NEW GUY W/?'S

[doug]

My tank,
1. gross water vol. 270g
2. net water vol. 200g
3. im using a Ca reactor, its working well
4. no PO4 reactor
5. no ozone
6. no uv
7. skimmer: MRC 3 w/dual beckets (1 inch) and a blueline 70 pump
capacity: 500g give/take more on the take side
8. PO4: 0 NO3: 0 Ca: 450 Mg:1310 Alk: 7.8-8.0 Ph: 8.2 Sal: 1.024
temp: 79-80f, 20g water change 1x week with ro/di h20, top off ro/di
9. filtration method: 60g sump with filter socks, 4 bags Chemi-pure
10. lighting: 250w DE ROIII, 20k bulbs, blue wave HQI ballast (all 3mo. old)
11. corals: sps mostly, small mix of softies
12. tissue color: light with color, getting better daily
13. age of tank: 8 months
14. im using zeo about 3 months today
15. supp dosing: none
16. live rock: about 150lbs 8 mos. old
17. present problems: algae blooms on glass and returns
18. test kits: all salifert
19. dosing: Start 2: 1.2cc total split 4x's a day with ehiem doser
AA: 4 drops every other day
Food/BAk: 4 drops every day (i just changed out my rocks
today)
Zeo Lites: 2 bags (3rd round today) i have a Quiet One pump
at 3/4 turn powering my chamber, flow? who knows?
20. flow: 1 3000g/hr dolphin pump, 1 4500g/hr barrucuda pump, 6100 tunze
with stream control, two 3/4" eductors on sea swirls
21. fish load: 3 tangs, 1 sixline wrasse, 1 fairy wrasse, 9 other mellow little
fish i feed once a day, small amount of pellet food
Questions and comments:
I started using zeo and current lights the same day, my brown crappy corals changed almost overnight for the better. lights/zeo, not to sure what helped the most but i am very happy with the results. My H20 param's have been very stable the past 3 months.

1. Question? i have a real problem with brown diatom blooms (glass & returns)
with PO4 @ 0, i think its my dosing? what to do?

I travel a lot, i seem to have a small addiction to kiteboarding and surfing! Anyways i had a dude come in and clean my ACRYLIC tank when i was gone. i asked him to clean the skimmer and dose my Zeo's, please i asked, please don't clean the ACRYLIC (i had one small scratch, micro scratch). My wife and I walk in from our trip and the first thing she says (side note: she never ever never notices a thing about the tank((which is actually pretty cool, because i can buy frags at will))) What the fu_ _? happened to your tank! I now own an ACRYLIC tank with 300-400 (no joke) deep gauges.

2. Question? do i go barebottom with my new tank? Faux sand bottom?
and if i cant control this algae problem, how do i keep the algae
off the faux sand bed or starboard?

3. Question? should i plan the new tank with a closed loop with spray bar
under rock structure?

4. Question? i have the space for more lighting, i was thinking 2 x 400w se?

sorry about the long-ass thread but i hoped to hit all the finer points in one shot? any help and/or advice would be used and appreciated. thanks doug

[OUinLA]

Hello,

First I would stop dosing for about 4-5 days and see if the diatoms decrease. I imagine they will. At this point, I would do one or two things or both: Decrease the start2 dosage and/or stop dosing food7. It seems that with start2 and AA's that food7 isn't needed as much. It might be a good idea to use it every now and then but I would guess that with the start2 and food7 together you are feeding the diatoms.

The new tank sounds good. It's always a good idea with BB to have some kind of flow along the bottom to eliminate detritus build up. A spray bar would work and i've also seen people put closed loop outputs right at the bottom of the tank blowing across the glass/startboard.

hth

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !


doug,

[Orion76]

1. Question? i have a real problem with brown diatom blooms (glass & returns) with PO4 @ 0, i think its my dosing? what to do?

Your diatoms are either caused by silicates or overdosing of Zeo additives. Check if your RO/DI unit is working correctly and test the silicate content of your product water.

Question? do i go barebottom with my new tank? Faux sand bottom? and if i cant control this algae problem, how do i keep the algae off the faux sand bed or starboard?

That's a personal choice. BB's are more forgiving and easier and a soiled DSB can definitely be a source of nuisance algae fertilizer but sand bottoms don't cause diatom blooms IMO.

3. Question? should i plan the new tank with a closed loop with spray bar under rock structure?

Creating flow under your rock work is always a good idea. Spray bars don't create good flow though, they diffuse it.

Question? i have the space for more lighting, i was thinking 2 x 400w se?

Nothing wrong with that in an SPS tank

You can also increase the intensity of your current lighting by changing them with 10,000K bulbs if you don't mind the white light.

[gqjeff]

If you go with the 400 se try xm new 15k.. Its and awesome bulb with outstanding color...

[Aged Salt]

Hi Doug, as Timon/Madison have eluded, your zeo-dosing needs teaking[assuming lo Si/TDS source water--plz. check Si's/test kit] After holding all dosing for 5 days, decrease Food7 to 50% the quantity of Bak used. Decrease Start2 to .2ml 4x's/day; your AAHC dosage can be increased to 4 drops daily unless slime/air-bubbles appear. Bob

[doug]

thanks for all the advice, i would have responded sooner but i had a minor set back this weekend. i bought the si test kit and 2 PFO ballast's /400w's sat evening, left them in my truck and somebody helped themselves to MY truck that night. SOOO i no longer have a test kit, wallet, phone, surfboards, kite boards and a truck. easy come easy go i guess?

Do i reduce my food and bak or just food? And how will the new zeolites seed without the food and baK?
ill test my si's once i get another kit, if they are high how do i reduce those, rowhapp's (sp?)?

thanks again, truckless doug

[Orion76]

Sorry to hear about your truck Doug, that sucks

If your silicates are too high just leave it be, the diatoms in your tank will use them up in no time, just make sure you are not adding new silicates to the tank.