saltwater aquarium filtration?
I’ve had a 50 gallon saltwater tank for over a year now. Bottom line is I’m not happy with the filtration. I currently have a wet/dry trickle filter with a phospure pad as the filter media. I will sometimes put some carbon in a media bag within the sump as well. I have huge algae, and my water is rarely clear. My live rock is starting to suffer due to the fact that I have to cut so much light time because of the algae outbreaks. I am willing and very interested to hear what you guys recommend for the the intermediate/advanced aquarium filter set up. I think a UV filter will be necessary and also a r/o water system, but I have no idea how those works; do they hook up to the filter system somehow or just to a water source in the house? Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Tagged with: algae • aquarium filter • bottom line • filter media • filter system • filtration • light time • saltwater tank • trickle filter • uv filter • water source • water system
Filed under: House Water Systems
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The R/O system will do little for alge control. The UV filter won’t do much at all.
The questions are: what type of algae, and what animals do you have? Also note that a very common factor is overfeeding.
Hair algae is a common outbreak, and it smothers just about every surface. Astrea and turbo snails tend to be cheap and easy to find, and they’ll trim this down quickly…unless you have something that eats snails. Lawnmower blennies and many tang species (yellow tangs are popular and easy to find) will also eat hair algae. Nimble Spray Crabs (brown/yellow/green crabs mistakenly sold as "sally lightfoots," the latter of which are actually red) will also eat hair algae, pulling it up one hair at a time.
If you have bubble algae, go with some small mithrax crabs.
If you got some slime going on, the best you can do is pull it up (with a vacuum or a turkey baster) and increase the flow rate in the tank. Some hermits are said to eat slime algae, but I personally have yet to see them actually stick with it.
Another option is to set up a refugium connected to your filtration. If you place a fast-growing algae in the refugium (such as one of the caulerpa species) and keep it lit 24 hours a day, you can attempt to outcompete the algae in the tank by locking up the nutrients in the refugium’s algae. Note that this will not be the end-all of algae problems: you’ll still need to get rid of the stuff in the main tank.
Yes a sump would help, but for sure- RO water is a must. If you’re introducing phosphates, nitrate and other junk into your tank with your water changes you’re always going to have problems. A UV filter would help with free floating organisms but I’m really against them myself..
I would suggest~
1. Get some RO water.
You should be able to buy RO and or DI water at any filtered water place. I have four 5 gallon jugs that I fill up weekly and I top off with Ozarka ‘purified’ water that they deliver.
2. Get a high quality carbon if you’re not already using one.
3. Check your nitrates regularly until your system is healthy.
4. Do weekly 10%-20% water changes and use a high quality salt with a decent amount of dissolved minerals and proper pH.
5. Change your bulbs yearly. Using old PC bulbs will encourage algae growth. If you’re using old bulbs this could be almost entirely responsible for your algae bloom.
6. Make sure you have enough live rock.
For a tank that size I would say 35 lbs minimum
7. Make sure you have a sufficient clean up crew typically .5 to 1 critter per gallon.
Mechanical filters are a waste of money.
Invest in your live rock, and consider getting a protein skimmer and a sump if you can. The truth is you would be better off with no filter at all in most cases.
If your initial setup is good and you do your water changes frequently, vacuum your sand bed, don’t overload or overfeed the system and you use quality products you should be good to go.