Nasty

[Wxguy23]

quick question.

Got a marineland HOB
And an oct HOB skimmer.

75gal 50lb live rock. 2 1/2 years old medium bioload, good CUC

After battles with Cyno, getting better.

My question, should my filter media get so dirty every 3/4 days?
Skimmer too?

Tank “looks” clean. Just curious.

 

[ilyad]

Wow, that does seem pretty extreme for a few days. It may be possible that over the 2+ years, there is a lot of build up of debris. I would see if you can find a place where you can use filter floss instead of that pad (or before it) as that is much cheaper and disposable. I toss mine every 2nd or 3rd day. It gets dirty, but not to the same extent. What you're showing, unless you keep pulling out, it will still remain in the tank.

 

[road_runner]

quick question.

Got a marineland HOB
And an oct HOB skimmer.

75gal 50lb live rock. 2 1/2 years old medium bioload, good CUC

After battles with Cyno, getting better.

My question, should my filter media get so dirty every 3/4 days?
Skimmer too?

Tank “looks” clean. Just curious.

Wow that is dirty. You should clean it otherwise all this will breakdown to no3 po4 and all type of stuff you do not want to dump back in the system. This is where people start calling filters nitrate factories which is not very fair. Filters meant to be cleaned often so it catch stuff but you clean it before it start breaking down.

 

[dantimdad]

If I could make a suggestion: Get the non-flame retardant felt from the fabric store and make "socks" that slip over just the frame part of that filter pad. You can wash them a few times and they are much cheaper. Added bonus: they filter down to 150 micron (or less) so they polish the water.

This way you can change them every couple days.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Hope that is not your cutting board that it’s sitting on ? Lol

 

[Wxguy23]

Yeah, it is....don't tell the wife. But I cleaned it.

My skimmer is full of crap too every couple of days. What could be in my water to make it so dirty so quick this time?
Thanks all.

 

[Wxguy23]

Thanks all.

My skimmer fills quick too. What the heck could be making it so dirty so quick?
Also should I vacuum my sandbed? I am told it doesn't matter.

 

[NeutronMan]

What are you putting into the water? That’s what is winding up on there. Food, light, and minerals is what that essentially is on your filter. You’ll need to decrease those to have less of that mess.

 

[road_runner]

Thanks all.

My skimmer fills quick too. What the heck could be making it so dirty so quick?
Also should I vacuum my sandbed? I am told it doesn't matter.

Couple of things
1- you need to make sure your skimmer is not undersized for your volume
2- skimmer is mixing air and producing foam not just slightly overflowing. This you can achieve by tuning the skimmer
3- make sure your return pump flow is pushing enough flow. If your skimmer intake rate more than your return pump flow rate you will have efficiency issues. Return flow is good to be 5 to 10 times your volume
4- if all check good, you might be dealing with high nutrients level in your system from over feeding or under filtration
5- seeing your filter pad tells me either point 4 is true or the pad is filled with nutrients that are breaking down and your skier is working overtime to get it out

Send us a picture if your system including your skimmer area will see if there is something the stands out.

 

[Unholy_Rigatoni]

quick question.

Got a marineland HOB
And an oct HOB skimmer.

75gal 50lb live rock. 2 1/2 years old medium bioload, good CUC

After battles with Cyno, getting better.

My question, should my filter media get so dirty every 3/4 days?
Skimmer too?

Tank “looks” clean. Just curious.

I have a light dusting cyano, it's not super crusty yet, but if I put a filter pad in it comes out looking like that (maybe 30 percent as much) pretty much overnight