So check this out... I've had some ongoing issues with my tank and I'm about at my wits end. I've had a problem with cyano. So.. I treated it with chemiclean. No big deal right? Ok the cyano started fading away after the second dose. Then my stupid cleaner shrimp bit the dust. Nice. Then i get mad hair algae breaking out everywhere. I figure it's blooming since the cyano was not there to eat the phosphates anymore. So I did mad amounts of water changes and scrubbed the rocks lightly with a soft toothbrush to get off as much as possible. That helps keep it back for a good while. Then all the sudden my stupid purple pseudochromis vanishes. I think she went carpet surfing and my dog got it. Nice right? Well, about 2 and a half weeks ago my Green Bay packer zoa completely closed up. It hasn't opened since then. All my parms check out ok. And by all I mean Salinity, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Phosphates, Calc, Alk, pH... all that trash. So now my friggin pallys are closed up. BUT my xenias, cabbage coral, green star, and kenya trees are all pretty happy. Does anyone have any more ideas of what I can do or check? I'm seriously sick of messing with this trash. Ya know? I don't like to fail and this crap makes me feel like a failure. I need it to bounce back but am at a loss of what else to do... Thanks
About to toast my tank with C-4
- Thread starter hobbyfish
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tkimmons85
New member
Welcome to reefing !!! but dont get to discuraged its worth it if you stick with it. I myself have spent lots of money and killed numerous things back when I was struggling with my old tank. heres a few pointers
fish jumping out - get a screen to put over your tank
algea problems - better flow, less nutrients, improve filtration, also there are numerous fish snails and crabs that eat the stuff.
also what kind of lighting do you have and how deep is your tank
fish jumping out - get a screen to put over your tank
algea problems - better flow, less nutrients, improve filtration, also there are numerous fish snails and crabs that eat the stuff.
also what kind of lighting do you have and how deep is your tank
When you say less nutrients you mean either get a skimmer or feed less often? I am feeding once every other day as it is.
As for my tank it is a 12g nano-cube. It's about 16w 16h 14d... roughly. The light is a current 2x40w pc with dual daylight and dual actinic. The filtration is taken care of by the the large amount of live rock and live sand... maybe it's not enough but hey what do I know. Plus I have a mini fuge with chaeto in the back of the cube with light on it constantly.
As for my tank it is a 12g nano-cube. It's about 16w 16h 14d... roughly. The light is a current 2x40w pc with dual daylight and dual actinic. The filtration is taken care of by the the large amount of live rock and live sand... maybe it's not enough but hey what do I know. Plus I have a mini fuge with chaeto in the back of the cube with light on it constantly.
tkimmons85
New member
well for one if you are gonna do saltwater reefs a skimmer is a definate must. its all about filtration, filtration, filtration !!! For instance in my reef tank I have a oversize skimmer, a refugium, 300 lbs of live rock, and a bulk reef supply phosphate reactor. One of the most widely known reefers of the world David Saxby said," reef keeping is not just keeping fish and corals, its keeping water" its all about the water quality and if you can manage that, then you can keep anything in a reef tank.
it's weird how everything just hit the fan for no reason though. I can't believe it's a problem that if I just throw money at it it will go away. I've had it running for a year without any major problems like this... I guess I should take the same approach at reefing the Bear Grylls does...lol
zef004
New member
One more thing I need to add. You should give this a try. Add some MB7. I know when I use to dose vodka and get bad alge blooms. I quit doseing vodka and up the doseing of MB7. It was gone in two week I never had hair alge so don't know this would work for it but it did on red slim.
Just a thought. It may help.
Just a thought. It may help.
mixer911
New member
1 year of < 3 TDS will add up. Target 0 TDS and I bet most of the algae issues will fade away. When mine hits 1 I change DI resin. Where did you get your live rock from originally. Could be releasing phosphate?
poolkeeper1
New member
Hair algae
Hair algae
+1 and you can use Tech-M to raise your Magnesium and this will kill the HA It worked for me! You need to raise it up to around 1500-1600 for several weeks then just do regular water changes to get it back to normal.
JMO
Bill:dance:
Hair algae
+1 and you can use Tech-M to raise your Magnesium and this will kill the HA It worked for me! You need to raise it up to around 1500-1600 for several weeks then just do regular water changes to get it back to normal.
JMO
Bill:dance:
Mobikob
New member
Agreed, 3 tds will add up fast between daily top offs and water changes.
Also if you get 3 after the membrane then your di is exhausted and most likely leaching in po4 to your output water. Po4 doesn't really show up on tds because of it's conductivity or something, google it.
Mobi
Also if you get 3 after the membrane then your di is exhausted and most likely leaching in po4 to your output water. Po4 doesn't really show up on tds because of it's conductivity or something, google it.
Mobi
poolkeeper1
New member
Absolutly, Never let mine go after it reads 1 I then change out the DI resin and If that's not it find what it is and replace It.
Bill
Bill
commonstranger
New member
I do the same here. +1 on what Bill said
did the cyano battle too, no chems, less feeding, more water changes, changed filter socks daily, daily removal by hand, wasn't working!!!!! bought 100 lbs live rock and cured it @ 3 weeks in a large tub, dosed it with stress-zyme and put it in my 80 gallon sump, 2 days later the cyano was GONE!!!!! 6 months later it's still GONE!!!!! my tds was always 0.
Very interesting... I sat around trying to think about what has changed in my tank in the last month. Well I figured out what it was... The amount of carbon and GFO. I have ROX carbon and GFO from BRS. According to their calculator I should be using 1 Tbsp of Carbon and 3 Tbsps of GFO. That's not much at all but I'm only running a 12 gal system. Anyway, I did as instructed and I believe that is when my problems started. Granted my phosphates still measure zero but I bet it's because they are being consumed by the algae and cyano. I'm gonna quadruple the amounts and see if I get better results. Won't hurt to try. I'll keep you guys posted and as always thanks for the advice!
orthokardia
New member
you know C4 is a search term for homeland security.....Rhett told me.....just joking
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