"Old tank syndrome... or getting things slightly wrong?"
After a number of years with a very settled and simple regime for maintaining my reef aquarium I found myself with a problem I didn't anticipate or understand... a bloom of hair algae in the tank. This didn't coincide with any changes to the tank, my maintenance regime, feeding or any losses of livestock. Obviously my phosphates and nitrates had risen but as I haven't been testing I don't know how much save to say everything in the aquarium is fine. Corals are growing well, fish and inverts are happy. But something had changed. Time to take stock, do some reading and have a chat with a few people.
Some interesting articles
The "Old Tank" syndrome - Mike Paletta in the Advanced Aquarist magazine
Old Tank Syndrome - Julian Sprung
Understanding Old Tank Syndrome - Paul Baldassano
Old Tank Syndrome Fact or Myth
Old Tank Syndrome revisited - Mike Paletta
Old Tank Syndrome - Bean
Old Tank Syndrome - Julian Sprung
Understanding Old Tank Syndrome - Paul Baldassano
Old Tank Syndrome Fact or Myth
Old Tank Syndrome revisited - Mike Paletta
Old Tank Syndrome - Bean
The articles above and conversations with LFS gave me a lot to think about. I wanted to keep my "simple as possible" regime for looking after my tank but needed to look at a number of issues.
The basic problem is a growth in the nutrients available in the tank enabling the growth of the hair algae. The above articles highlight some areas to consider.
I regularly clean my powerheads and pumps but on closer examination I felt the powerheads in particular were not giving me the flow rate they previously delivered. Perhaps after 5 years of sterling service replacements were needed!
Two NewaWave powerheads delivering over 5000l of flow each have improved things greatly. I regularly check for dead spots but don't have any that I can see.
I will need to look at the amount of coral growth and see if the density can be reduced by fragging thus helping with flow around the tank.
I clean the chambers in the sump regularly but need to look at cleaning the build up of detritus in the weir.
The basic problem is a growth in the nutrients available in the tank enabling the growth of the hair algae. The above articles highlight some areas to consider.
I regularly clean my powerheads and pumps but on closer examination I felt the powerheads in particular were not giving me the flow rate they previously delivered. Perhaps after 5 years of sterling service replacements were needed!
Two NewaWave powerheads delivering over 5000l of flow each have improved things greatly. I regularly check for dead spots but don't have any that I can see.
I will need to look at the amount of coral growth and see if the density can be reduced by fragging thus helping with flow around the tank.
I clean the chambers in the sump regularly but need to look at cleaning the build up of detritus in the weir.
I think the main problem is the slow build up of detritus in the rock and corals. This is probably doing two things. Decomposition is creating nitrates and thus phosphates and at the same time it is blocking the pores in the rock thus inhibiting water flow and therefore the growth of beneficial bacteria in the rock. This is reducing the overall biological filtration in the tank.
This has meant the purchase of some high tec equipment... a turkey baster to blow the detritus out of the nooks and crannies and into the water column were it can be slowly removed through filtration and syphoning. On first use of the baster I couldn't believe the amount of rubbish that was blown out of the rocks and coral bases. The button polyps in particular seem to gather a lot of detritus around their bases.
I also think some additional clean up crew would be of help. Trochus, cerith and nassaurus snails as well as some more hermits.
An increase in water changes for a short period of time will also help remove the phosphates and the detritus in the water column.
I have previously run a Phosban reactor but would like to overcome my current issues without one if possible. I have the refugium with cheato growing well and have updated to a bubble Magus skimmer a couple of months ago so hope with the above mentioned changes things will slowly adjust.
This has meant the purchase of some high tec equipment... a turkey baster to blow the detritus out of the nooks and crannies and into the water column were it can be slowly removed through filtration and syphoning. On first use of the baster I couldn't believe the amount of rubbish that was blown out of the rocks and coral bases. The button polyps in particular seem to gather a lot of detritus around their bases.
I also think some additional clean up crew would be of help. Trochus, cerith and nassaurus snails as well as some more hermits.
An increase in water changes for a short period of time will also help remove the phosphates and the detritus in the water column.
I have previously run a Phosban reactor but would like to overcome my current issues without one if possible. I have the refugium with cheato growing well and have updated to a bubble Magus skimmer a couple of months ago so hope with the above mentioned changes things will slowly adjust.