UV

[mpleleaf]

Can anyone tell me if putting a UV on my 77 gal. ,4"dsb, LR will be a benefit . I'm trying to control micro algae , so I'm thinking if I put it on a timer it might not kill all the healthy stuff the LR needs ! The water , light and anything else we could think of has been check but the skimmer cant even keep up . Any assistance would be appreciated, Thanks Kevin

[afss]

UV's tend to only be a bandage for problems. they may make things look OK on the surface, but in reality your system may be that much closer to the point of a crash. If you have ich or something like that and want to use a UV temporarily to provide relief to your fish till you get the cause fixed then they are ok, but otherwise i wouldn't recomend them.

If you are having problems in your tanks then there will be underlying issues. You water quality, for some reason, isn't up to par. There are many things that can cause this.
Polutants in the top up water
polutants in the food
too much food
too many fish
not adaquate biological filtration
color shift in the lighting
many many other things

To help us give you an answer we also need to know
how old is the set up.
what critters are in the tank
how often andd how much do you feed
what type of filtration do you have other than dsb and live rock
how much live rock
what type of lighting
what duration of lighting
how old are the bulbs
do you use tap water or RO for mix and top up
do you do water changes
and if you have them what are your water parameters in the tank. amonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate (with algae this will be a big one), SG, temp, ph, and any other parameters you may have.

Scott

[afss]

also what type of skimmer do you use?

Scott

[afss]

Originally posted by mpleleaf
parameters
Hey Scott ! Thats a long list you've got going on but here goes. The tank is a 77 Imp. gal. with 4"dsb and about 100 lbs of live rock that was pretty much dead when I purchased it. It has 4 powerheads and a fluval 404 with just ceramics and the infamous seaclone w/ mods. MY lighting right now consist of 4 - 40 w n.o. flourescents 2 for 6hrs. 2 for 10hrs. The tanks been running for 4 months , 2 1/2 with no problems then the dreaded algae bloom . Water is a steady with filtered distilled being used....PH@8.4 and using test kits for NH3&4 , Phosphates , NO2&3 ther was nothing on the tests at all , Sal 28-30 , S.G. 1.020-1.024 with temp @26 DEG. So far I've done some really big water changes (30 % ) trying to get rid of the green but obviously no luck. the bio-load isnt much with 4 damsels 1 crab 1 shrimp and a few snails. That all said and done I'm wandering in a few circles and getting no where ! The tank is to new to probably have any or much activity for the skimmer anyway but is trying it's best to collect algae. I really don't want to use a UV at all. Well there you have it , let me know what your thinking as I'm looking for all the help I can get,THANKS Kevin !



Hi.. I hope you don't mind I quoted your pm to me so others could see the same info in case they have something to offer.

From what you are telling me it sounds as if your parameters and load are all good.
Depending on the amount of growth of algae etc it is somewhat normal for no signs to show up on the test kits as the algae may be using all the phosphates and nitrates etc to grow. IMO i would suggest trying a phosphate sponge media. Our 150 gallons of frag tank went pea soup green one day. I tryed many things for months, including a UV, with no real effect. I then put a phosphate sponge in and with in days the problem cleared up.
I still have no idea where the excess phosphates came from in the frag system as it wasn't getting food, and had no real bio load to speak off. The water going in it was the same as going in my reef.. oh well

JMO and guess.

Hope that helps

Scott

[mpleleaf]

Hey Scott , just letting you know how I'm making out. I tried the phosphate sponge and it's been running for about a week . The only lfs in town carries this particular phosphate remover but it's for ponds ( doesn't say for fresh or salt ), thought I'd give it a try but haven't seen any results yet. So I'm just patiently waiting for the fish Gods to bring me my reprieve. Any ideas what is in the sw sponges , I believe all this is barley stalk of some form or another

[afss]

Not sure what is in phosphate sponge. I think the stuff i have used is from kent. I think you can also get it as a shet of filter media. Do you have a picture or the name and and company of the stuff you are using?

Scott

[mpleleaf]

Scott , No pics but the stuff is from laguna and it just looks like barley your mom probably put in soup only in a mixture of raw browns (not the bleached stuff for cooking ).There is no supplier of Kent products around these parts so I'm off to check on the net, Talk to you later , Kevin

[mpleleaf]

Tried something different, green water clarifier by Laguna.I was always under the impression that if says fresh water only , thats what it is and vice versa for salt ! what if it doesnt say anything. With nothing in the tank and nothing to lose why not ! What do you know it works and now after being waterborne algae free for more than a month with crystal clear h2o , I have to decide whats going in it!