phosphate/silicate removers?

[esmithiii]

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I was told that bristleworms eat corals, and therefore are not a good hitchhiker to have in the tank. Is this not true?

Yes, it is not true. Bristleworms are very beneficial to the health of the tank and generally leave healthy organisms alone.

I would look for the source of the phosphates. It has to enter the tank somehow. I suspect the water.

Remember that as you add top-off water, any contaminants will build up in your display tank since only the water evaporates, not the contaminants. I would have the water tested for phosphates.

Ernie

 

[zeldapinwheel]

Thanks for the tip about bristleworms. Maybe I was confsuing them with something else. I certainly haven't been trying to get them out of my tank...

My phosphates are currently about 0.02, two weeks ago they were 0.2 ppm. I also am siphoning out the algae daily, so that there is less of it overall in the tank. If that were not solving the problem, I don't think I would be seeing an overall decrease in the amount of algae.

From what I understand about the algae life cycle, as it dies, it provides the phosphates for more algae to grow, so if you let a bloom get out of control (as I sadly did) it can get ahead of you. I don't think phosphates are entering my tank from my top-off water. The tap water purifier I am using claims to remove all organics and inorganics- but it will be a good idea for me to check that.

Just to give you the history of this algae bloom and how badly I let it get- I had to take the tank apart after I had it for 4 months to re-cure the rock, as I said. When I put it back together, I got an incredible algae bloom. At the time, the LFS that re-cured my rock said this was an indication that the rock was fully cured of all dead stuff again (I had never seen the algae bloom like this before).
On the advice of the person responsible for getting me into this hobby, my father, I let the algae bloom go- he assured me it would go away in time. Unfortunately, that did NOT happen, and I did not avail myself of the expertise on this site. So I let a little problem turn into a huge one, over the course of 3-4 months.

To rectify the problem, we started doing many water changes and replaced our protein skimmer, which had been giving us fits, and got a bigger biowheel filter. That seemed to help, but we still weren't getting ahead of the algae- we were just keeping up.

After that, I started siphoning out the algae manually, and I added the phosphate beads to sort of help out.

I do want to add about 2 more inches to my sand bed, to improve filtration. Can I "make" my own live sand by adding bagged sand? Should this be done in a separate tank with a sample from my sand bed I have now? SHould I use Coral Vital LSB? Or should I shell out the $5 a pound the LFS charges for another 25 lbs?

 

[esmithiii]

Adding bagged, dry sand is OK. Expect another bloom, but it should be short-lived and not as severe as the one you are describing. The existing sand and LR will seed the new sand. Particle size and composition of the sand is critical, IMO.

As for phosphates, they are entering the tank somehow. The algae feeds off excess nutrients in the water column. IME, algae blooms that persist are always caused by excess nutrients.

As for the biowheel, I recommend that you remove it. Start a poll, and you will see that most the reefkeepers (especially those w/ 2 yrs+ experience) will give similar advice. Do a search on biowheels.

Ernie

 

[zeldapinwheel]

what particle size do you recommend? What if I put the dry sand in another tank and seed that with a sample from my tank for a month or so? will that decrease the likelihood of a bloom?

I'll consider removing the biowheel- are you talking just taking out the wheel- or removing the whole device? That sounds like I'm getting rid of an awful lot of filtration to me...

 

[esmithiii]

If you have enough circulation, I would remove the whole device. One big problem w/ many biowheel filters is that some models have a carbon-filled pad that can trap detritus which will feed the algae. Don't worry about "loosing a lot of filtration!" If you have a skimmer, plenty of LR and a sand bed then additional filtration is not necessary.

This is a quote from Ron Shimek:

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> The sediment particle distribution should not be uniform. Particle diameters should range from coarse sand (2.0+ mm) to fine sand(0.063 mm). The sediments should be skewed so that about 60 percent of the sediment is between 0.5mm and 0.062 mm in diameter (coarse sand to very fine sand). As far as the animals are concerned the sediment mineral composition is unimportant. This sediment particle distribution facilitates water percolation and promotes organism utilization.

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Here are some links:

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/r_shimek_090698.html

http://www.atlantisaquatic.com/dsb.html

 

[esmithiii]

Another interesting quote from Shimek:

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> Several points from this and other studies become obvious.

RON SHIMEK

<ul type="square"> [*]A proposed mixture of sediments easily obtained by hobbyists that functions well in sand beds and is quite similar to natural sediments.

[*]Sediment beds need to be constructed of several different grades of sediment with a predominance of the sizes hobbyists characterize as “sugar-fine” sand. This will facilitate the use of the sand bed by various different types of organisms. Using sediments in the aquarium of only one size range is counter-productive. I have suggested a sediment distribution that works well in a reef aquarium (see Figure 3)(Shimek 1999).
[*]Coarse sediments tend to contain more algae and produce significantly more organic carbon by photosynthesis than fine sediments, which tend to consume organic materials. This difference is particularly pronounced at lower temperatures (75 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit) than at higher temperatures (80 to 82 degrees).
[*]Sediment surfaces need to be disturbed, either by currents or by organisms, to work detritus into the sediments so it can be processed. In an aquarium, this may occur by the action of animals, such Nassarius snails or many types of bristle worms, brittle stars or sea cucumbers.
[*]The sediment beds need to be deep enough for anaerobic conditions to develop. Such sediments can and do process nitrogen and carbon at high rates in nature. Emulating such components of nature in our systems also works, and works well if the sediment beds are 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) deep.
[*]The presence of a diverse and dense faunal array assists in this process. Predatory burrowing animals need to be avoided, while sediment-feeding animals should be encouraged.
Although the sediments in our beds differ from the sediments in some natural reef communities, they are good analogues of functional natural sediments in their capabilities to provide our reefs with nutrient recycling capabilities and food, as well as to add a component that is more natural than most of the other mini-reef structures.
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[zeldapinwheel]

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful!