Thanks bud.
How long have u ran it
yeah those back chambers don't give you much wiggle room
It's kind of dumb IMO but... if by Sunday it hasn't calmed down, I may just remove the skimmer all in all. Run it without skimmer and keep with regular weekly water changes and cleaning as usual. It is a 13.5 gallon tank so running it without a skimmer shouldn't be a problem.
I have a PS-2 on a flex 15, probably don't really need it though as I have to feed a lot to get any trace of nitrates in the water. I have a 10 gallon that just has an aquaclear 30 on it and my nitrates are always around 10 and that tank is way less work
Reeftivo is right
Oh! Just wait it out, it gets better! Takes a while for it to "break in"
while you wait it out you can try a harmless test. If you have a pipette and some wet skim in the cup, just take off the lid of the skimmer and pull a half a ml of skim out of the cup and then squeeze a couple drops down into the skimmer neck (while running). Then report back on what the skimmer does as far as micros. Do they start to subside or continue on with gusto and no change? it's easier to see results on a larger skimmer but i'll bet the micros subside a bit with the drops. Your skimmer will push the drops back out so no worries on adding extra nutrients to the display.
Let that thing run even if you have to stay at ur uncles. After a Month, if its still doing that we can revisit. I wouldn't steer you wrong. Let it happen n here n this hobby its Patience, patience, patience...
Yep , you've got new tank syndrome n it only gets worse ( n better) as time goes buy. When skimmer is pulling out brown nasty smelling nastiness then and only then will it b working properly. Check out Red Sea no3 po 4 ( or actually No pox) for algae control n give pamphlet a read. Scrubbing off the rocks n turning tank water green is only spreading your problem. Find n pick a Solution, your tank isn't the only one w New Tank Syndrome, its on u too!!! LOL
as Rusty stated, new tank syndrome is something everyone goes through so don't stress. the system just needs to develop a sufficient amount of beneficial bacteria and microfauna naturally (this will take time-months). A sufficient clean up crew is also essential. Hermits, mexican turbos, cerith snails, astrea snails, and nassarius snails are a good start. I like to have nassarius snails in my mix because they go into the sand bed and eat detritus. Also it's cool to watch them come out of the sand bed when feeding and move quick to find any uneaten food. of all the snails i mentioned i think ceriths are the best all around eaters. Conch snails are great too but they aren't easy to find in LFS around me and the two i've had were bulldozers and would move many of my sand dwelling corals.
