upgrade or not

[roho]

Maybe I should be asking this question in the nano discussion section, but don't seem to be alot of traffic there.
I have a 10gal nano and seem to always have some kind of algae's in it. The water checks off great, but it is there. PH 8.2, KH 11, nitrate 5.0, calcium 380 to 420, phos. 0. I don't over feed because I just put my first fish in yesterday. The setup is 4 months old with 14 lbs of LR, 1 1/2 in. of crushed coral, a couple small corals, 72 watts PC lighting. 10k and actinic, skilter filter w/ souped up protein skimmer. Hagen 402 PH, RO/DI water.

Now my reason for posting; I am thinking of going to a 20 gal that I have empty to see if it easier to keep. I am willing to buy a little more rock and live sand for it. I will also upgrade the lights to either 110 watts PC or 175w MH. If I go with the MH, is the German 175w 10k a good choice or should I go with the 110w PC or or more? I want to be able to keep all types of coral. Next question; will this move be worth the expense?
Sorry for the long post.

 

[investigator1]

I say stay 10 gallon or go 100 gallons. All that middle stuff just sucks your money and leaves you wanting more.

 

[Tremelle]

Here is a good nano reef site, http://www.nano-reef.com/

 

[Len]

Testing the tank for nutrients doesn't always tell the full story since these nutrients can be binded up in organica material such as algae. My advice is to manually remove as much of the algae as possible which serves as an effective nutrient export mechanism. If you're using RO/DI, you should have minimal nutrient import. Over time (with you removing algae), you'll eventually remove nitrogen from your system and should observe a lower reoccurance of algae problems. It takes time, patience, and getting your hands wet, but it should pay off.

A 20 gallon with a 175W German 10KK would be a very nice system capable of supporting any coral I can think of (in terms of lighting). It will get rather hot, however, and you'll have to make sure you have enough evaporative cooling from fans to keep temps down. 2 x 55W PCs would also work rather nicely, albeit not as bright as the halide. I say if you can keep temps within reasonable range, go with the halide.

I agree with investigator .... if you're going larger, I suggest you take a bigger step to make it worthwhile. A 10 to a 20 gallon doesn't really afford you much more flexibilty and room in choice of fish and corals. I recommend stepping up to a 50 gallon or more. A tank bigger then 4' gives you a lot more options for livestock. That's, of course, just my opinion. Nanos are great fun, and I plan on restarting one in a few weeks. But there's nothing like larger tanks for me

I'm gonna move this to the nano forum, and keep a "ghost" of the thread in here so you have double exposure. The nano forum ppl really know their stuff

 

[wombat1]

Good advice so far. It would be a shame to waste all your good patience so far by switching to a new tank. Try sticking with what you have and read up on the causes of algae and ask lots of questions.

It sounds like you're doing everything right as far as nutrient control. What type of algae do you have? What color and texture is it, and where does it appear in your tank (high/low flow area, high/low light, etc.)?
I get outbreaks of cyanobacteria (a slimy red growth on sand and rocks) every once in a while that is caused by high levels of dissolved organics. My control method is just like suggested: Siphon it off, replace new water, keep up with small regular water changes, and run a little activated carbon a few days a month.

 

[roho]

I really appreciate all the replies. I have cyanobacteria most all the time.
There is also a dark rust, almost dark red on one rock top. The red slime in on the crushed coral. I do a 10% or more WC every week, plus top off about 3/4 gal between. I have been running some activated carbon for about two weeks now. Some of this time i was using it, the Cyan was gone. It came back yesterday and is heavy with it today. It really takes the fun out of reefing. Also lighting don't seem to effect it. I have left the light off 30 hour and turn the on and it's there. I guess I will leave the 20 gal alone and stick with what I have, til I decide I can't handle this algae problem anymore.
wombat, I have spend countless hours in front of this PC reading about reefs and how to care for them, and yes there are a lot of reading on algae of all kinds, but they all say about the same and I have tried all I have read. The problem is still there. Someone told me once it was the distill water I use to use. Bought RO/DI system and still have it. You guy's are so willing to help and I appreciate you. Thanks to all of you.

 

[kimichan]

i gotta agree with the one who said just scrape it off. In my limited experience, algae will grow every day, sometimes to the point where the tank will look horrible by midweek. However, it isn't hard to scrape it off the glass, and the red stuff you're talking about, that which I think is coralline algae, is good for the tank, b/c it does similar things that the sump does. If it gets on the front glass, just razor blade it off. Elsewhere, besides on the glass...yeah, that is kinda frustrating. sounds good anyway.

 

[roho]

No, I know what the algae is and it's not coralline. I have some of that to, but that's fine. This is cyanbacteria (red slime algae) and it's on the crushed coral bottom.

 

[wombat1]

I just realized--crushed coral. That may be the cause of your problems. Such a coarse substrate catches detritus and not many sediment dwelling organisms can live in it to clean up. You should do a search on sediment size, or Southdown, Deep Sand Beds, etc. A lot of folks keep very fine substrate like sugar.

 

[roho]

That makes sense to me, wombat. It is pretty coarse stuff. Maybe I should replace it with live sand.