marc-reef-uk
New Member
Hi Guys,
Have just joined this afternoon and after some advice..... I've been a keen fish lover for many years and after keeping tropical for some time decided to venture into the world of Marine. A keen hobbyist - Hobby being that I have learnt LOTS over the last year and a half and if I was to start over I'd do things differently but hey ho here I am.
So I've converted a 280L Tropical tank into a marine tank......Started off as fish only and have upgraded bits as my love of the hobby has grown....
I was running a Fluval 450 canister, 4 Aquael led tubes (2 marine white and 2 Actinic blue) this was great for a while. Managed to keep some softies as well as some torches just fine, all be it small growth. Water parameters have always been really good and I get natural sea water delivered monthly for my changes....
SO - what's gone wrong.....
Alagae - being naïve I placed the tank in my kitchen that had huge bay windows, lots of natural light and fluctuating temperatures.....All my live rock from a week in went a deep green. I know some green is normal but these have been thick green from the start and despite methods to clean them they have never come good. I have then had several outbreaks of nuisance algae/dinos etc but the tank has still thrived.
I have recently moved the tank into my office where it gets less light, has curtains and blinds and will be more stable. I've also just added some hydra 32's and have had a massive outbreak of hair Algae. I got a shot under a microscope that had dinos as well as the hair algae. I was told to do a 3 day black out....Did that...2 days later rockwork and sandbed looked amazing, 2 days later its all turning brown again.
So a few questions and sorry if they seem really basic but even going between my local fish stores I get so so much advice and most of its contradicts each other.....
1 )should I have replaced the original live rock that's coated green. It's mainly coated green only on the side that was facing the light/sun....See pic below, is this normal as most peoples rocks look nice and bright.
2) I have a good clean up crew, Tuxedo urchin, Sea cucumber, tang, snails, crabs, Shrimp and still the problem. Is Hydrogen peroxide worth a go, will it hurt my Nems/Inverts?
3) Much confusion over phosphate. some people have told me the phos will be a false reading and to add Rowa phos. others have said feed more to bring Phos up?
4) I mainly feed frozen, Gamma packs, some people said this water isn't good and to defrost and clean before feeding. What's this process and is it worth it?
This was the tank 4 weeks ago when getting the new hydras
I am normally having to scrub the rockwork with a waterproof power head toothbrush twice a week to keep the brown and green algae off it
Levels are:
Mag 1380
Calc 430
Alk 7.7
Phos 0.045 (sometimes reading 0)
Nitrate 6
Currently running active carbon and Rowa in canister and Dosing 2 ml of 'All for reef' per day
This is what builds up on the glass and I believe its dinos?
this is the rockwork and this is after a clean, should it be this colour?
This was my hair algae bloom after fitting my new AI hydras.
Massive thanks in advance for any advice.
Have just joined this afternoon and after some advice..... I've been a keen fish lover for many years and after keeping tropical for some time decided to venture into the world of Marine. A keen hobbyist - Hobby being that I have learnt LOTS over the last year and a half and if I was to start over I'd do things differently but hey ho here I am.
So I've converted a 280L Tropical tank into a marine tank......Started off as fish only and have upgraded bits as my love of the hobby has grown....
I was running a Fluval 450 canister, 4 Aquael led tubes (2 marine white and 2 Actinic blue) this was great for a while. Managed to keep some softies as well as some torches just fine, all be it small growth. Water parameters have always been really good and I get natural sea water delivered monthly for my changes....
SO - what's gone wrong.....
Alagae - being naïve I placed the tank in my kitchen that had huge bay windows, lots of natural light and fluctuating temperatures.....All my live rock from a week in went a deep green. I know some green is normal but these have been thick green from the start and despite methods to clean them they have never come good. I have then had several outbreaks of nuisance algae/dinos etc but the tank has still thrived.
I have recently moved the tank into my office where it gets less light, has curtains and blinds and will be more stable. I've also just added some hydra 32's and have had a massive outbreak of hair Algae. I got a shot under a microscope that had dinos as well as the hair algae. I was told to do a 3 day black out....Did that...2 days later rockwork and sandbed looked amazing, 2 days later its all turning brown again.
So a few questions and sorry if they seem really basic but even going between my local fish stores I get so so much advice and most of its contradicts each other.....
1 )should I have replaced the original live rock that's coated green. It's mainly coated green only on the side that was facing the light/sun....See pic below, is this normal as most peoples rocks look nice and bright.
2) I have a good clean up crew, Tuxedo urchin, Sea cucumber, tang, snails, crabs, Shrimp and still the problem. Is Hydrogen peroxide worth a go, will it hurt my Nems/Inverts?
3) Much confusion over phosphate. some people have told me the phos will be a false reading and to add Rowa phos. others have said feed more to bring Phos up?
4) I mainly feed frozen, Gamma packs, some people said this water isn't good and to defrost and clean before feeding. What's this process and is it worth it?
This was the tank 4 weeks ago when getting the new hydras
I am normally having to scrub the rockwork with a waterproof power head toothbrush twice a week to keep the brown and green algae off it
Levels are:
Mag 1380
Calc 430
Alk 7.7
Phos 0.045 (sometimes reading 0)
Nitrate 6
Currently running active carbon and Rowa in canister and Dosing 2 ml of 'All for reef' per day
This is what builds up on the glass and I believe its dinos?
this is the rockwork and this is after a clean, should it be this colour?
This was my hair algae bloom after fitting my new AI hydras.
Massive thanks in advance for any advice.
