Live Rock Rubble Tower With High Water Flow?

[GQ22]

I am battling a bit of cyano and hiar algae problem, and cant seem to pinpoint it.

I feed half a pinky nail sized homemade food which i rinsed in RO water before blending, have two small tangs, two large anthias, and a yellow coris wrasse.

I dont think its bio load. Does any think it could be a live rock tower?

It's in a upwelling section of my sump which water passes up through the live rock tower and down to a bubble trap then to the seqence.

Is a live rock tower even neccessary if i dont care about pods? Looking for Sterile tank approach dosing and heavy skimming.

 

[GQ22]

PS. i have not done a water since putting my tank together 2 months ago. Just wet skim, and replace every so often with salt water

 

[Bob 1000]

For long hair algae the best thing is a toothbrush....But you will want to do some serious water changes after... And good husbandry after...

 

[Awibrandy]

Are you replacing evaporated water with salt water? Have you checked the sg in this tank lately?

 

[GQ22]

nah, i've been in this hobby long enough to know not to replace evaporated water with salt water = )

 

[GQ22]

i've also just taken out my filter bags, i suspect they are causing problems too. They are at the point in which water does not flow through them easily and they simply spill over the top. People have

My main question is what everyone thinks of a liverock tower. A waste of time, with little benefit gained or something actually worthwhile?

 

[kimoyo]

I just think your tank is too young. While I don't think the liverock tower helps, if its only been 2 months, just give it a few more months and the hair algae should just start floating away (assuming your have good filtration).

Personally, I would get rid of the liverock tower if your not using it for bubbles because its a detritus trap. For myself I want to make a section in the sump for detritus to settle and I could remove every week or so to chuck the dirt. For now I'm using socks because I don't have the time to make anything. So I just try to clean the sock before it start back flowing, not because I'm worried about it creating nitrates, but because its getting clog. Ever week or two dumping the detritus is fine with me.

A lot of stuff is pushed in this hobby because someone is trying to sell something, "Oh look at all these compartments I can put in this sump" when they have no clue what they're advising. Most of the time a simpler approach is usually better.

 

[Quang]

hey GQ, i had a liverock tower in the back of my 12g Nanocube and it definitely was reason for my high nitrate levels. I removed it and replaced it with a bag of carbon and polyfilter pads as a prefilter and my cyano disappeared in 2 weeks. IMO, liverock tower are a waste of time, especially if they are used as the first stage of mechanical filtering.

remember to periodically replace those polyfilter pads as they darken in color, if you choose to try my way.