trying to understand

[sadielynn]

I was just wondering since I started doing my nano tank I never really researched fuges , I had a spare filter (azoo palm filter clear plastic and sits under the pc lighting ) laying around , and some cheatomorphea (SP) in house , so I got some plastic canvas and cut to fit in the filter placed the cheatomorphea in , My real question is that I have been having some algae problems (due to overfeeding
cyclop-eeze not that hard to do ) so I need to cut back to 2 x a week feedings of the cyclop-eeze and pellets 2x a week I am still maintaining the 20% h20 weekly changes but the algae is still here , (mostly red slime)
I know that the palm only gives me at best a cup more of water will this help to control the algae that we have or do I need to treat more aggressively for the control of the red slime ? I will be changing the chemi-pure in the next week or so provided the pet store gets my order around this time. I know that in the 2 gallon I am seeing some good coraline starting that if I understand correctly will choke out the bad algae , I can also move the small palm to that if need be , but the real questions are will this help with the bad algae (along with modified feedings ) and will this be enough of a fuge for a 7 gallon ? :maitre

 

[reefman23]

I dont think that the amount of space in that palm filter will do much for the algae. Have you tried increasing the water flow in the areas where you are getting the red slime? Thats what i did when i had a problem with the red slime and i havent seen any since.

 

[sadielynn]

Thanks reef, I have 2 mini jets 606 in the tank I droped some cyclop-eeze in to see the flow and didnt really see any dead spots :?: would it be big enough for the 2 gallon :mrgreen:

 

[mikeguerrero]

Sadie,

A refugium can in fact bring down undesirable algaes in the maintank because it competes for the same nutrients as the bad algaes.

However, to get this to work you have to follow some rules to get it to work. You have to have the correct lighting, contact time for the light and water flow.

If any of these is off, your macro algae is useless, as it will not grow and therefore wither in you fuge and cause more problems.

If any of the three elements is off the fuge will not work since the main goal is to grow and grow macro algae in you fuge. if it doesn't grow, it is not pulling nutrients from the tank; nitrate being the one we want out.

Typically you want very little water flow going through the fuge, thus allowing for the macros to pull nutrients out of the tank; if it moves too quickly through your fuge you won't get results.

The light should be 7100 or 5100 K simulating the sunlight more than the deeper blue colors we have or 1500 or 20K. Try to target with 6700K as it is designed to grow fresh water plants.

Make sure you leave the lights on either 24 hours or reverse lighting of your main display, as it will help your PH as well.

Remember that the light on the fuge needs to make good contact, really breach as much as the macro as possible, giving it optimal chance of using this energy to do its job.

Good Luck,

Mike G

 

[skipm]

When you talked about the Palm filter for a refugium I thought you had pod production in mind. For a 7 gallon tank an Aquaclear 70 is the smallest I would mod into a refugium. Like Mike already mentioned you would have to modify it to slow the flow down. You could easily light it with one of the PCs made for the Palm aquariums.

 

[Anonymous]

hi sadie
what mike it describing is actually more closely described as what many call an "algae scrubber". In this type of system growing algae removes some nutrients from the system but as mike said is has to be done carefully to work. Also there are many people who believe algae scrubbers are not very effective and can leach undesirable chemicals into the tank - ie algae releases chemicals that obstructs the growth of corals. A refugium is generally a "safe haven" for plankton - specifically pods - to grow and reproduce away from the predation of the corals and fish in our tank. they usually include some algae just to feed the pods and provide them with habitat but is not the primary function of removing nutrients. I believe neither of these is what your tank really needs and no a small HOB filter doesn't work anyway - way to small for either purpose.
If I were having trouble with cyano or anyother algae i would consider recooking some of your rock. Take all the rock you can out of your tank - hopefully at least half - stuff that doesn't have any corals growing on it. Put it in a covered bucket with new saltwater a heater and a pump - no light whatsoever. change the water 100% every weekend for about a month. this will allow the bacteria to consume any built up phosphates or other nutrients. then simply return back to the tank after a large water change in there as well. there will not be a cycle to go through cause the bacteria will all still be there and the lack of light and water changes will really perk up that rocks ability to grow bacteria. also as you said you really need to cut back on the feeding - see my comment in your other post.

 

[sadielynn]

Thanks for the feed back guys
I will pull it off tonight , I currently have a penguin 150 on the tank for a filter but was looking to help pull some of the bad out , as for cooking the cyano , red slime is on rock with corals and shrooms I just did a 1.5 gallon h2o change to help lower the bad stuff , I have to test tonight (not looking forward to the results ) I just changed out the filter pad/ carbon and am awaiting chemi pure the chemi pure took care of it the first time but it is 3 months old so I assume that I need to change it out :roll:

 

[Dickie52]

sadielynn,

Give it a shot of chemipure and add a phosphate sponge to the filter. Maybe up your water changes to twice a week for a couple weeks and cut back on the feeding. Sounds to me your tank is just going through one of the cycles as it becomes mature......

Don't be suprised if the next think you run into is hair algae..... :sad: