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hello again, i think i have a paradox or bad info (1 Viewer)

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Mpolasek

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ok so i did some reading a while back and learned that Coraline algae appear when your tank is in good shape and can support some corals, yet recently i installed an. auto feeder which messed up my tanks cycle because it functioned without water changes and have good levels on everything before, now i have a algae bloom (diatoms) and i need to refill the tank(missing 10 gallons), and the skinner had a leak so i had to take it off (which makes me ask do i just use glass or plastic with silicon?) but basically its gone downhill yet now the algae is starting to appear why and how do i keep it there
also hello again i hope everyone is well
 

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I hate to say this but I am having trouble figuring out what you are asking? Can you restate your question another way?
 
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Mpolasek

Mpolasek

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if what im reading is right Coraline algae is like a coral it need light and good conditions (not as much as actual corals) so im asking why would it appear now in my tank when it looks like it is in bad shape?
 

steveb

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Yeah I'm not understanding either.

for at least part of it..

plastic/silicon are not really compatible. It is a low strength seal at best. I have used silicon in a glass sump with plastic baffles to hold them in place. But I would never trust it to make a water tight seal with plastic. i.e. to seal a leak on a skimmer that is not sitting in the sump.
 
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Mpolasek

Mpolasek

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ok thanks for that i will keep brainstorming on ways to seal it im thinking a type of plastic but attached with silicon and coated and sealed with rubber
 

steveb

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Outside of acrylic solvent. They make an epoxy that bonds well with plastic. You can get it Lowe’s and Hone Depot.
 

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you've got a few things going on here - lets see if we can break them out:

Steve's already asked you about the skimmer leak, so I'll skip that one.

Autofeeder - what is it, what are you putting in it, and how is it set to dispense? Pics of the feeder and food may be helpful.

Water level - why are you 10 gallons down? Did you just not add back water for a while? If so, your salt may be too high. Or if it is due to the leak, your salt concentration should not have changed much. What is your specific gravity or salinity?

You indicate you stopped water changes. Algae can thrive without a means to remove build-up of food waste. The most typical ways to fight this are water changes, carbon-dosing with wet skimming, algae scrubbers/reactors/refugiums. Do you employ any of these?
 
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Coralline algae has always been a mystery to me. No doubt when you dose the major 3 and keep it stable you will begin to see coralline algae.

I do think it also has something to do with certain trace elements. I played with Red Sea and Triton this year and both at different times gave me explosions of coralline growth on the rocks and frag rack.

But...then you have people like this. Weak flow, weak light, HOB filter, tap water, etc. Yet they get an insane explosion. I think some tap or well water can do this combined with lighting and nutrients.

 

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Coralline algae has always been a mystery to me. No doubt when you dose the major 3 and keep it stable you will begin to see coralline algae.

I do think it also has something to do with certain trace elements. I played with Red Sea and Triton this year and both at different times gave me explosions of coralline growth on the rocks and frag rack.

But...then you have people like this. Weak flow, weak light, HOB filter, tap water, etc. Yet they get an insane explosion. I think some tap or well water can do this combined with lighting and nutrients.



that sh*t drives me nuts.. I am in the camp that reefing is not for everyone and requires some principles to adhere to in order to be successful. Oh and a lot of very specific equipment. And then, after countless failures, tank crashes, failed ATO’s,various pests, etc etc. you log on and some guy is like “yeah, I stopped doing water changes 20 years ago. Now all I do is just top off with tap water. Grew this frag into a giant colony in 7 months.“ :mad:🤬
 
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that sh*t drives me nuts.. I am in the camp that reefing is not for everyone and requires some principles to adhere to in order to be successful. Oh and a lot of very specific equipment. And then, after countless failures, tank crashes, failed ATO’s,various pests, etc etc. you log on and some guy is like “yeah, I stopped doing water changes 20 years ago. Now all I do is just top off with tap water. Grew this frag into a giant colony in 7 months.“ :mad:🤬

It just takes a lot of hard learned lessons. I’ve had my share and most everybody here. That is what gives you headway on the next tank or restart

The problem I’m having now is figuring out what equipment I wanna invest in for the new build and how I can force myself to ignore the Vermetid’s once they get in the tank. :)

The question is...do I want to limp in and keep money in my savings or drop 8K and be done with it.
 

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I use a magnifying glass with a light ring to inspect everything Coming in. I got a frag tha had some vermit on it. Scraped it off with small screwdriver and put it in the tank. 3 weeks later I saw a giant vermitid right in the crease between 2 heads. I scraped that off and have not seen anything since. I hate vermetids even more than aiptasia. just make sure you hit them as soon as you see them and be very thorough when removing them. I had a tankful of vermetids a long time ago and they bothered all the corals to the point where I wanted to quit.
 
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I use a magnifying glass with a light ring to inspect everything Coming in. I got a frag tha had some vermit on it. Scraped it off with small screwdriver and put it in the tank. 3 weeks later I saw a giant vermitid right in the crease between 2 heads. I scraped that off and have not seen anything since. I hate vermetids even more than aiptasia. just make sure you hit them as soon as you see them and be very thorough when removing them. I had a tankful of vermetids a long time ago and they bothered all the corals to the point where I wanted to quit.

You know they’re basically microscopic right. :) If you had one or two...just give it time and when your nutrients go up a little...BOOM! :geek:
It’s gonna be a Vermetid party!:ummdance:
 
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Mpolasek

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ok im still getting more info cause i still have school but i do know where the bright green algae coralline algae came from trigger fan gave me some sand and it had some frag circle thingys and one had some bright green algae on it so i threw it in and although it was dried then it is the same im like 90% sureish
 

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ok im still getting more info cause i still have school but i do know where the bright green algae coralline algae came from trigger fan gave me some sand and it had some frag circle thingys and one had some bright green algae on it so i threw it in and although it was dried then it is the same im like 90% sureish
Huh? So are you talking about bright green algae now? I am totally confused. Any algae that shows up in your tank is usually from a water quality issue and not something that is brought in on dead dried sand.

Just because you saw some dried green stuff on some sand that you got from someone doesn't mean that is why it is in your tank. If that were truly the case, the nori we feed our fish would have our tanks covered in algae too.
 
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