Althea's 90 Gallon.....

hma

Well-Known Member
The non photo period should be no longer as 3-4 days. Use a hose and siphon the Dinos out every day as much as you can, that is the best way and of course have a look at the phosphate value, he should always remain under 0.03 ppt.

Btw as Doni and Jack already said, the more slowly the phosphate filters works the better.
 

althea2you

Active Member
ok, the phosphates were undetectable.. i have no visible dinos at the moment.. i think i causght it really early.. but nothing it growing on the walls, rocks or sand. the place where it was the worst was the left side in the sand, and that still looks a little grayish brownish(no lights here) so should i siphon that bit of sand again? oh and ALK was a 7. i will start a slow light period tomorrow to acclimate the tank to the full spectrum now that i have both bulbs and both ballasts. havnt rtied the new yet, but hopefully these work just fine. ok, thanks for the help.. hopefully i am free of this algae.
 

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
Yes. Siphon all brown slimy spots out.
You can add some buffer (arm&hammer baking soda) to increase the alkalinity. Here is a calculator that will tell you how much to add: Reef Chemistry Calculator
You can plug in the calcium and magnesium values needed also.
 

althea2you

Active Member
i dont have any slimy spots... but if i see them i will... as for the chemistry... 7 is ok to be at, but if i drop any lower than that i will add... if i want to be at about a 9 right....i will have to add 5.7 tsp of baking soda. but i probably dont want to just dump that in... how slowly should i go? should it be over a couple days? over a couple weeks? how much water should i put the baking soda in... 5.7 tsp in how much water? thanks for any help.. this will be the first time ever doing this and i am really nervous! :p


ok, Params
alk 7
mag 1200
calc 480
phos 0
pH 8.28
salinity 1.023 (low i know) need to do a waterchange but this dino problem made me not want to intrdouse anything new to it, like new salt water, fresh trace elements...
Nitrates 0-2
 

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
I usually dissolve the baking soda in a tall glass of freshwater,stir and add over the next few days.
The liquid in the glass will turn clear after an hour or so but you can use it immediately even when it is cloudy.
I add maybe 1/4 of the liquid into the sump (fast water flow area) every 12 hours (twice a day).


Your magnesium is low. Seachem has a very good magnesium supplement (Reef Advantage Magnesium) that I am currently using. I found it deep in my miscellaneous fish closet. Once gone, I will go back to using Randy's Two Part magnesium supplement which is a two part mixture of magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate.
 

althea2you

Active Member
thanks Doni! ill look into the mag supplement. i thought it was too low, but thought, since my salinity is off also, maybe its because its been almost 2 weeks since i did a water change... we'll see.. if i can go a couple day and not see any dinos, then i will WC and test, then if still low, then i will supplement.

so far, i have had the T-5's on all day, didnt add the MH, i will do that tomorrow.. and i have not seen any dinos... fingers crossed they are gone!
 

althea2you

Active Member
ok, so the halides.. both of them.. were on as well as the t-5's(t-5's still on) the MH's were on from 12:30- 4:30-5pm....and i saw NO dinos at all... <eek!> dare i get excited that i may have beat the beast into submission?!! :D

and I got my Cheato today Doni!!! thank you so much! WOW! it is a HEAPING amount! LOL....finally! a fully stocked and included refugium! yay! thank you again!
 

althea2you

Active Member
well.... i think the dinos are back.. well well.. what to do... should i ride it out?... lower the amount of photoperiod again...??? i felt i was doing everything right and i guess i wasnt.....

i still have the phos reator going... i havnt fed the tank yet... only thing i did do was add the cheato and then have the lights on a full photoperiod.. did i have them on too long? 11-5 for the halides and i had the t-5's on at 9 or 10 this morning and they are still on at the moment... my top off water reads at 0 on the TDS....hmmm.. ride ot out.. like do nothing for it but continue what im doing? leave lights at the same or shortened time and still run the reactor and just see if the tank takes care of it on its own so to speak? or is that asking for a bigger mess than i wanna deal with?!! tia for any input you have for me...
 

hma

Well-Known Member
The following measures should be applied at least 7, better 14 days, very strictly to succeed.

-Measures for the reduction of the nutrients in an area near 0 mg (PO4/NO3)

-Admit no new nutrients like trace elements / amino acids and vitamins (NO B12).

-No water changes, on this occasion, also nutrients are introduced.

-The Silicate concentration in the tank must be absolutely 0 mg / l, check your osmosis.

-Raise the pH factor to 8.4, better 8.5; and hold by addition of Kalkwasser. Besides, the alkalinity should raise, or on relatively high level are held (≤ 12 dkH).

-Reduction of the lighting duration (HQI, MH, T5, T8) to maximum 6h / day (lighting duration of blue light can be longer).

-Everyday suck of the layers for the reduction of the population density and reduction of the toxicity.

-The treatment should be finished in no case too early there; otherwise, a high risk rules the infection once more spreads out. Treatment after the entire removal of all visible layers at minimum 7 more days continue.

Other steps:

Phosphat-Adsorber for the whole period, better consecutively, use (Rowaphos, Contraphos, Elimi-Phos, Timo PhosStop), less feed, Temperature lower.


If the treatment is concluded successfully I recommend a change of the sea salt.

... best of luck.
 

hma

Well-Known Member
In this case some explicatory words why one should raise the pH factor and the carbonate hardness with Kalkwasser:


Kalkwasser is a very old, originally in the sewage technology developed method. To produce Kalkwasser Calciumhydroxid is dissolved possibly in pure osmosis water (UO). Calciumhydroxid I can shop in very pure form in whole Europe in all chemist's shops, unfortunately, I do not know whether in the USA is also possible.

If Kalkwasser reaches fast in the aquarium water, the pH value of the aquarium water is raised also fast. To prevent this, the Kalkwasser should reach only drop by drop in the aquarium or sump (about 1 drop per second and 100 litres aquarum volume). Where the Kalwasser reaches in the aquarium, is at times a very high pH factor which allow the so-called phosphate precipitation. There originate from the calcium particles of the Kalkwasser and the phosphate particles available in the aquarium water a firm indissoluble connection - the calcium phosphate. Thus the excessive phosphate from the aquarium is slowly removed.

If the Kalkwasser method is applied, the pH factor rises with sufficient carbonate hardness about from on an average 0.1 to 0.2 pH steps. This light pH value rise shifts the carbon dioxide-carbonic acid-Hydrogencarbonat-Carbonat-buffer system easily in the direction of Carbonat. Less free carbon dioxide and carbonic acid is given therefore in the other side. These both forms of the carbon cause in aquariums with too high nitrate, phosphate and iron a raised green alga growth (as well dinos). If Kalkwasser is used, the danger of green algae or dino's plague is substantially lower.


kalkwasser.jpg
 

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
Great info has been given in this thread.
Sarah you just have to keep battling it.
Dinos are not easy to get rid of.
 

framerguy

Well-Known Member
Heinz, you are a genious! Is there a way to copy those posts and make them a sticky somewhere? I'd like to be able to find them again easily.
 
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