# Bad Test Kit = Mega Algae



## olsaltybastard (Sep 28, 2006)

I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. My tank is an algae farm of the worst kind. I tried pressurized CO2, and dosing dry ferts. Algae is in abundance in my tank and seems to get worse every day. I yanked out the driftwood and the rocks, bleached 'em and put 'em back. Cut the plants with any algae on the leaves and in two weeks, the algae is back in force. I kept upping the fert dosage and increasing the CO2 with bad results.

I decided to try a different test kit and see what would happen. Well, Salifert read less than 5ppm nitrate and Tetra read over 100!! I did two back to back 75% water changes last night and I will do the same thing again tonight. I went ahead and tested my tap water which read <10ppm, so I'm at least happy that this isn't the source. I bumped into a fellow reefer/planted tank fiend and he told me that he uses the waste water from his RO/DI unit for his FW tanks. I may give this a shot, as I can only do so many loads of laundry a week. Let's hope things turn out for the better in the next few weeks.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I have two suggestions: first, reduce the time your lights are on to 8 hours or less, and the watts to 2 plus a bit per gallon. Second: buy or make a "drop checker" per http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-it-yourself/32100-diy-drop-checker.html and use it to determine if you have the right amount of CO2 in the water. Those two steps will do more to help than anything else I know of. And, I suggest not using RO/DI waste water for your tank.


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## olsaltybastard (Sep 28, 2006)

Thanks Hoppy!!

I only have a 55w CF over a 29g tank, so I will definitely look into more lighting. I have been holding off on doing this, as I would like to have a 125w MH or something along those lines for lighting. If nothing else, I will replace the bulb as it's probably 9 or 10 months old. The lighting has been on a timer for 8 hours a day for as long as I can remember. In the meantime, I'm going to look into the drop checker and see where that gets me. Thanks for your input!!


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