cultivating algae for nutrients export (1 Viewer)

[Rick]

High nitrates?...
Looks like you have a nice skimmer.
cheato in the refugium?

I'm getting a huge algae bloom right now too, but I think it's because i restarted my tank again after IKE.
Pretty sure the LR is cycling.

 

[stdreb27]

No I actually checked those last night too, I got no reading. I'm completely at a loss, unless it is my ro/di water isn't very good anymore. I still get a tds reading of maybe 1. I feed fresh food. I have chaeto. Since I have this outflow falling directly on the chaeto the chaeto has doubled in side. The algae is getting food from somewhere. My photoperiod is less than 7.5 to 8 hrs.

 

[Rick]

This weekend, I'm gonna do a 50% water change, and leave the lights out for 2 or 3 days.
Also got a Sea Hare, that is like a giant lawn mower in the tank, cuts down any and all algae in its way.

 

[stdreb27]

I've done that several times. It just comes back. I saw a seahare in the reeftank at fish gallery. And thought it was really cool. So I've been thinking about getting one. But really don't have the tank to sustain it long term.

 

[Rick]

I got mine from BAA, Minh told me you can feed it algae sheets, if you run out of algae on the rocks.
It does tend to knock some things over to...
Great job on the cleanup though.

 

[SnMan]

Any new pics? Does it seem to be growing more?

 

[stdreb27]

Still no change in readings, or algae in the tank. See more growth on screen. Expect to start seeing changes in tank soon.

 

[stdreb27]

Sorry forgot to take pictures yesterday.

 

[hank]

You are probably getting a false negative on phos.

 

[stdreb27]

You are probably getting a false negative on phos.

I think false negative is a misnomer. Because there really isn't any po4 in my system the algae on the rocks ate it.

 

[SnMan]

What you might try doing now is manually removing some of the algae from the display and see if it is able to grow back or not. I would think now that you have algae on the mat that the algae on the mat will grow whenever there is any excess PO4 available which would prevent algae from forming in the display. Just thinking.

 

[stdreb27]

What you might try doing now is manually removing some of the algae from the display and see if it is able to grow back or not. I would think now that you have algae on the mat that the algae on the mat will grow whenever there is any excess PO4 available which would prevent algae from forming in the display. Just thinking.

I considered that, however, at the moment decided against it.
1. because, I wanted to see if it would make the algae receed. Might as well put it through the ringer.
2. I'd want to pull everything out scrub down the rocks. And well I can't find my fishtank brush.
3. If it doesn't kill the aglae in the tank, then I want to do that too. Clean everything off then see if algae accumulated there and not in the tank.

btw I'm done with your cutters. One frag came out really nice, the other section of candy canes was not as pretty then to top it off, i dropped it onto the carpet and it damaged 2 more of the heads.

 

[SnMan]

Sorry to hear that. I will get them back from you next time we see each other. No need for either of us to make a special trip at the moment.

If need be, just cook half of the LR at a time in a dark trash can.

 

[spongebob281]

Dont go cooking your LR..i tried that and all it does is shrink your wallet being youre gonna go broke using salt . Trust me it's a waste of $$$$ and time. Try sccrubbing off the algae, put them in a rubbermaid , throw in an airstone and close the lid for a couple of months. Lack of light will keep the algae from growing back. I did that and my LR are now void of algae.

BTW the algae on your screen is the same type of algae in your DT? If so then how is it going to get rid of the algae in the DT?

 

[stdreb27]

well I don't have that much lr. It isn't that expensive to cook rock, Nor am I willing to go through such drastic measures yet.

I think something is in the water after ike...

But the idea is that the screen provides a better environment for the algae to grow so it moves so to speak.

 

[SnMan]

Well, what I meant by cooking is exactly that Spongebob. I put it in a large rubber maid trash can with a Rio2100 and put the lid on it. I did only 2 water changes. The first was about 4 days into it. Smelled like major death... The can still stinks after major cleaning. I don't think the smell will ever go away all the way. The second was after another week. I then left it in the dark for 3-4 more weeks. The two times that I did the water changes I scrubbed the rock with a plastic brush.

 

[spongebob281]

SnMan

what i meant is a more drastic measure such as changing water every wk or so to remove phosphate...but a simpler version like yours works fine

 

[MikeSW]

I'd think you'd need a heavy growth on the screen before you see much change in the tank.

Right now I'd guess there's more food for the algae in the tank and it's using most of it leaving little for the screen. As the screen develops more there will be less available in the tank. Could be a long process for it to favor the screen.

You probably would speed the process by removing some of the algae in the tank thereby freeing more nutrients for the screen. Just speculation.

 

[stdreb27]

That I don't know we'll see. From the stuff I've seen on other forums it didn't take too long for heavy growth on the screen 3 weeks or so.

 

[stdreb27]

It occurred to me that I'd been taking pictures on the opposite side of where the light it. So I looked at the other side and there was more apparent algae growth on that side. Basically 2 weeks in with no seeding. But since I've been taking pictures on the "dark side" I'll continue to. But I'm going to put a light on that side too.

I might be imagining things, but I'm starting to see some thinning of the algae in lower light areas (not where I've been photographing.) I'm also seeing less of a certain type of algae.

.