Thinking of adding to/changing my equipment

[PhoenixOne]

I know the question is gonna be asked so, here is what I have and my parameters:

72g AGA bowfront, Temp:76-79f, SG 1.025, nitrate 10-15, ph-8.2, ammonia-0, nitrite-0, phos-0 (as per Instant Ocean), alk-6.5 meq,
Cal-(not sure anymore, Instand Ocean shows way over 500..Had friend at lfs test with ELOS and it came up 350. :letitallo) Perform 15g water change every two weeks using Kold Steril filtered tap water and I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt.

1 hippo, 1 powder brown, 1 yellow (all tangs)
1 maroon clown
1 neon goby
1 blue spot jawfish
2 cleaner shrimp
1 fire shrimp
6 emerald crabs
50 nassarius
about 15 astrea snails
5 turbo snails
10 hermit crabs
1 long tentical anemone
1 frog spawn
1 favia
1 short tenticle plate
1 wesophyllia
1 trumpet coral
1 galaxia
3 mushrooms (dont know what kind, hitch hikers)
1 pom pom xenia
1 fragged acro
1 coco worm
115 lbs of live rock
3-4 inch sand bed

All running on two 150w hqi 15000k, 4 55w actinics, cpr cy194, turbo twist9w uv, heater
tank up for 3 years.

I have been having a forever battle with hair algae. I feed every 2 to 3 days. I feed formula two, Sally's San Fransico Brand frozen Mysis, Brine, reef plankton cyclops and DT's phyto blend. Light period is 7 hours.
I had one purple acro and it quickly turned brown in a few days and never regained it's color back last May.

This is the room I have to work with:

My goals are to have a freakin tank with no freakin hair algae!!!(there, i said it). and to have acros that don't loose their color once it touches my water. I am not allowed to have anything visible on the outside of the cabinet....as per wifey and there is no way she will let me set anything up in the basement leading through the floor to the tank....once again, wifey.
So that is where I am. All of your help and suggestions are welcome!!! Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Killerdrgn]

Get a phosphate reactor

 

[NYreefNoob]

take that media out of the sump . and i would invest in some salifert test kits

 

[PhoenixOne]

Get a phosphate reactor

What brand/size? And how do i hook one of those up to my current system?

 

[nyfireman3097]

Get sump with a readl skimmer and use carbon and also a phosphate reactor

 

[PhoenixOne]

take that media out of the sump . and i would invest in some salifert test kits

I'm in the process of doing that. This picture shows the beggining of the removal. There is now 1/4 left and should be all gone in 10 days. (removing slowly to avoid possible spikes)
I had salifert and I also experience rollercoaster results with them.(also, some of their tests are very difficult to perform, but this was a while ago...maybe they changed?)

 

[PhoenixOne]

Get sump with a readl skimmer and use carbon and also a phosphate reactor

This CPR CY194 has a sump in the rear but it is not visible. It currently houses my return pump, a bag of phosorb and a bag of activated carbon. What's a readl skimmer?

 

[cb747]

Sea Hares will eat hair algae readily

 

[autoponicz]

wow thats a big bucket for skimmate..your skimmer must produce some serious nog...

i would do a new sump/skimmer/fuge and a ATO(auto top off) and a phosban reactor....

 

[PhoenixOne]

Sea Hares will eat hair algae readily

I thought that was a good idea too. I went through 3 of them. All 3 died within 3/4 days of purchase.

 

[PhoenixOne]

wow thats a big bucket for skimmate..your skimmer must produce some serious nog...

i would do a new sump/skimmer/fuge and a ATO(auto top off) and a phosban reactor....

Lol. Ya know....I have a 2 liter sprite bottle in that bucket. Sometimes after I feed, the skimmer goes nuts afterwards and it overflowed once. So the bucket is there as a backup. (yeah, I know. lol). I can't put an auto top off, the tank is in the livingroom. I was thinking about a new sump/skimmer/fuge but I've read on this forum that alot of people are steering away from fuges. And what size/brand of phosphate reactor is good and how to I hook it up to my current system?

 

[vanceny]

Have you tested your water after the Kold Steril with a tds meter? Or for phosphates after you make up the water?

 

[GQ22]

ditch the sump and get a new one. There seems too be too much room for trapped dietrus and subsequent nitrate spike. Also i would ditch the cold sterile filter and just get a rodi unit. Some people are selling cheap. On ebay they cost 130 bucks.

 

[autoponicz]

you can get one of these ATO ...u'll just need a small pump and something to hold about 5gallons...you can use a smaller ocntainer but then you'll find yourself adding fresh water more than once a week.

http://www.aquahub.com/store/autotopoffcomp.html

 

[PhoenixOne]

Have you tested your water after the Kold Steril with a tds meter? Or for phosphates after you make up the water?

I did test for phosphates and that showed 0. But I don't have a tds meter. I will get one asap.

 

[PhoenixOne]

ditch the sump and get a new one. There seems too be too much room for trapped dietrus and subsequent nitrate spike. Also i would ditch the cold sterile filter and just get a rodi unit. Some people are selling cheap. On ebay they cost 130 bucks.

The ro/di produces alot of waste water. The Koldsteril has 0 waste. I am going to get a tds meter and test the koldsteril water quality. I did clean out the cpr a month ago (first time since i got the tank 3 years ago) and there was alot of detritus in all the chamber floors' surface. I see some, but not much building up again. What sump will fit in my cabinet that will also accomodate an 'in sump skimmer' and a phosphate reactor? Is there any negative finds on the Koldsteril II systems btw?

 

[PhoenixOne]

you can get one of these ATO ...u'll just need a small pump and something to hold about 5gallons...you can use a smaller ocntainer but then you'll find yourself adding fresh water more than once a week.

http://www.aquahub.com/store/autotopoffcomp.html

The auto top off is an awsome idea and i really would want one but I presently have no room for a 5g or less bucket to place anywhere in the cabinet (darn bow front cabinets!). *dreamin about ATO:frown:

 

[KathyC]

The phosban reactor most use is the Two-Little Fishies brand. You'll need a Maxi Jet 400 pump to run it. Most decent LFS's carry them but you'll get a better price from Reef Exotics (West Hempstead), or another of our vendors, or on the web.

You could probably make room under there for an auto top off. I have one that is 8 1/4" w x 16" L x 18" high..it holds 7 gallons (I think..), works great!! You could get one of our acrylic folks to make you a simple one that would fit under your stand
If you pitched the bucket you have and get a Waste Collector it would save you even more space.

 

[PhoenixOne]

The phosban reactor most use is the Two-Little Fishies brand. You'll need a Maxi Jet 400 pump to run it. Most decent LFS's carry them but you'll get a better price from Reef Exotics (West Hempstead), or another of our vendors, or on the web.

You could probably make room under there for an auto top off. I have one that is 8 1/4" w x 16" L x 18" high..it holds 7 gallons (I think..), works great!! You could get one of our acrylic folks to make you a simple one that would fit under your stand
If you pitched the bucket you have and get a Waste Collector it would save you even more space.

What's a waste collector? Any pics? links?


Wait...I just looked at one of the ATO units and it involves electricity. I have to hard wire something for it to work? I hope not, becaue I am a human lighting rod when it comes to electricity. I can't tell you how many times I've shocked myself....*cry*

 

[KathyC]

I have no idea if your skimmer will accept a waste collector or what the rules for them are..so hopefully someone who knows will jump in here on this..
Here is what one looks like
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~PM2113.html

I use them on (with?) my skimmers. The hose that comes out of the collection cup goes into the top of the waste collector. As the skimmer cup fills up the excess skimmate goes into the collector. If the collector becomes full..for whatever reason like the skimmer has gone beserk for no apparent reason, you forgot to empty the cup..for a week and a half ..lol, something dosn't function properly...the waste collectorgets full and the ping pong ball inside of it stops something (?? ) from happening and kills the bubbles in your skimmer so it will not continue to produce skimmate.

I don't understand why it works but it does and it has saved me a bunch of grief

If I could hook up an ATO..you certainly can! I am the queen chicken when it comes to electrical things!! I'll build them but I make someone else plug them in first..:shhh: