sand is starting to get brown spots
- Thread starter buddy25
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aromano
New Member
New systems go through algae blooms in the first months, so usually shorter light periods can help with the algae problem. The tank will go through diatom, brown algae, and green algae before your start getting coralline algae growth.
If it's Cyanobacteria most likely it's due to too much nutrients in the water. To truly rid the tank of them, you will need to first eliminate those nutrients from the water and then follow a maintenance approach, to prevent dissolved organic materials, from building up again and giving rise to more red algae.
I would make sure you are not over feed, and do 20% water changes weekly until the system stabilizes.
If it's Cyanobacteria most likely it's due to too much nutrients in the water. To truly rid the tank of them, you will need to first eliminate those nutrients from the water and then follow a maintenance approach, to prevent dissolved organic materials, from building up again and giving rise to more red algae.
I would make sure you are not over feed, and do 20% water changes weekly until the system stabilizes.
Stock lights, doesn't give any info, unless it's a known variable, like a nanocube. Since you have a 10g tank, there is no such thing as 'stock'.
If you don't have test kits to test your own water, you need to get some. Having your water checked at a LFS can be great if the person testing your water really knows their stuff, and they're using fairly new, decent test kits. But you can always get the new kid that doesn't know what they're doing, or an LFS that uses crappy/cheap test kits to save money, etc... I've had my water mis-read at more than one LFS. Salifert are the most accurate tests on the market, but they're also pretty pricey. I use a mix of salifert, and fastest kits. Another issue is that the reagents go bad over time, so if you're not testing regularly the test kit itself could be bad.
I thought of a couple more questions. What's your bioload? What type of filtration are you using? What type of food are you using? How often, and how much are you feeding? Do you have power heads in the tank for added flow?
Sorry for all the questions, but without an accurate idea of how your tank is set up, there isn't any way to figure out what's going on.
B
If you don't have test kits to test your own water, you need to get some. Having your water checked at a LFS can be great if the person testing your water really knows their stuff, and they're using fairly new, decent test kits. But you can always get the new kid that doesn't know what they're doing, or an LFS that uses crappy/cheap test kits to save money, etc... I've had my water mis-read at more than one LFS. Salifert are the most accurate tests on the market, but they're also pretty pricey. I use a mix of salifert, and fastest kits. Another issue is that the reagents go bad over time, so if you're not testing regularly the test kit itself could be bad.
I thought of a couple more questions. What's your bioload? What type of filtration are you using? What type of food are you using? How often, and how much are you feeding? Do you have power heads in the tank for added flow?
Sorry for all the questions, but without an accurate idea of how your tank is set up, there isn't any way to figure out what's going on.
B
I noticed the same thing about the "stock lighting". So i tried to research your tank...I noticed that you said you got it a creative aquatics. I couldnt find a website though, do they have one? Im always interested in new sites!
Im with incysor...I used to work at PETCo...USED to. Nice people generally, but not necessarily the most knowledable. This is due to the simple reason that most are just there for a job, not because they are knowledable with aquatics. Im not saying that that is were you've been going, just advising that you are careful with who you trust THE most important part of your nano to. Most of those test kits are fairly easy to use and well worth the minor investment of cash.
Also, water movement is very important. if you dont have a filter that creates much of a current, you should have two small powerheads. I like to have one in the bottom corner blowing across the front and one in the opposite upper corner blowing across the surface. Some algaes thrive when there is not enough current in a particular area. Rios are good, small, cheap power heads. all you would need is the rio 50 or 90.
Good luck, welcome, and feel free to ask any questions that you have. :welcome
Im with incysor...I used to work at PETCo...USED to. Nice people generally, but not necessarily the most knowledable. This is due to the simple reason that most are just there for a job, not because they are knowledable with aquatics. Im not saying that that is were you've been going, just advising that you are careful with who you trust THE most important part of your nano to. Most of those test kits are fairly easy to use and well worth the minor investment of cash.
Also, water movement is very important. if you dont have a filter that creates much of a current, you should have two small powerheads. I like to have one in the bottom corner blowing across the front and one in the opposite upper corner blowing across the surface. Some algaes thrive when there is not enough current in a particular area. Rios are good, small, cheap power heads. all you would need is the rio 50 or 90.
Good luck, welcome, and feel free to ask any questions that you have. :welcome
The lights on my tank I am not shure what the wattage is but it is a 10gal. tank that is made by odyssea it is like a nanocube. I understand what you are saying about leting the LFS check my water and i probbley need to invest in my one test kit. The only power head that i have is a small one that has a heater built into it.I am not shure what you mean by a bioload :?: The filter is also built in i have some carbin in it and some filter floss i think that is what it is called.The food is called bio-blend that is for small fish i feed them 1 time a day give them about a couple of pinches.
Bioload is in refrence to how much stuff you have in your tank, how offten they are fed it refers to what your tank puts out in terms of poo and pee and the bacteria that eats it..........for example I have a large bio load 3 fish in a 7 gallon tank so I have to be more vigilent on partial changes and light feedings
Mechanical filtration, such as filter floss, is often avoided because things such as sponge filters, filter floss, etc, trap detritus and produce nitrates. You will want to change the floss every several days to avoid this. Algae uses nitrates as food, so if you have measurable amounts of nitrates, that is the most likely source for your algae.
I run purigen in a filter bag, and a carbon/sponge insert. I change the insert out about once every two weeks. If I were running it on a 10g I'd run carbon in a filter bag, purigen in a filter bag, and just the sponge pad, and I'd change it out weekly when I did my water change.
I doesn't sound like you're overstocked. It also sounds like you're feeding about the right amount.
You may simply not have enough flow. I haven't heard of a heater being integrated into a power head. What brand is it? It sounds interesting.
You definitely need to open your lights, pull out the bulb and find out what type of lights you have, otherwise you can't know whether you have enough light for the corals you have, much less new ones.
B
I doesn't sound like you're overstocked. It also sounds like you're feeding about the right amount.
You may simply not have enough flow. I haven't heard of a heater being integrated into a power head. What brand is it? It sounds interesting.
You definitely need to open your lights, pull out the bulb and find out what type of lights you have, otherwise you can't know whether you have enough light for the corals you have, much less new ones.
B
You can continue to use the floss, however just plan to clean the floss EVERY SINGLE DAY. You must clean the floss regularly to remove the solid wastes before it decomposes and dissolves back into the water. A mechanical filter is useless unless it is kept clean.
A very good link just to give you some additional clarity on reef filtration is:
http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/filters.html
The most common mode of reef filtration IMO is the reliance on biological filtration through live rock and a good base of live sand, usually about 2 inches deep. Generally, it is recommended that you have anywhere from .75 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon. In a nano, about 1 pound per gallon is sufficient considering that corals are generally attached to a rock base, which with time will increase the amount of LR in your tank.
Along with the live rock and live sand, one usually has a foam fractionator, otherwise known as a protein skimmer. There are several kinds of models that use different means of doing the same thing...creating a fine bubble spray in a chamber that attracts the dissolved organic compounds (and pretty much everything else) before they break down into toxic ammonia and nitrite compounds and raises it up into a collection cup where it can be easily removed from your system. Again a good link for education on these is:
http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/pr ... mmers.html
The detritus that settles to the bottom of your tank is generally trusted to a "cleanup crew" made up of a combination of snails and hermit crabs. The most common include blue-leg and scarlet hermits (usually 1 per 1.5 gallons) and nassarius snails (1 per 2-3 gallons). The other snails, such as margarita and ceriths are ideal additions, however they seek out the algae on the glass/rock more than the detritus.
Many people use the refugium method with frequent water chages in place of a skimmer. Generally, with nanos, they turn their HOB filter into a refugium. These replicate the sump filter used on much larger tanks. This includes the introduction of live rock rubble and macro algae along with a small amount of hermits to the filter in place of other filter medias. There is a small light attached to the refugium to help grow the beneficial macro algae. I don’t use utilize this method, so I cant supply you with very much info on this topic, but it does work very well and is probably a good choice for you system.
Here is a link to a good DIY project to convert a standard HOB power filter into a refugium.
http://www.nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1768
Hopefully this helps you out and feel free to ask any more questions that you have or that by be created by all this info. We are all here to help out. :smartg
A very good link just to give you some additional clarity on reef filtration is:
http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/filters.html
The most common mode of reef filtration IMO is the reliance on biological filtration through live rock and a good base of live sand, usually about 2 inches deep. Generally, it is recommended that you have anywhere from .75 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon. In a nano, about 1 pound per gallon is sufficient considering that corals are generally attached to a rock base, which with time will increase the amount of LR in your tank.
Along with the live rock and live sand, one usually has a foam fractionator, otherwise known as a protein skimmer. There are several kinds of models that use different means of doing the same thing...creating a fine bubble spray in a chamber that attracts the dissolved organic compounds (and pretty much everything else) before they break down into toxic ammonia and nitrite compounds and raises it up into a collection cup where it can be easily removed from your system. Again a good link for education on these is:
http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/pr ... mmers.html
The detritus that settles to the bottom of your tank is generally trusted to a "cleanup crew" made up of a combination of snails and hermit crabs. The most common include blue-leg and scarlet hermits (usually 1 per 1.5 gallons) and nassarius snails (1 per 2-3 gallons). The other snails, such as margarita and ceriths are ideal additions, however they seek out the algae on the glass/rock more than the detritus.
Many people use the refugium method with frequent water chages in place of a skimmer. Generally, with nanos, they turn their HOB filter into a refugium. These replicate the sump filter used on much larger tanks. This includes the introduction of live rock rubble and macro algae along with a small amount of hermits to the filter in place of other filter medias. There is a small light attached to the refugium to help grow the beneficial macro algae. I don’t use utilize this method, so I cant supply you with very much info on this topic, but it does work very well and is probably a good choice for you system.
Here is a link to a good DIY project to convert a standard HOB power filter into a refugium.
http://www.nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1768
Hopefully this helps you out and feel free to ask any more questions that you have or that by be created by all this info. We are all here to help out. :smartg
Hmm...Looking at it here,
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 2787+22734
it seems interesting. Do you have any pics of it in the tank? This one looks like it might be worth trying as well.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 004+113767
B
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 2787+22734
it seems interesting. Do you have any pics of it in the tank? This one looks like it might be worth trying as well.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 004+113767
B