light cycle for soft corals / green algae problem / feeding question

[jmaxlea]

Hi,

I would like some more advice as to what to feed my tank and help with the light cycles please.

I bought a 160 litre tank two weeks ago and moved it to my house water and all.

I've started to notice green algae growing alot and looking unsightly. I have a few corals; green mushrooms, Zoas, xenia, GSP, finger leather. I have a blue damsel, a fire shrimp, a black sea urchin, 5/6 turbo snails, a red star fish and a yellow sea cucumber. I have tested the levels and they are ph=8.2 NO2=0mg/l NO3=>10mg/l salinity=1.025.

The lighting cycle (set up by the tanks previous owner) is as follows:

2 x 24w T5 on 1pm-8:30pm
1 x 24w T5 on 4:30pm-11pm
1x 15w T8 on MON-FRI; 12:15pm-2pm + 8:10pm-1:30am SAT; 8:30pm-2:45am

As regards to my feeding question, I was told to drop in 1 cube of frozen food mixed with a couple of drops of frozen food enrichment once a week and drop in a pinch of marine flakes every few days.

Thank you for reading

:help:

 

[jmaxlea]

 

[HUNTER01975]

sounds like your over feeding.or feeding with stuff that is man made. also try letting the frozen food defrost in a strainer and only put the food in the tank not the water with it. you may also want to add a phosphate reactor.
how old are the bulbs? old bulbs can cause different light spectrums to grow more alge.

 

[jmaxlea]

The guy I got the tank off reckons they'll need changing in the summer. How long should bulbs last?

Do the soft corals need feeding once a week?

 

[mfinn]

You don't need to feed most soft corals anything.
Water changes are enough.

 

[jmaxlea]

i was wondering. Is my tank classed as a new tank since it was moved?

 

[jmaxlea]

Took a water sample to friendly lfs and identified high phospates which is causing the algae . Ive got some phosphate remover for my canister filter so I'll hopefully see an improvement .

 

[NanaReefer]

Please read up on the care and feeding requirements of your Cucumber and Urchin
Its a good idea to rinse your frozen before feeding. Most T5 lamps will last anywhere from 6-12 months. Totally dependent on run time.

 

[mfinn]

i was wondering. Is my tank classed as a new tank since it was moved?

How long was it setup before you moved it?
How long was the tank down before it was set back up?

 

[HUNTER01975]

Took a water sample to friendly lfs and identified high phospates which is causing the algae . Ive got some phosphate remover for my canister filter so I'll hopefully see an improvement .

how are things going? did the phosphate remover help?

 

[jmaxlea]

It was established about a year or so i think. We got the move done and the tank set back up 2 1/2 hours .

 

[jmaxlea]

how are things going? did the phosphate remover help?

I've given the tank a scrub (urchin permitting) and its looking much cleaner . I'll keep on top of it and get the water tested in two weeks when i do my next change. The wife won't let me buy anything else this month so i can't get my own phosphate tester yet heheh .

 

[HUNTER01975]

also make sure the tank is not getting sunlight on it.

 

[jmaxlea]

Its set back in an alcove so no direct sunlight

 

[HUNTER01975]

so how goes the battle?

 

[jmaxlea]

The tights i put the phosphate remover in tangled up the impeller on my canister filter luckily i noticed before any damage was done lol

The green algae isn't spreading and im sure its receding from the critters in tank eating it . Theres now brown algae growing on my crushed coral substrate hehe im just gonna keep doing my water changes and see what happens