yes, it is an algae bloom. Your nitrates
probably went a bit high, and with the lights on, the algae went crazy. I
had the same thing happen to me last year, 10 months into my first tank. I
solved it by doing several things:
1. 10% water changes every other day for 2 weeks
2. turned off the lights(stormy weather :)) for a week
3. added carbon and filter floss to my cannister and ran that for 2
weeks.

These things, in combination, cleared the water in the tank. I'm running my
second tank now, which is almost 3 months old. I moved all the stuff from my
55 to my new 130, so my cycle was minimal. I did however, have a bit of a
cloudiness problem recently in my new tank. I cleared it by adding a magnum
water polisher to the 1" intake of my QuietOne pump. I left it on for 24
hours, took it out for 24 hours and cleaned it, then put it back for another
24 hours. Again, my water cleared completely. Of course, this cloudiness was
based more on dirt stirred up by my clown then an algae bloom.

When you have an algae bloom, generally the problem is high nitrates coupled
with too much light. So, adding a filter, cutting back on the lights, and a
water change should take care of it.

RO/DI water is not a necessity. I don't use it, but then, here in BC, the
water is very soft, and trace elements are not an issue. All I add to my
water is a conditioner to take care of the chlorine. Have your tapwater
tested, and if it is high in nitrates/phosphates, etc, then you may have to
go and use RO or RO/DI water. But don't spend the money unless you have too.

hth

--
Harald

[wolfhedd]

Harald, sounds like i have a similar probolem. i am about 10 mos into a
cycle, and the hair algae is immense. i do water changes about 5-10 gals
/week . my water conditions are nitrates-200ppb (0.2ppm) , ph 8.3, calcium
is skyrocketed to 600ppm, ammonia is 0.0, salinity is 1.026 or 1.0255. i
have some diamond activated carbon in the system thats about 3-4 wks old
atleast as well, one dual wood stone protien skimmer, and 2 synthetic foam
filter crap grabbers that get rinsed weekly with either siphoned salt water
or 80 degree sink tap water. I use RO water now, just started two months
ago when i couldnt curb the bad hair algae. i changed the substrate less
than 4 mos ago however from crushed coral, to sugar fine marine sand, about
1/1/2 inches on bottom of 55gal. to let you know at what point the cycle
is, there is just now a green patch showing up in the substrate, meaning
life is taking place, and there is a maroon patch of algae bloom on the
floor thats about 8 inches in diameter, doesnt look like it will be a
problem, just looks like my tank is finally cycling. Now, when i changed
the substrate, i already had the hair algae problem, and infact, thats why i
went to marine sand, and veered from crushed coral, as i suspected that it
would eventually cause the demise of my system. so given that, when i did
the substrate change, i actually pulled out ALL rock, and scrubbed hair
algae off with brush, I NEVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!. after that, I
just started siphoning it off the rocks with every water change, this works
well. but its back as bad as it has even been now, and im thinking thye
only reason is not my water now, but that it is just established and i need
to just pluck the crap and it wont come back. How in the heck am i going to
do this? i am SO tempted to put some of that chemical in there that kills
hair algae, knowing that at this time it may work because my water is
hopefully ok now. Is it possible that my phosphate levels reached a toxic
point, as i used hard tap water for the first 6 months with nothing but
Perfect results, until one day, the hair algae. I will be bringing my water
into the LFS to have the phospate tested, this is the test kit i havent
afforded yet, and am realizing that may be the key, or do you think it may
be more likely that it is just that the hair algae is already established
and i just need to get rid of it?

by the way, i like your stormy weather idea, i just unplugged the light, and
prob wont lug it back in for a week, but will surely miss it!

currently i have a yellow zoanthid polyp farm a big maroon mushroom and a
embryonic flourescent green mushroom, as far as prominent species go, among
a scooter blenny, and a hermit crab. oh and some stony polyps growing on
the zoanthid rock :-) :-) :-)))) makes me VERY happy to see my first stony
polyps in the tank. haha.

wolfhedd
..
,
"Harald" > wrote in message
news:WRYlb.32$EO3.27@clgrps13...
> Your leaving a decent amount of time between additions, however, you
didn't
> describe how you cycled the tank, and if you have any substrate.
>
> As far as the discoloured water, yes, it is an algae bloom. Your nitrates
> probably went a bit high, and with the lights on, the algae went crazy. I
> had the same thing happen to me last year, 10 months into my first tank. I
> solved it by doing several things:
> 1. 10% water changes every other day for 2 weeks
> 2. turned off the lights(stormy weather :)) for a week
> 3. added carbon and filter floss to my cannister and ran that for 2
> weeks.
>
> These things, in combination, cleared the water in the tank. I'm running
my
> second tank now, which is almost 3 months old. I moved all the stuff from
my
> 55 to my new 130, so my cycle was minimal. I did however, have a bit of a
> cloudiness problem recently in my new tank. I cleared it by adding a
magnum
> water polisher to the 1" intake of my QuietOne pump. I left it on for 24
> hours, took it out for 24 hours and cleaned it, then put it back for
another
> 24 hours. Again, my water cleared completely. Of course, this cloudiness
was
> based more on dirt stirred up by my clown then an algae bloom.
>
> When you have an algae bloom, generally the problem is high nitrates
coupled
> with too much light. So, adding a filter, cutting back on the lights, and
a
> water change should take care of it.
>
> RO/DI water is not a necessity. I don't use it, but then, here in BC, the
> water is very soft, and trace elements are not an issue. All I add to my
> water is a conditioner to take care of the chlorine. Have your tapwater
> tested, and if it is high in nitrates/phosphates, etc, then you may have
to
> go and use RO or RO/DI water. But don't spend the money unless you have
too.
>
> hth
>
> --
> Harald
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Wolf,

Take a look at this article, as it might help:

http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

Testing for nitrates and phosphates can be deceptive when you have a lot of GHA
in your tank, because those two may be tied up in the algae and not show up in a
test kit. The algae will feed or be fueled by the stored nitratres/phosphates
and continue their growth endlessly.

Marc


wolfhedd wrote:

> Harald, sounds like i have a similar probolem. i am about 10 mos into a
> cycle, and the hair algae is immense. i do water changes about 5-10 gals
> /week . my water conditions are nitrates-200ppb (0.2ppm) , ph 8.3, calcium
> is skyrocketed to 600ppm, ammonia is 0.0, salinity is 1.026 or 1.0255. i
> have some diamond activated carbon in the system thats about 3-4 wks old
> atleast as well, one dual wood stone protien skimmer, and 2 synthetic foam
> filter crap grabbers that get rinsed weekly with either siphoned salt water
> or 80 degree sink tap water. I use RO water now, just started two months
> ago when i couldnt curb the bad hair algae. i changed the substrate less
> than 4 mos ago however from crushed coral, to sugar fine marine sand, about
> 1/1/2 inches on bottom of 55gal. to let you know at what point the cycle
> is, there is just now a green patch showing up in the substrate, meaning
> life is taking place, and there is a maroon patch of algae bloom on the
> floor thats about 8 inches in diameter, doesnt look like it will be a
> problem, just looks like my tank is finally cycling. Now, when i changed
> the substrate, i already had the hair algae problem, and infact, thats why i
> went to marine sand, and veered from crushed coral, as i suspected that it
> would eventually cause the demise of my system. so given that, when i did
> the substrate change, i actually pulled out ALL rock, and scrubbed hair
> algae off with brush, I NEVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!. after that, I
> just started siphoning it off the rocks with every water change, this works
> well. but its back as bad as it has even been now, and im thinking thye
> only reason is not my water now, but that it is just established and i need
> to just pluck the crap and it wont come back. How in the heck am i going to
> do this? i am SO tempted to put some of that chemical in there that kills
> hair algae, knowing that at this time it may work because my water is
> hopefully ok now. Is it possible that my phosphate levels reached a toxic
> point, as i used hard tap water for the first 6 months with nothing but
> Perfect results, until one day, the hair algae. I will be bringing my water
> into the LFS to have the phospate tested, this is the test kit i havent
> afforded yet, and am realizing that may be the key, or do you think it may
> be more likely that it is just that the hair algae is already established
> and i just need to get rid of it?
>
> by the way, i like your stormy weather idea, i just unplugged the light, and
> prob wont lug it back in for a week, but will surely miss it!
>
> currently i have a yellow zoanthid polyp farm a big maroon mushroom and a
> embryonic flourescent green mushroom, as far as prominent species go, among
> a scooter blenny, and a hermit crab. oh and some stony polyps growing on
> the zoanthid rock :-) :-) :-)))) makes me VERY happy to see my first stony
> polyps in the tank. haha.
>
> wolfhedd
> .
> ,
> "Harald" > wrote in message
> news:WRYlb.32$EO3.27@clgrps13...
> > Your leaving a decent amount of time between additions, however, you
> didn't
> > describe how you cycled the tank, and if you have any substrate.
> >
> > As far as the discoloured water, yes, it is an algae bloom. Your nitrates
> > probably went a bit high, and with the lights on, the algae went crazy. I
> > had the same thing happen to me last year, 10 months into my first tank. I
> > solved it by doing several things:
> > 1. 10% water changes every other day for 2 weeks
> > 2. turned off the lights(stormy weather :)) for a week
> > 3. added carbon and filter floss to my cannister and ran that for 2
> > weeks.
> >
> > These things, in combination, cleared the water in the tank. I'm running
> my
> > second tank now, which is almost 3 months old. I moved all the stuff from
> my
> > 55 to my new 130, so my cycle was minimal. I did however, have a bit of a
> > cloudiness problem recently in my new tank. I cleared it by adding a
> magnum
> > water polisher to the 1" intake of my QuietOne pump. I left it on for 24
> > hours, took it out for 24 hours and cleaned it, then put it back for
> another
> > 24 hours. Again, my water cleared completely. Of course, this cloudiness
> was
> > based more on dirt stirred up by my clown then an algae bloom.
> >
> > When you have an algae bloom, generally the problem is high nitrates
> coupled
> > with too much light. So, adding a filter, cutting back on the lights, and
> a
> > water change should take care of it.
> >
> > RO/DI water is not a necessity. I don't use it, but then, here in BC, the
> > water is very soft, and trace elements are not an issue. All I add to my
> > water is a conditioner to take care of the chlorine. Have your tapwater
> > tested, and if it is high in nitrates/phosphates, etc, then you may have
> to
> > go and use RO or RO/DI water. But don't spend the money unless you have
> too.
> >
> > hth
> >
> > --
> > Harald
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[wolfhedd]

oh marc, thanks for the article, actually i was kinda getting a second
opinion, appreciate your link, thanks much. from what i got from your site
last time is that the water may be good and the hair algae is just
established, so i need to start plucking. dang im dreading that, but guess
its better than scrubbing, lol.

ok nitrates can be locked up iin plants, holy smokes, didnt know that, that
may be the reason for the nitrate drop. it used to be 2.5 ppm, but after i
changed out to marine sand, and let system cycle for 3 mor months, then
removed bio balls, now its down to .2 ppm and hair algae is enjoying living
on new rocks, ones that it is spreading to from original ones, and original
ones look like old mans beard at the present as i havent had right setup for
water change/algae siphon in last 1/12 wks.

also, marc, was thinking of getting that one fish on your site, was it a
foxface? will it eat the algae? no tangs for me till my system is
established, lol. will get another few hermits to add to my one also. this
will help right? oh and i have about a few hundred to several hundred
eraserhead sized snails, but theyre so small that you wonot even notice more
than 20-40 of them across the whole tank at any given time without a trained
eye(in other words its not too many to crowdanything)but should i get a few
BIG Turbo snails also?

also was wondering haralds opinion on that last message too. will keep in
touch with ya guys, appreciate the info. this is new to me(GHA), and highly
invasive.

p.s. have about 1 decent size and 7 small aptasia buddies to that i will
have to contend with soon. will get some shrimp. is now too late?

wolfhedd


"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> Wolf,
>
> Take a look at this article, as it might help:
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html
>
> Testing for nitrates and phosphates can be deceptive when you have a lot
of GHA
> in your tank, because those two may be tied up in the algae and not show
up in a
> test kit. The algae will feed or be fueled by the stored
nitratres/phosphates
> and continue their growth endlessly.
>
> Marc
>
>
> wolfhedd wrote:
>
> > Harald, sounds like i have a similar probolem. i am about 10 mos into a
> > cycle, and the hair algae is immense. i do water changes about 5-10
gals
> > /week . my water conditions are nitrates-200ppb (0.2ppm) , ph 8.3,
calcium
> > is skyrocketed to 600ppm, ammonia is 0.0, salinity is 1.026 or 1.0255.
i
> > have some diamond activated carbon in the system thats about 3-4 wks old
> > atleast as well, one dual wood stone protien skimmer, and 2 synthetic
foam
> > filter crap grabbers that get rinsed weekly with either siphoned salt
water
> > or 80 degree sink tap water. I use RO water now, just started two
months
> > ago when i couldnt curb the bad hair algae. i changed the substrate
less
> > than 4 mos ago however from crushed coral, to sugar fine marine sand,
about
> > 1/1/2 inches on bottom of 55gal. to let you know at what point the
cycle
> > is, there is just now a green patch showing up in the substrate, meaning
> > life is taking place, and there is a maroon patch of algae bloom on the
> > floor thats about 8 inches in diameter, doesnt look like it will be a
> > problem, just looks like my tank is finally cycling. Now, when i
changed
> > the substrate, i already had the hair algae problem, and infact, thats
why i
> > went to marine sand, and veered from crushed coral, as i suspected that
it
> > would eventually cause the demise of my system. so given that, when i
did
> > the substrate change, i actually pulled out ALL rock, and scrubbed hair
> > algae off with brush, I NEVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!. after
that, I
> > just started siphoning it off the rocks with every water change, this
works
> > well. but its back as bad as it has even been now, and im thinking
thye
> > only reason is not my water now, but that it is just established and i
need
> > to just pluck the crap and it wont come back. How in the heck am i
going to
> > do this? i am SO tempted to put some of that chemical in there that
kills
> > hair algae, knowing that at this time it may work because my water is
> > hopefully ok now. Is it possible that my phosphate levels reached a
toxic
> > point, as i used hard tap water for the first 6 months with nothing but
> > Perfect results, until one day, the hair algae. I will be bringing my
water
> > into the LFS to have the phospate tested, this is the test kit i havent
> > afforded yet, and am realizing that may be the key, or do you think it
may
> > be more likely that it is just that the hair algae is already
established
> > and i just need to get rid of it?
> >
> > by the way, i like your stormy weather idea, i just unplugged the light,
and
> > prob wont lug it back in for a week, but will surely miss it!
> >
> > currently i have a yellow zoanthid polyp farm a big maroon mushroom and
a
> > embryonic flourescent green mushroom, as far as prominent species go,
among
> > a scooter blenny, and a hermit crab. oh and some stony polyps growing
on
> > the zoanthid rock :-) :-) :-)))) makes me VERY happy to see my first
stony
> > polyps in the tank. haha.
> >
> > wolfhedd
> > .
> > ,
> > "Harald" > wrote in message
> > news:WRYlb.32$EO3.27@clgrps13...
> > > Your leaving a decent amount of time between additions, however, you
> > didn't
> > > describe how you cycled the tank, and if you have any substrate.
> > >
> > > As far as the discoloured water, yes, it is an algae bloom. Your
nitrates
> > > probably went a bit high, and with the lights on, the algae went
crazy. I
> > > had the same thing happen to me last year, 10 months into my first
tank. I
> > > solved it by doing several things:
> > > 1. 10% water changes every other day for 2 weeks
> > > 2. turned off the lights(stormy weather :)) for a week
> > > 3. added carbon and filter floss to my cannister and ran that for
2
> > > weeks.
> > >
> > > These things, in combination, cleared the water in the tank. I'm
running
> > my
> > > second tank now, which is almost 3 months old. I moved all the stuff
from
> > my
> > > 55 to my new 130, so my cycle was minimal. I did however, have a bit
of a
> > > cloudiness problem recently in my new tank. I cleared it by adding a
> > magnum
> > > water polisher to the 1" intake of my QuietOne pump. I left it on for
24
> > > hours, took it out for 24 hours and cleaned it, then put it back for
> > another
> > > 24 hours. Again, my water cleared completely. Of course, this
cloudiness
> > was
> > > based more on dirt stirred up by my clown then an algae bloom.
> > >
> > > When you have an algae bloom, generally the problem is high nitrates
> > coupled
> > > with too much light. So, adding a filter, cutting back on the lights,
and
> > a
> > > water change should take care of it.
> > >
> > > RO/DI water is not a necessity. I don't use it, but then, here in BC,
the
> > > water is very soft, and trace elements are not an issue. All I add to
my
> > > water is a conditioner to take care of the chlorine. Have your
tapwater
> > > tested, and if it is high in nitrates/phosphates, etc, then you may
have
> > to
> > > go and use RO or RO/DI water. But don't spend the money unless you
have
> > too.
> > >
> > > hth
> > >
> > > --
> > > Harald
> > >
> > >
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Wolf,

read on....

wolfhedd wrote:

> oh marc, thanks for the article, actually i was kinda getting a second
> opinion, appreciate your link, thanks much. from what i got from your site
> last time is that the water may be good and the hair algae is just
> established, so i need to start plucking. dang im dreading that, but guess
> its better than scrubbing, lol.

Scrubbing tends to spread it everywhere, imho.

> ok nitrates can be locked up iin plants, holy smokes, didnt know that, that
> may be the reason for the nitrate drop. it used to be 2.5 ppm, but after i
> changed out to marine sand, and let system cycle for 3 mor months, then
> removed bio balls, now its down to .2 ppm and hair algae is enjoying living
> on new rocks, ones that it is spreading to from original ones, and original
> ones look like old mans beard at the present as i havent had right setup for
> water change/algae siphon in last 1/12 wks.

If you have that much, you need to get to ripping out the bulk of it today.

> also, marc, was thinking of getting that one fish on your site, was it a
> foxface?

I don't nor have I ever had a Foxface. They are venomous, btw. Don't get
stung. Feel free to check my ID page for the fish you might have noted:

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/

> will it eat the algae? no tangs for me till my system is
> established, lol. will get another few hermits to add to my one also. this
> will help right? oh and i have about a few hundred to several hundred
> eraserhead sized snails, but theyre so small that you wonot even notice more
> than 20-40 of them across the whole tank at any given time without a trained
> eye(in other words its not too many to crowdanything)but should i get a few
> BIG Turbo snails also?

A variety of snails is a good idea. Turbo, Trochus, Margarita, etc...

> also was wondering haralds opinion on that last message too. will keep in
> touch with ya guys, appreciate the info. this is new to me(GHA), and highly
> invasive.
>
> p.s. have about 1 decent size and 7 small aptasia buddies to that i will
> have to contend with soon. will get some shrimp. is now too late?

Nope, it is never too late. You may have to kill them with Alk solution or
kalkwasser paste.

Marc



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Harald]

"wolfhedd" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> oh marc, thanks for the article, actually i was kinda getting a second
> opinion, appreciate your link, thanks much. from what i got from your
site
> last time is that the water may be good and the hair algae is just
> established, so i need to start plucking. dang im dreading that, but
guess
> its better than scrubbing, lol.

I had the hair algae problem too, but it wasn't too bad. I did however have
a major aiptasia problem. I ended up taking ALL my rock out, dumping it in
fresh water buckets for a week(outside), scrubbed it all down, left it for
another week in fresh water, did a final rinse, then put the rock into a tub
filled with freshly made salt water and recured it. Everything was dead by
that time, including the aiptasia. I bought a few new pieces of LR for my
new, bigger tank, to help reseed. I now have coralline growing over all my
rock, and with the lawnmower blenny, am keeping the algae on the rocks under
control. I am however, planning on buying a tang, I just haven't decided
what type yet(my kids want me to by a Blue Hippo, they saw Finding Nemo, now
they like that one).

> ok nitrates can be locked up iin plants, holy smokes, didnt know that,
that
> may be the reason for the nitrate drop. it used to be 2.5 ppm, but after
i
> changed out to marine sand, and let system cycle for 3 mor months, then
> removed bio balls, now its down to .2 ppm and hair algae is enjoying
living
> on new rocks, ones that it is spreading to from original ones, and
original
> ones look like old mans beard at the present as i havent had right setup
for
> water change/algae siphon in last 1/12 wks.

Plants grow on nitrates. Check out the fertilizer that you buy for your
lawn, it's heavy in nitrates so that the grass comes through nice & green.

> also, marc, was thinking of getting that one fish on your site, was it a
> foxface? will it eat the algae? no tangs for me till my system is
> established, lol. will get another few hermits to add to my one also.
this
> will help right? oh and i have about a few hundred to several hundred
> eraserhead sized snails, but theyre so small that you wonot even notice
more
> than 20-40 of them across the whole tank at any given time without a
trained
> eye(in other words its not too many to crowdanything)but should i get a
few
> BIG Turbo snails also?

Foxface does not eat off the rock. I have one, and he doesn't touch it. I do
however, have two urchins, which do a wonderful job of eating any and all
algae in my tank.

> also was wondering haralds opinion on that last message too. will keep in
> touch with ya guys, appreciate the info. this is new to me(GHA), and
highly
> invasive.
>
> p.s. have about 1 decent size and 7 small aptasia buddies to that i will
> have to contend with soon. will get some shrimp. is now too late?
>

Get rid of the aiptasia quick, they will take over your tank. When they're
small, I found it best to take the rock out, and run boiling water over the
aiptasia until it's all washed off. I do mean all, just a few living cells
is enough for the aiptasia to spread. Then get 4 or more Peppermint shrimp,
and they will hopefully keep your aiptasia under control. If that doesn't
work, you can always try a Copperband Butterfly. It's a pretty fish that
eats aiptasia. The shrimp will not eat aiptasia once they reach a certain
size.

hth

--
Harald
130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
290 pound 6" DSB
70 lbs LR
3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Flame Angel, 1 Foxface.

20 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
80 lbs/6" DSB
31 lbs LR, 1 - 3-Striped damsel, 1 Blue Devil, 1 sm. Tang

[wolfhedd]

well i cant go to those extremes, im stuck with the reef, that i started out
to take care of, lol. no boiling water. theres good stuff on all the rocks
that theyre growing on, and thats only 2 or 3 rocks, and the 7 are about as
big around as a thick pencil lead at the base and stem. i wouldnt think im
as doomed as that at this point. i thought one shrimp would do the job. i
only have one big aptasia that is the thickness of darn near a pencil.
lemon juice? i was just going to try to siphon him with some 1/2 inch.
that wont work? how about 1/4 inch hahaha. oh the wicked ideas we get to
kill these things, lol. what do ya guys think?

wolfhedd


"Harald" > wrote in message
news:iLdnb.45747$zx2.27456@edtnps84...
>
> "wolfhedd" > wrote in message
> nk.net...
> > oh marc, thanks for the article, actually i was kinda getting a second
> > opinion, appreciate your link, thanks much. from what i got from your
> site
> > last time is that the water may be good and the hair algae is just
> > established, so i need to start plucking. dang im dreading that, but
> guess
> > its better than scrubbing, lol.
>
> I had the hair algae problem too, but it wasn't too bad. I did however
have
> a major aiptasia problem. I ended up taking ALL my rock out, dumping it in
> fresh water buckets for a week(outside), scrubbed it all down, left it for
> another week in fresh water, did a final rinse, then put the rock into a
tub
> filled with freshly made salt water and recured it. Everything was dead by
> that time, including the aiptasia. I bought a few new pieces of LR for my
> new, bigger tank, to help reseed. I now have coralline growing over all my
> rock, and with the lawnmower blenny, am keeping the algae on the rocks
under
> control. I am however, planning on buying a tang, I just haven't decided
> what type yet(my kids want me to by a Blue Hippo, they saw Finding Nemo,
now
> they like that one).
>
> > ok nitrates can be locked up iin plants, holy smokes, didnt know that,
> that
> > may be the reason for the nitrate drop. it used to be 2.5 ppm, but
after
> i
> > changed out to marine sand, and let system cycle for 3 mor months, then
> > removed bio balls, now its down to .2 ppm and hair algae is enjoying
> living
> > on new rocks, ones that it is spreading to from original ones, and
> original
> > ones look like old mans beard at the present as i havent had right setup
> for
> > water change/algae siphon in last 1/12 wks.
>
> Plants grow on nitrates. Check out the fertilizer that you buy for your
> lawn, it's heavy in nitrates so that the grass comes through nice & green.
>
> > also, marc, was thinking of getting that one fish on your site, was it a
> > foxface? will it eat the algae? no tangs for me till my system is
> > established, lol. will get another few hermits to add to my one also.
> this
> > will help right? oh and i have about a few hundred to several hundred
> > eraserhead sized snails, but theyre so small that you wonot even notice
> more
> > than 20-40 of them across the whole tank at any given time without a
> trained
> > eye(in other words its not too many to crowdanything)but should i get a
> few
> > BIG Turbo snails also?
>
> Foxface does not eat off the rock. I have one, and he doesn't touch it. I
do
> however, have two urchins, which do a wonderful job of eating any and all
> algae in my tank.
>
> > also was wondering haralds opinion on that last message too. will keep
in
> > touch with ya guys, appreciate the info. this is new to me(GHA), and
> highly
> > invasive.
> >
> > p.s. have about 1 decent size and 7 small aptasia buddies to that i will
> > have to contend with soon. will get some shrimp. is now too late?
> >
>
> Get rid of the aiptasia quick, they will take over your tank. When they're
> small, I found it best to take the rock out, and run boiling water over
the
> aiptasia until it's all washed off. I do mean all, just a few living cells
> is enough for the aiptasia to spread. Then get 4 or more Peppermint
shrimp,
> and they will hopefully keep your aiptasia under control. If that doesn't
> work, you can always try a Copperband Butterfly. It's a pretty fish that
> eats aiptasia. The shrimp will not eat aiptasia once they reach a certain
> size.
>
> hth
>
> --
> Harald
> 130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
> 290 pound 6" DSB
> 70 lbs LR
> 3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Flame Angel, 1
Foxface.
>
> 20 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
> 80 lbs/6" DSB
> 31 lbs LR, 1 - 3-Striped damsel, 1 Blue Devil, 1 sm. Tang
>
>

[Harald]

"wolfhedd" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> well i cant go to those extremes, im stuck with the reef, that i started
out
> to take care of, lol. no boiling water. theres good stuff on all the
rocks
> that theyre growing on, and thats only 2 or 3 rocks, and the 7 are about
as
> big around as a thick pencil lead at the base and stem. i wouldnt think
im
> as doomed as that at this point. i thought one shrimp would do the job.
i
> only have one big aptasia that is the thickness of darn near a pencil.
> lemon juice? i was just going to try to siphon him with some 1/2 inch.
> that wont work? how about 1/4 inch hahaha. oh the wicked ideas we get to
> kill these things, lol. what do ya guys think?
>
> wolfhedd

Well, I didn't want to go to those extremes either. But for me, the kalk
paste didn't work. I tried vinegar, nothing. Boiling water in the tank
didn't work(that's why I said take the rock out and then pour the boiling
water over it). Everytime that I tried something, the little *******s came
back stronger then before.Other people have had more success, some less. It
seems each situation is a little bit different. You're big one, the shrimp
won't touch it. The smaller ones, are already of a size where it is touch &
go.

My opinion(and it is only an opinion) is take out the rock(s) that the
aiptasia are on, and wash them off with boiling water. Anything on the rock
you want to save, try to remove it, if you can't...well...then I don't know.
You'll either have to sacrifice, or let the aips take over the tank.

My opinion only... :)

hth

--
Harald
130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
290 pound 6" DSB
70 lbs LR
3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Flame Angel, 1 Foxface.

20 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
80 lbs/6" DSB
31 lbs LR, 1 - 3-Striped damsel, 1 Blue Devil, 1 sm. Tang