what tyoe of algae is this?

[quote author=tresguey link=board=General;num=1102497463;start=0#5 date=12/08/04 at 22:41:32]my nitrates are at 10. i am going to buy a phosphate soon so i dont know what it is. i do a 5 gallon water change weekly useing catalina premix from my lfs. is this enough or should i step it up to 10 gallons?
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Be sure to test the Catalina water for phosphates as well.

 

i will, i thought i coukd trust my lfs. but they are there to make money so now i have to teat it all. thanks for all the help!

 

i got my phosphate test today and tested. there was basicaly no phosphates at all. and i double checked. would there be another reason why i have this? i will slow my lights down by 2 hours and see where that gets me.

 

Did you test the Catalina water for nitrates?

 

I'm not sure just how mature this set up is but I suspect it is less than a year old. In this case you are probably going through just another phase of maturing the tank. Unfortunately, it probably will require a fair bit of work to remedy.
While John doesn't do water changes, it's probably best to do more often and larger until you get things stabilized and learn more about what goes on in your tank.
You should step up cleaning the fluval filter to twice a week from once a week normally recomended. Also, removing the slime manually is another excellent export method.
I would use the fluval to "vacuum" the slime twice a week, and then clean the filter out and replace it with new salt water in it.
In between I would use a siphon tube to remove the slime daily, replacing the removed water with new salt water.
Use the search feature at the top left side of the page to see other threads on this topic, and get other opinions. My way is not nescessarily the best or only way, it's just what I have found to work best for me over the last 11 yrs.

 

no unfortunatly i havent checked the catalina water. as i just got the test kit. but i will next week. but 2 days after i did the change and read almost nothing i think it may be just like rayjay said, my tank is not mature enough yet, as it is almost 6 months old.