He mentioned he's already been doing a lot of what you suggested, and he's already blacked out the system with no results, which is why this is more confusing.
What to Do ... Besides Sound the Fog-Horns?!
- Thread starter Maritimer
- Start date
- Tagged users None
He mentioned he's already been doing a lot of what you suggested, and he's already blacked out the system with no results, which is why this is more confusing.
Going back through Post, newer tank? Exactly how long into Cycle?
But if No fish and Light Coral and Just CUC...
Try and Respond back before this next Drastic Step...
But if it was my Tank, I'd get Tupperware and Fill with Half Tank Water..!
Then Slowly Acclimate by Adding New Water to Your Tupperware, run a heater, maybe airstone for water movement..
Then I'd literally Vaccum 1/2 sand out.
And do 3/4 Water Change...
Heavy Stress-Zyme it, possibly add 20lbs of Live-Sand, Chemi-Pure, Poly-Filter.... and Phosphate Remover, Clean Pre-Filter Sponges in Diluted Tank water Tupperware...
Let run few days, pour off 1/2 Tupperware Acclimating with fixed tank water...
And Monitor ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...And Stress-Zyme more often then not....
As long as Corals are kept, circulating and Warm leave in Tupperware..
Keeping that Old sand in a bucket with airstone may help if tank does mini-Cycle..just net couple scoops and wring out before adding to help if mini cycle...
All the UV, skimming, water changes blah blah, reset the parameters.... Keep as much old in buckets first week after change...
Bless Bless..
But if No fish and Light Coral and Just CUC...
Try and Respond back before this next Drastic Step...
But if it was my Tank, I'd get Tupperware and Fill with Half Tank Water..!
Then Slowly Acclimate by Adding New Water to Your Tupperware, run a heater, maybe airstone for water movement..
Then I'd literally Vaccum 1/2 sand out.
And do 3/4 Water Change...
Heavy Stress-Zyme it, possibly add 20lbs of Live-Sand, Chemi-Pure, Poly-Filter.... and Phosphate Remover, Clean Pre-Filter Sponges in Diluted Tank water Tupperware...
Let run few days, pour off 1/2 Tupperware Acclimating with fixed tank water...
And Monitor ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...And Stress-Zyme more often then not....
As long as Corals are kept, circulating and Warm leave in Tupperware..
Keeping that Old sand in a bucket with airstone may help if tank does mini-Cycle..just net couple scoops and wring out before adding to help if mini cycle...
All the UV, skimming, water changes blah blah, reset the parameters.... Keep as much old in buckets first week after change...
Bless Bless..
If it was my tank, I would not do that^. No offense, but that sounds like a wonderful way to simply crash his system.
OP
OP
Thanks for chiming in, @Ebbi Flow! The nitrates are already reading zero, but that may be due to uptake by the phyto.
There's a rather shallow sandbed, just at or below the bottom rim of the tank. Tank, sand, and half the current rock are just a few months wet - ammonia/nitrite went up, and dropped to zero over a month ago, and diatoms have come and gone. The other half of the rock was transferred from my year-old+ 65 gallon tank. There's still some rock in that tank, but I'm at a standstill with moving it, as I can no longer put it into the big tank (220 gallons) without the risk of crushing something I can't see. Mechanical filtration is provided by a trio of 4" socks, but they're not catching this stuff, as it's too small.
To do the 3/4 water change on a tank this big ... I'm gonna need a bigger mixing vat! Additionally, since it appears to be a living organism, I'd worry that it'll just breed faster than I can make RO/DI.
If the Vibrant doesn't show results soon, I think there's going to be a UV in my (very near) future.
~Bruce
There's a rather shallow sandbed, just at or below the bottom rim of the tank. Tank, sand, and half the current rock are just a few months wet - ammonia/nitrite went up, and dropped to zero over a month ago, and diatoms have come and gone. The other half of the rock was transferred from my year-old+ 65 gallon tank. There's still some rock in that tank, but I'm at a standstill with moving it, as I can no longer put it into the big tank (220 gallons) without the risk of crushing something I can't see. Mechanical filtration is provided by a trio of 4" socks, but they're not catching this stuff, as it's too small.
To do the 3/4 water change on a tank this big ... I'm gonna need a bigger mixing vat! Additionally, since it appears to be a living organism, I'd worry that it'll just breed faster than I can make RO/DI.
If the Vibrant doesn't show results soon, I think there's going to be a UV in my (very near) future.
~Bruce
Have you considered dosing h202? I think that's what I did when I had a green bloom.. but I can't remember. I know I added pods cause I had used all dead rock, but seem to think I did a few days of h202 at 1ml/10gallond..
OP
OP
Other end of the continent, in Connecticut.
I've only dosed H2O2 once - decades ago. A capful in a 55. Watched a carpet anemone crumple within minutes, and have steered clear of the stuff since.
Maacc, I will have to test phosphate & nitrate again - last test is old enough that I'd prefer a fresh one to offer a number.
My thanks to you all!
~Bruce
Sounds like a way to remedy, your questions.. Sometimes save the bacteria and re-assess working parts of filtration. Instead of tedious methods, sometimes it's easier to restart have super mini cycle and piggyback small water changes...Versus equipment won't compete, and expensive go through the roof with all the experts helping!
Any equipment he wants to use doesn't look to be horribly expensive, and it would also probably work just fine, if not very well. I just don't think it's necessary to suggest he tear his system apart and dump stress zyme of all things to keep it from crashing. Also saving water from the system wouldn't have enough bacteria in it to do any good to help it from fouling. Anyway, he may do whatever he pleases but at this point I think he should try a simple UV sterilizer, and continue to do the water changes he's been doing. Adding other filtration is not a bad thing, doing the same thing for every system and expecting it to magically work for another's is a bad thing. That's why he's been getting so many suggestions.
Last edited:
If the UV sterilizer the huge one, buckets of kept sand with water movement and aeration would survive..
But I didn't say every system sir..how many people have you helped in person for two-three reliables shops? Besides, Maintence after hours?
Me, Hundreds!
Yet don't see whole setup and hard to guess without seeing every water test through his procedures.
But I did say, I'm not there in person..Yet give him some better advice versus buying more for his build..say something different any different angles or do you just wanna argue?
But I didn't say every system sir..how many people have you helped in person for two-three reliables shops? Besides, Maintence after hours?
Me, Hundreds!
Yet don't see whole setup and hard to guess without seeing every water test through his procedures.
But I did say, I'm not there in person..Yet give him some better advice versus buying more for his build..say something different any different angles or do you just wanna argue?
If he's worried about tank life whole time could have housed in DT style Tupperware, if that verbage is okay?
I know if it was a client's Tank, I would have solved it in person for free.
But I'm sorry, if persists. Show us more of the water tests, so equipment so we can try and help you better...once again sorry ... Hate Uv Know it alls
I know if it was a client's Tank, I would have solved it in person for free.
But I'm sorry, if persists. Show us more of the water tests, so equipment so we can try and help you better...once again sorry ... Hate Uv Know it alls
Your methods need commas, periods and not running sentences together. By no means am I a English Professor, but read your post. At least glance over them before you submit them.
I agree if he wants to change no water and add nothing. Just focus on two-three UV Sterilizer, to make a dent.
Smaller water changes will only dilute and extend this fog horn plague, most I've talked too even said. Bigger back to back water changes, a) keep beneficial bacteria in water column b) dilute your bloom within tolerance of said Single Uv light to be effective..
I'm not sure you should be critiquing English my friend, some of your sentences don't make a lot of sense. Same goes for what you're suggesting.
Also don't just start insulting because you don't like my methods. I've been keeping reefs for 13 years and I work at a public aquarium, so I'm sorry but I don't really care if you've helped out an LFS or two. Relax please. I've given him other advice but it looks like he's already doing it, so he's moving on to the next step up from there. Which is something that's very good at killing single celled algae in the water column. Sounds like the better option to me. This isn't a bacterial problem, you shouldn't be treating it like one. Also, beneficial bacteria doesn't live in the water column in populations high enough to matter. With very large, very frequent water changes you need to worry more about ionic fluctuations than you do about bacteria.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Thank you both for contributing, AcroNem and Ebbi Flow - really!
Spanky-fresh nutrient numbers from tonight: Nitrates are ... undetectable. I've been feeding but little frozen food (the hermit crabs are getting LRS, hope they're happy!), and haven't changed socks unless the chamber threatens overflow. Something ought to be producing nitrates, but something's also clearly consuming them.
Phosphates are ... _really_ difficult to read. My Red Sea phosphate kit shades the water being tested through yellow-greens, and guess what? My water's _starting_out_ yellow-green! It looks as though the phosphate number is about 0.02, though.
The "Vibrant" product that I'm using is a bacteria culture, rather than a chemical. I'm not fond of dumping a bunch of chemistry into the tank either! Due for the third dose (first dose of week 2) tonight.
~Bruce, whose tank looks the same
Spanky-fresh nutrient numbers from tonight: Nitrates are ... undetectable. I've been feeding but little frozen food (the hermit crabs are getting LRS, hope they're happy!), and haven't changed socks unless the chamber threatens overflow. Something ought to be producing nitrates, but something's also clearly consuming them.
Phosphates are ... _really_ difficult to read. My Red Sea phosphate kit shades the water being tested through yellow-greens, and guess what? My water's _starting_out_ yellow-green! It looks as though the phosphate number is about 0.02, though.
The "Vibrant" product that I'm using is a bacteria culture, rather than a chemical. I'm not fond of dumping a bunch of chemistry into the tank either! Due for the third dose (first dose of week 2) tonight.
~Bruce, whose tank looks the same
Similar threads
New Posts
-
-
-
Bubble Algae on old live rocks - Clean up and throw em back in?- Latest: corallineaddict
-
