Since I put the algae scrubber on my tank most of my algae problems in my display tank have gone. I also use a liquid phosphate remover and between the two I do not have a problem. Thanks for all the great videos. They have really helped me get back into the hobby after a long break and given me a lot of useful ideas and tips. Just hurry up and start suppling to the UK market!
It took me many years to learn some of this information, mostly through trial and error. Its cool to hear someone explain algae control so quickly and concisely.
Congratulations to you and your wife on your new baby. I have to say, this is one of the best advice episodes I've seen about algae. I'll be posting this video in my local reef forum. I swear by GFO and R.S. NO/PO. I also run a fug. just for show really. But still getting good macro growth. my levels of Nitrate run between 1-2 ppm and Phos. around 0.19. Those levels seem to work for my reef. I'd like to see PO4 come down some, but like I said, the reef is doing great. Thanks for the great videos. Again, congratulations on God's gift to you and your wife. Enjoy.
In all my tank both fresh and salt I find that water changes fix everything !! A good cleaning with good water changes will always make a noticeable difference . For the most part if your fish look sick water changes, something to high or low water changes, algae water changes, corals start to look bad water changes
I had a huge algae problem for the longest time. I was doing everything "right". I was doing 25-50% water changes weekly and tried biweekly. My problem would just not go away. That's when I followed the advise of the owner of the Fish Bowl in Camden DE. He said my water changes are too big. I have a 60 gallon reef tank. He told me to do 3 gallon water changes a week. After following his advice, IT WORKED!! He said I Was changing too much water and the tank kept cycling over and over every time I made a 25-50% water change.
I can definitely attest to lighting as a source. My bio-cube came with a single row LED el-cheap-o "lighting setup". NEVER had an issue with algae. I got a Current Orbit Marine LED programmable unit (love it!) and now I am getting minor algae on the glass; nothing a swipe with the glass squeegee can't handle every 3-4 days. Turning down the intensity to 70% helped reduce the algae growth, too. Agreed with the others, information over-load! Not complaining, just...wow!
Not certain when this video was posted, but with it being 2018 now, there have to be many good commercially produced algae scrubbers out there. Can you please post a link to the good ones? Great series of videos mate! Your information is extremely valuable - I've just started reefing again after 20 years. I just bought a 6' long x 3' deep x 2.5' wide (396 US gallons or approx 1300 litres) complete with tank, cabinet, sump, LED hood (blue tooth adjustable), filtration, 5 power heads, 3 reactors. But no protein skimmer, algae scrubber or RODI. I paid $3,500.00 Australian (around $2,700.00 USD) which is an excellent price. This is a massive tank and I'm a bit frightened because soooooo much has changed in the 20 odd years I've been without a marine/reef tank. I still have an older 24" tall protein skimmer (wooden stone type that sits in the tank) but the skimmers I've researched today are extremely expensive!! I'm seriously considering DIY ing my own sump skimmer with a good needle impeller head but not sure how big it needs to be for a system that will be close to 400 gallons (including sump). The ones I've seen that cover up to 1500 litres cost in excess of $1,000.00! My older 6x2x2 tank from 20 years ago used the skimmer I mentioned above, but I built my own one back then that was 6" diameter by 3' long. It hung outside the tank and had a power head with venturi. It did such an excellent job that I pulled the commercial one out. It was expensive too. That's why I kept it when I sold my tank back then. My questions are: 1) Can I build a successful skimmer for this new tank? 2) How big should it be if it is going into the sump? 3) If I can't find a commercially available algae scrubber, could I DIY one? If so, what spectrum should the LEDS be to grow algae in it? 4) Can I DIY a RODI as well? 5) Was buying such a huge tank a good choice? 20 odd years ago, the bigger the marine tank, the better (more stable) it was. Does that still hold true today? I don't want to make any mistakes with this monster system because I want it to last me through my twilight years (I just turned 63) with as little fuss as possible. I just outlayed $3,500.00 and I know I'm going to have to spend more but my budget isn't limitless! Thanks in advance!!
Your content is consistently wonderful. My daughter who is the fish specialist at Petco recommends your 52 weeks of reefing to her customers alongside her assistance. You never disappoint.
Great video... Algae scrubber, huge water changes and manual removal have helped me with fighting Bryopsis... Nice to know I've been on the right track 👍🏾
Probably because algae scrubbers work better than most tools provided to control algae. Look at allllllll the products to get rid of algae uet a scrubber has been 99% effective.
awesome video. very thorough! congrats on your new baby! i have high nitrates. sugar dosing works awesome for me! i didn't want to dose everyday so i moved to a reef octopus bio pellet reactor. it's been about 6 weeks. hoping it works well. also just started a refugium for the 125 gallon tang stocked tank. thanks!
Ive been reefing for over 10 years and the food concepts delivered here were fairly new in regards to pellets nutrient density. I always thought frozen foods were nutrient dense downfalls.
I am running one of the new L2 skimmers from Turbo Aquatics and I can see a difference in the amount of algae in the tank. It has started to all recede and is even taking longer in between glass cleanings. I notice you had his older version on your video. The new one is all extruded plastic with adjustable LED and removable clear polycarbonate basket. It also has a new custom square spray bar. Very nice product so far.
I had a 300 gal system and I never had much of an algae problem. I used 2 BRS jumbo reactors one filled with GFO and the other Carbon and had a 75 gal sump with a 50 gal refugium. My theory is to grow algae in the fuge and starve the display and you can do that through algae scrubbers or mangroves and good fast growing macro algae in your sump.
Also I been vinegar dosing and it works couldn't believe how it dropped my nitrates...and actually seemed like it made my corals happier..especially mushrooms and leathers.
Ryan, you should highlight the fact that algae spores generally come in via contamination on frag plugs and other things that are wet that enter the tank. For the longest time I thought living with the possibility of an algae outbreak at any moment was just a way of life. I would have to keep my tank near sterile in order to prevent an outbreak, because spores existed in my system, angering my corals and never allowing me to fully dial in my system. Avoiding algae introduction through h202 dips and frag plug removal will go a long way. Removing the spores via a fluconazole treatment then using good practices to avoid recontamination would go a long ways as well. At least for the common hair/bryopsis types, which seem to be the most problematic.
Do some more Nano Tank videos! I love the setup videos for the fusion line. But I'd love to see more videos as far as upgrades or alternative options from what's in the starter kit y'all sell. I've been binge watching BRS videos for a week!
Congrats again. I run a Calcium reactor and I had a theory on further scrubbing Co2. I run the effluent into a small refugium in my sump. I figured the algae would feed the excess. Honestly I don't think it's really doing anything but if others are interested in would like to hear if anyone else has noticed a difference.
All correct. Low lighting = White 60 % Blue = 80% Red = 15% Green = 15%. Tank light on 8 hrs full then goes to 50% of settings, 1 hr moonlight. Maintenance is scrapping of brown algae on tank sides and bubble/cyano by scraping. Suction sand 3 x week with 10 % water change. Filtration is Skimmer, two large filter socks and additional filter connected to circ pump with floss / carbon. Net out excess food when circ pump goes back on. Corals like the extra circulation of micro bits in the water created by netting.
Wow..this was an excellent video very informative and helpful thank you so much...I just got my 75 gal reef back in good parameters im thinking bout adding an algea scrubber...thanks again for the info
I feel like I need to add something here. First off, MASSIVE thanks for your videos!!! They are my go to place for learning about my Reef tank. (never had one until a year ago, knew nothing about it, your videos were / are my info source. :-) I have been having a algae issue now for a few weeks... I did everything you suggested and still having issues, I thought it would be worth mentioning that it turns out that my RODI filters needed changing as the output was 27ppb (hanna checker) I changed the filters and BOOM 0 ppb from the same tester. :-) :-)
I get that when you add fish to eat the algae, nitrogen, and phosphate will be released by them, but when fish eats anything they will release the same thing. So adding fish to eat the algae is something like feeding them with normal food like pallets.
Great Series guys! I know its a little outside of your wheel house, but I'm wondering if you guys could do some video's on FOWLR tanks? I think it would be fun to start off with fish only and then add some easy care soft corals down the road. Also, how about an office tank tour!
Just had a dino outbreak did a 4 day blackout and pit a uv sterilzer checked all my water parameters got them to the right levels now no problems with dino
Nice to see you back, Ryan . . . congratulations, daddy, on your child and also to your wife. T.R. did a great job in your absence. You all deal very factually and helpfully on even difficult topics, and as much as hobbyists and researchers alike have learned a lot over the years . . . it goes to show there is still a lot in God' Creation, that man still does not know. Again, congratulations on your baby, and may your baby grow healthy and safely in this very perilous days on earth.
Seems like every algae had a magic cure at the end there except the one I always struggle with... hair algae :P Naturally! This was a good episode, even if it was mostly recap. thanks!
Great video and welcome back, out of all the great things you guys do I have to comment on the video editing... its top notch and just makes your videos that much better. keep the videos coming.
Going with a good frozen food does make a huge difference. Just remember that all frozen foods are not created equal. The best one I have found (which is used by public aquaria) is LRS Reef Frenzy and their other frozen foods. They are only sold via local shops, but well worth trying.
Great education! I had no idea about hydrogen peroxide, I may have to try that. I've had an algae issue in my tank for a while now, as soon as I knock it down its back within a week. I had my water professionally tested and nothing was horribly out of whack which is weird. I may try covering the tank for a couple of days, massive water changes and the peroxide cleaning of the rock.
Wow that is a lot of info haha good one but I'll just take little by little with hand haha it's a lot of stuff behind that tank, mine is just a basic tank 40 gallons with no fancy equipment
I don't watch sports but if Ryan were the announcer then I would. Amazing how he can put all that info into single sentences. Flynn will have a lot to learn :)
I am running 18hrs of pure cheto microalgae+growth light that reverse schedule with my main light (plus bio block beneath the cheto). Almost all brown algae gone with undetectable phosphate and NO3.
In a new tank is it ok to just let these things pass their course and take over? Than introduce some good bacteria and a good cleanup crew as well as some tangs?
It's always easier to prevent the issue in the first place with good bacteria, copepods, cleanup crew, and tangs. Once the algae takes hold, it'll be harder to keep under control. Like they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Informative and Very Comprehensive as always... appreciate BRStv covering this topic! ... A combination of consistent water changes, carbon, phosphate removing media and Red Sea Reef Care Program has helped my mixed reef tank control algae.
Setting up a small system and only being 36 gallons o not enough space, what would you say are the most important pieces of equipment. A sump, and a skimmer, possibly fit 2 more. Maybe a uv sterilizer, what would be next in your opion or 4 of the most important equipmentment under the hood. Newbie here and so far just have a bsaic ten gallon, no skimmer and powerhead, and aqua clear HOB. We want to add another small tank as well. Wish I had space in my family room for a large tank. We installed a fireplace and lots of drywall shelving a few years back, b4 i got into this and now kicking myself! Thought of putting in living or dining room but barely anytime spent in those rooms! I am so much enjoying the one in my kitchen where we spend lots of time!
Reef tanks can be as complicated or simple as you want to make them. For a vast majority of setups, a skimmer combined with a regular water change schedule will be sufficient. That said, if you have the space, you may also want to consider a small refugium. Algae is a great natural way to remove excessive nitrates and phosphates (if you have them) as it doesn't require any extra equipment other than a light source. A UV sterilizer certainly won't hurt, but I'd by no means call it a required piece of equipment.
I have some red algae on a mushroom colony I acquired. Is actually quite pretty. Will be keeping my eye on it though. Not sure I want a tank full of it!
Contgats on the addition Rayn. Good to see everyone is happy and healthy! I have a question about cyano. I've setup a 220 with a 90 sump, there's about 250 total gallons and water has been in the tank since 6/1. All parameters are good. In the middle chamber of the sump is a fuge with chaeto and rock rubble. I have a 20w 6500k led flood over it and on some of the rock is the only place I have cyano growing. I've bee told to increase the flow and/or change the light. What do you think would be the best way to deal with it?
Yay, 52WOR is back!!! Been having withdrawal symptoms. Been away for some time but you havent missed a beat. It's as if ... wait you didnt practice this while you were on holidays with you wife and son did you? LOL :P Great vid, lots of reefers will get a lot out of this one.
The scientific theory that explains how nutrients bind to minerals is covered under C.E.C. the cation exchange capacity, and to a lesser extent the anion exchange capacity. Both are commonly understood in soil science and nutrient management in commercial agriculture. The crux is the CEC capacity is relative to the minerals base charge and the surface area. High CEC is present is clays and humic substances which have very high surface area, sand is considered to have very low surface binding sites meaning that somthing as large as a rock (even porous rock) simply does not provide a large enough surface area to influence this topic. More likley the sand and detritus are what bind excess nutrients in most tank. Which support watching and implementing this excelent video
I did the bucket test with a 1 foot tall soft coral on a thin sliver of rock in a 100L tub and I was getting a reading of 20ppm nitrate on my test kit. Once the corals reach a certain size its my belief they can contribute to nitrate levels if filtration is inadequate.
Hi you forgot one key factor often experienced by Jaubert reefers in France, salinity. Too high salinity is very common when you don't have a refractometer and it provokes algae blooms
12:33 The science behind this... by the binding of mineral salt calcium phosphate in a chemical arrangement produces a bone matrix. This is mineralization that give hard corals rigidity. In general, a more acidic environment causes chemical arrangement to become more soluble, while a less acidic environment makes it less soluble.
Thanks for all of the helpful info from this Channel, between you guys and CJ's Aquarium I have gained a crazy amount of knowledge and have become obesessed with the hobby.
So, I'm clicking subscribe on your channel not because of the topic of this video, as I just started my tank & I don't have a algae problem. Not because you have like almost 150k subscribers , so it should be a decent channel with more info. But, I'm hitting the subscribe button cause it truly SEEMS like you know WTF your talking about. While looking away from the screen & just listening you strike me as a saltwater version of Rick Moranis's character in Ghost Busters....and he too seemed like he knew wtf he was talking about. Thanks for the vid!
I've been battling algea for months. I always tested nitrates and assumed that phosphates would also be in check if my nitrates were. Just tested phosphate and it was sky high
Congrats Ryan. I've been fighting algae for a while but WC's and GFO have seem to finally done it. I still have some but its under control. Can you talk about vermetids in one of your pest videos? I'm dealing with them now. Basically using needlenose pliers to crush them.
Welcome back Ryan! Να σας ζήσει! :) On a different note, have you ever observed a lowering of the ORP when dosing H2O2? I have been observing the ORP going from 350 to 250 and then slowly coming back up when dosing 1ml per 10 gallons and no change in the pH which is really baffling to me...
Yes, i think it's cyano (not 100% sure though) and it has subsided significantly. I only have it on the sand bed and peroxide with a fighting conch have done a pretty good job so far. Been dosing for two weeks tomorrow and I'm thinking of going another week see if it eradicates it...
I'm not even sure if it's algae or a type of bacteria I have. The easiest way to describe it is a white cobweb on the rocks and glass. The same kind of effect as dragging a rock through polyester.
