RAIN2 Advise

[Dutch Snoots]

Hey gang.

I have upgraded to a 92 gallon corner saltwater tank 1 month ago. I kept the live rock from my old setup (4 years old), and put in 60 pounds of new live sand. Currently, residents are 3 anthias, 1 flame angel, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 1 longnose hawkfish.

I’m trying to run it with only a RAIN2 in the sump, which I purchased in March – no other mechanical filtration. Currently running 2 of the LEDs, 20 hours a day. I feed 1 cube of frozen food and about 1 gram of pellets daily. I am cleaning the screen weekly with a plastic scrapper, getting about 5 grams of growth after a week, pic attached.



I have never really gotten the algae growth I expected in the RAIN2 and am starting to see hair in the main display. A lot of the algae is slimy red/orange as opposed to hairy/stringy green algae. Any ideas/advise on getting the system tuned up?

Thanks in advance!

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Phosphate might be coming out of the rock, and going into the sand. Moving the rock would have killed off a lot of the periphyton on them, and this will be decaying now into the water. But since the rock is new it will not have much phosphate in it, and will absorb it until a balance is found.

Looks like the 2 lights might both be at the bottom; you can instead have one at at the bottom and on the other side put one at the top.

Reduce to 18 hours a day.

Use a toothbrush to get the orange off the screen; it will block GHA from attaching.

Feed double if you want. Since you don't have tangs, you could feed lots of pods for the anthias.

Let the darker growth from the top of the screen grow down onto and over the orange lower part; Let it go longer than a week so it can do this.

See how it looks in two weeks.

[Dutch Snoots]

Thanks, the feedback is very much appriciated. I’ve made the changes and will share the results soon.

[Dutch Snoots]

Hello again!

Still lots of red/orange growth on the screen...


Scrubbed with brush


Growth after 1 week


Growth after 2 weeks

Algae growth in the main display is starting to get heavy. It is growing on the glass, rocks, and sand. Lawnmower Blenny looks SO FAT that I'm afraid he's going to pop! Water is testing fine - no nitrates or phosphates.

I am starting to suspect that the main display LEDs are part of the problem. I got them used from a friend - they have no identification and I have no idea how old they are or what spectrum they have. I'm currently looking into replacements...

Looking forward to the feedback. Thanks...

[SantaMonica]

No the display lights are not related. But if nutrients are testing zero, the nuisance growth on the glass should be green and only need cleaning every 2 weeks. And phosphate should be coming out of the rocks, causing more GHA on the rocks. And if you have a sand sifter, the sand should be clean. Pics would help.

Which lights are on? Try one on the top, and on the other side have one on the bottom. Only 2 lights, 18 hours.

And try dosing some iron.

[Dutch Snoots]

How much iron should be present/measured? I've never tested/dosed this before...


Here is the light configuration for the RAIN2. Currently running 18 hours on.

Will post photos of the algae on the glass/rock/sand this evening... Thanks.

[SantaMonica]

Ok try just 1 light, on the top.

[SantaMonica]

For iron, Kent's Iron+Manganese is good... just follow the label. Or feed lots of nori.

[Dutch Snoots]

Photos from the tank:


Algae on Glass - I scraped part of it off to install the pump


Algae on Rocks


Algae on Sand

[SantaMonica]

OK just do the 1 light at the top for now.