Safe to use electric weed-eaterwater in aquarium?

[Simon1]

I moved seven months ago, and since my reef tank has had a terrible algae problem that I can't resolve. The algae is reddish brown and grows on anything without excessive water cirrculation. I've removed it all from the substrate only to have it come back in three hours. Last week I read a similar thread, and the use of Chemiclaen was suggested. I tried this product and saw absolutly no results. So I called my LFS today about Red Slime Remover, and they say that it is the same treatment as Chemiclean. I do a five gallon water change weekly and top off with RO. My water parameters are as follows:

Tank set up 2 1/2 years ago
30 gal tank w/ 20 gal sump.
pH- 8.4
Nitrate- <5
phos-. 0
dKH- 8
Ca- 355
Temp- 73'F.
SG- 1.024
LIGHTS: 150W MH (20,000)w/ two 65W PC (atinic)lights are on for 9hours
Livestock:
6 Hermits and 6 turbos
1 clown
1yellow gobi
2 twin spot gobies
1 sand sifting star

 

[Anonymous]

I'm having a little trouble figuring out what that title means...?

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, are you talking about Cyanobacteria, which can be reddish and isn't algae, or are you talking about like diatoms, which can be brownish red and isn't algae either :lol: ?

Either way, you need to figure out where the nutrients are coming from that is driving the pesky stuff. Figure out where the excess nutrients are coming from and that will help. Do you use RO water? Are you running a skimmer? From what I see you have quite a few fish in a 30 gallon tank, are you maybe feeding frozen food? Do you have a sandbed?

Edit..oops, didn't see where you are using RO water...

 

[Anonymous]

First I'd do a TDS reading on your RO water to make sure it's pure.

Then, increase circulation.

But you said you moved the tank 7 months ago so it's possible, although unlikely, that your tank is going through another cycling phase. In which case you can just wait and see if the cyano clears up on its own.

Last resort would be the weed-eater; but I'd suggest a full powered gas model, as the electric ones can be on the wimpy side.

 

[FragMaster]

And put a blade on it.

 

[Simon1]

Yea, sorry about the title, total brain fart...I do use RO water for mixing salt and top offs which I buy from LFS. The algae seems more brown than red. I also forgot to mention that I am running a skimmer and 3 powerheads(Excalibur- Advanced Aquaria) I dont have access to a TDS meter. Any other tests I could do on my RO? Oh BTW I considered a gas trimmer, but thought the electricity would look alot cooler when it started to spark.

 

[FragMaster]

:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

How old is the RO unit> maybe the membanes need changing?

 

[Anonymous]

He probably doesn't know Dawg... - Buying it from LFS...... - Go get some coffee girl..


Is it growing up from a sandbed? - In a corner where theres not a lot of flow maybe??

 

[Anonymous]

He probably never hear any horror story about store-bought RO....

 

[Anonymous]

He probably doesn't know Dawg... - Buying it from LFS...... - Go get some coffee girl..


Is it growing up from a sandbed? - In a corner where theres not a lot of flow maybe??

yes dear...

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: :lol: - S'alright Dawg, we all have those days. - And you have a while to catch up with me yet.


7E -Yeah, I'm lucky, I have a pretty good LFS, not like the "typical" breed, but I STILL check things out for myself. (And I really only buy water from them when setting up or doing a large water change or something.. - Having your own RO is pretty essential I feel.)


Simon - I'd have them bust out their own TDS meter and show you that its good. If they don't have a TDS either (or don't even know what one is) then theres your clue as to what type of LFS you have...

Like Dawg said though, you probably have cyano or dinos. Either or both can be caused by bad makeup water (though bad RO is more likely to be dinos which like Dawg said, is more brown than red.) Cyano (more red) is probably a bit more likely to be from bacteria processing wastes (from uneaten food/organic matter collecting in low flow areas is common.)

Also, I'd probably steer clear of the weedeaters, gas or electric.. - Take it up a notch and knock it out of the park clean on the first swing. - Try this instead:

 

[afishyonados]

It is encouraged by red spectrum. How old are your PC's? Even on high quality ballasts, the functional lifespan of PC"s is short. As they age, they shift in color, producing too much red spectrum, encouraging the snotty slimy growth.

 

[brandon4291]

I'd also have to say that 5 g's isn't enough max export to battle nutrient issues in a 30 gal IMO... depending on what your nitrate ranges are before and after water changes (say, 3-5 days after) I'd step it up to 50% weekly with heavy skimming. I know that's a lot of work, but IMO that's how hard I'd go to really fight the eutrophication. As I've seen and tolerated in my own systems before, be ready for your best efforts to take longer to pay off (algae death/restriction) than they did to fail (algae infestation). Just like the FW aquarist who buys live plants and sticks them in a sterile, underlit (typically for the plants sold to unwitting planters), imbalanced-nutrient tank and waits for growth but only gets brown degeneration in two months, we'll have the same for the algae we battle in our tanks. For quite some time in algae-restricted environs, they'll live on their own internal matrices and nutrient stores while they're starving and it'll seem like nothing keeps them at bay. You weed whack them, they even come back a little among all these water changes, PO4 removals and extra skimming. If you'll trust your biology and keep that PO4, NO3 and everything else that loves algae at bay, for a long time, and keep up the manual removal, you can beat it naturally.

I personally think some of those oxidizer dosers coupled with these maintenance aggressions would be what I would try.

Good luck Sir
B

 

[Simon1]

It mainly grows in the sand bed, anywhere that cirrculation isn't excessive. I tried directing powerheads to these areas on the sand and it looked great for eight minutes ( thats how long it took to blow the sand away and expose glass bottom) :lol: . My PCs where replaced in December along with the MH. So could the problem be diatoms? If my LFS has old RO filters, couldnt that allow silicates to enter the finished product? Who makes a reasonable silicte test? Oh and Brandon...dude nice post. Im going to print it frame it and hang it above my tank to help me keep the up the fight. Oh yea...Greatfuldiver, that is a chipper, and everyone knows you cant use chippers in saltwater...Thanks for all the help guys...much thanks!