hair algae

[lomondreef]

now ive got my nitrates down to 4, kh ph cal mag all in range, ive lost alot of colour in my tank, by colour i mean my tank seems to be getting what looks like the start of hair algae, also a black like sponge algae plus a bright pink cyno bacteria......is it a result of the nopox, or should i run a phosphate media in my reactor again, want to nip this in the bud before it gets out off hand......going to run the phos test just shortly, should have done it before i typed this i suppose.......

[RedSeaKev]

Originally Posted by lomondreef

now ive got my nitrates down to 4, kh ph cal mag all in range, ive lost alot of colour in my tank, by colour i mean my tank seems to be getting what looks like the start of hair algae, also a black like sponge algae plus a bright pink cyno bacteria......is it a result of the nopox, or should i run a phosphate media in my reactor again, want to nip this in the bud before it gets out off hand......going to run the phos test just shortly, should have done it before i typed this i suppose.......

Hi Lomondreef, can we have all your test results please including your salinity, also pictures of the black sponge would be usefull.

[lomondreef]

nitrate of 4.
ph 7.9,
kh is at 13,
calcium is at 390
mag is 1300
salinity - 1.025
temp - 26.3
phos- dont know cant make it out, will try again

[lomondreef]

red sea pro phosphate test

low range - slightly darker than the colour reading 0.64
high range - comes up clear

so is my reading somewhere around 0.64 n 0.70 ????

doing a ten % water change tonight, due to test nitrates today so will do that after change n post, still dosing 2mls

[RedSeaKev]

Originally Posted by lomondreef

red sea pro phosphate test

low range - slightly darker than the colour reading 0.64
high range - comes up clear

so is my reading somewhere around 0.64 n 0.70 ????

doing a ten % water change tonight, due to test nitrates today so will do that after change n post, still dosing 2mls

Hi Lomondreef, OK your Foundation elements are a little out of sync, your dKH is high and your Mag & Calc are a little low, optimum levels are as follows.

Alk 12.6
Mag 1390
Calc 465

Ideally No3 at 1to 2 ppm and Po4 at 0.08 so you have a little way to go in reducing your Po4.

Your skimate looks a little green to me so there is a good chance your still seeing some nutrient release from the rock work, I would also make your skimate a little wetter this will help reduce your Po4, are you also using activated carbon ? if not I would recommend its use, it will help remove some of the long chain protein molecules which can't be skimmed.

[lomondreef]

i have alot of nutrient release from rock work, and i use carbon in bubble trap on skimmer, the skimmate looks alot lighter than the skimmer shows. i have set skimmer level as wet as i can without flooding it, would a wet skim water change help much?
will post test results i do tomorrow

[lomondreef]

PO4 - 0.64
NO3 - 4
ph - 8
kh - 9
mag - 1320
cal - 445

[lomondreef]

for 700 litres of water have i worked these doses out right

foundation A dose - 7mls = 2ppm OR 70mls = 20ppm OR 35mls = 10ppm

foundation B dose - 7mls = 0.034kh OR 350mls = 1.7kh

[lomondreef]

mag today is 1260, and ive added 70mls of foundation c, sat and sun, down from 1320 despite adding c.........kh is at 14.6 might have added to much yesterday ph 8.1 test kit 8.0 on digital reader......im using this thread as wee diary now, any comments still appreciated.....

[lomondreef]

no buffer added today kh 13.4, mag added 70mls mag 1395, calcium 70mls added cal 500, ph 8.1, 12mls of nopox daily no3 4ppm po4 0.64, temp 26.4, salinity 1.026