ditching pellets

[Poseidon]

im pretty sure diatoms are related to silicates rather than phos.
i have 0.02 p04, in my tank and diatoms everywhere, im going to try ROWAPHOS, as its supposed to take the silicates out as well
and i believe GFO is just focused on p04 removal.

 

[Krazykarl]

I really wish I knew the trick to not see algae in months. Fak. My tank is almost 4 yrs old. Med bio. I run pellets (6 months + now). I have an insane skimmer. I do reg water changes. I feed pellet and flake daily. Frozen once a week. I run all led. And I can't seem to go 2 days without cleaning that ugly brown dust off my glass or stop the brown from forming on the top layer of my sand. What am I doing wrong?

Oh and my Tds reading out of my di resin to my in sump float is always 000 as per my inline dual Tds meter from brs

 

[Salty Cracker]

I really wish I knew the trick to not see algae in months. Fak. My tank is almost 4 yrs old. Med bio. I run pellets (6 months + now). I have an insane skimmer. I do reg water changes. I feed pellet and flake daily. Frozen once a week. I run all led. And I can't seem to go 2 days without cleaning that ugly brown dust off my glass or stop the brown from forming on the top layer of my sand. What am I doing wrong?

Oh and my Tds reading out of my di resin to my in sump float is always 000 as per my inline dual Tds meter from brs

I guess I should qualify...I do get the dusting on the glass if I left if for 2 or 3 days, I use the sand sifting starfish on the substrate (wish hermits didn't like starfish legs so much), I mean that my rockwork never needs any care, no HA, slime or anything there.  I don't know if you can ever get rid of the light algae, it's even in the ocean

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

I got bio pellets running since sept.  have green dust on my glass and have to scrape every 3-4 days.  Red slime on rocks.  Coralline growing on lower rocks. Some diaroms on sand. I have a sanding sifting starfish 

 

[Salty Cracker]

I got bio pellets running since sept.  have green dust on my glass and have to scrape every 3-4 days.  Red slime on rocks.  Coralline growing on lower rocks. Some diaroms on sand. I have a sanding sifting starfish

Do you run GFO?  I would remove pellets before I would cut my GFO. 

 

[Krazykarl]

Ok I feel better now salty. Thought you had a miracle product and were holding out. I haven't had ha in years. Coralline covers my rocks. I just battle diatom dusting on glass and a bit on sand. I'm gonna try the star fish.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Ok I feel better now salty. Thought you had a miracle product and were holding out. I haven't had ha in years. Coralline covers my rocks. I just battle diatom dusting on glass and a bit on sand. I'm gonna try the star fish.

I think almost anywhere you have light and water you're going to get some algae.  I just reference back to when I would literally take rock out of the tank and scrub it with a toothbrush (!!).  I don't even have the tiny microbubbles on the rock anymore, those took MONTHS to finally get rid of.

 

[unibob]

What temp do you run your tank at?

 

[Salty Cracker]

im pretty sure diatoms are related to silicates rather than phos.
i have 0.02 p04, in my tank and diatoms everywhere, im going to try ROWAPHOS, as its supposed to take the silicates out as well
and i believe GFO is just focused on p04 removal.

I honestly think diatoms (not dinoflagellates) are related to cycle changes and upsets in the tank.  Blooms of one organism before another can grow to eat it.  That said, ROWA is a good product, I'd probably use it instead of bulk GFO if I could get it for the same price.

 

[Krazykarl]

My temp fluctuates between 76-78 degrees. More often than not its sitting in the 77.x range.

 

[Darryl_V]

Rowa is GFO.

Show me a healthy tank and I'll show you a tank that can grow algae.  Otherwise how would a healthy tank have a thriving macro algae refugium?

Everyone gets algae on the glass after a few days.....

The only reason I have no bubble algae in my display is my naso tang.  The only reason I dont have any hair algae is I blow the rocks weekly and have snails.  The only reason I dont have cotton candy algae is my mexican turbos.  The only reason I dont have cyano is because I blow the rocks and stir the top portion of the sand (while using coral snow at the same time).

Also maturity of a system will keep a lot of these things down.  Especially things like diatom which really shouldnt be happening in a stable, mature system.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Winter is great, it's the only time I can keep temps perfectly stable.  2 big heaters in the sump... 79.25 deg - 80.25

summer it's all over the place, I usually set the heaters for 81, otherwise I see it go fom 78-83 during a day.  When I had MH it was 80-86 during the day, even with central air, I almost bought a chiller.

Darryl: Rowa IS GFO, but it's man made, it's not exactly the same thing...

 

[Krazykarl]

Darryl, I was under the assumption stirring the sand is harmful. Am I mislead? I use reef snow my bwaquatics. But I've never stirred sand and them dosed it. Benefits to this?

 

[Salty Cracker]

I know if I stir the sand a little bit (just the top) it can trigger polyp extension in corals, I sometimes disturb things in the sump 10 minutes before feeding the tank, seems to get everything excited.

Darryl I'll have to ask about your feeding schedule, I literally have not had a spec of cyano in probably 10 months, and I don't blast anything, but I've recently really upped my feeding, so wonder if it's a possibility in my future...

 

[Darryl_V]

Winter is great, it's the only time I can keep temps perfectly stable.  2 big heaters in the sump... 79.25 deg - 80.25

summer it's all over the place, I usually set the heaters for 81, otherwise I see it go fom 78-83 during a day.  When I had MH it was 80-86 during the day, even with central air, I almost bought a chiller.

Darryl: Rowa IS GFO, but it's man made, it's not exactly the same thing...

GFO = Granualr Ferric Oxide hydroxide......Rowaphos is GFO.  Now Im not saying there couldnt be a difference in quality but chemically they are made up of the same stuff and both man made.

Darryl, I was under the assumption stirring the sand is harmful. Am I mislead? I use reef snow my bwaquatics. But I've never stirred sand and them dosed it. Benefits to this?

Yes....you are misled.  If you have a SSB it should be pretty thin, stirred and even better syphoned.  If you have a DSB it is safe and beneficial to stir the top portion but not too deep.

 

[Darryl_V]

I know if I stir the sand a little bit (just the top) it can trigger polyp extension in corals, I sometimes disturb things in the sump 10 minutes before feeding the tank, seems to get everything excited.

Darryl I'll have to ask about your feeding schedule, I literally have not had a spec of cyano in probably 10 months, and I don't blast anything, but I've recently really upped my feeding, so wonder if it's a possibility in my future...

cyano can come and go.....just because you dont have it now, doesnt mean you wont in the future.  I also find once you get it, it takes months to get rid of it......so as long as I keep up on my routine and dont slack, I never get it.

 

[Salty Cracker]

[quote author=Salty Cracker link=topic=4137.msg37666#msg37666 date=1359129536]
Winter is great, it's the only time I can keep temps perfectly stable.  2 big heaters in the sump... 79.25 deg - 80.25

summer it's all over the place, I usually set the heaters for 81, otherwise I see it go fom 78-83 during a day.  When I had MH it was 80-86 during the day, even with central air, I almost bought a chiller.

Darryl: Rowa IS GFO, but it's man made, it's not exactly the same thing...

GFO = Granualr Ferric Oxide hydroxide......Rowaphos is GFO.  Now Im not saying there couldnt be a difference in quality but chemically they are made up of the same stuff and both man made.

Darryl, I was under the assumption stirring the sand is harmful. Am I mislead? I use reef snow my bwaquatics. But I've never stirred sand and them dosed it. Benefits to this?

Yes....you are misled.  If you have a SSB it should be pretty thin, stirred and even better syphoned.  If you have a DSB it is safe and beneficial to stir the top portion but not too deep.
[/quote]

Ferric oxide occurs naturally as hematite ore and rust.  I thought that it was sort of a byproduct of mining more desirable ore veins. I was definitely under the understanding that rowa was put through a whole manufacturing process... even phosban was a more natural version of it.  However, yeah, I guess when we come down to it, it's all ferric oxide...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/6/review

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

[quote author=Petercar link=topic=4137.msg37656#msg37656 date=1359127192]
I got bio pellets running since sept.  have green dust on my glass and have to scrape every 3-4 days.  Red slime on rocks.  Coralline growing on lower rocks. Some diaroms on sand. I have a sanding sifting starfish

Do you run GFO?  I would remove pellets before I would cut my GFO.
[/quote]yes i run  GFO.

 

[Salty Cracker]

[quote author=Salty Cracker link=topic=4137.msg37657#msg37657 date=1359127512]
[quote author=Petercar link=topic=4137.msg37656#msg37656 date=1359127192]
I got bio pellets running since sept.  have green dust on my glass and have to scrape every 3-4 days.  Red slime on rocks.  Coralline growing on lower rocks. Some diaroms on sand. I have a sanding sifting starfish

Do you run GFO?  I would remove pellets before I would cut my GFO.
[/quote]yes i run  GFO.
[/quote]

Do you swap it out?  Heavy feedings?  How old are your bulbs?  It just sounds like something is off for some reason. 

 

[Krazykarl]

I'd say I'm about 2-3" sand bed. More in other spots due to flow n fish. I've never siphoned sand. I actually use aragonite as a substrate. Not as fine as sugar sand but its def not coarse.